Charlie Swan (horse trainer)

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Charlie Swan (born January 20, 1968)[1] is a former top National Hunt jockey in Ireland in the
1990s. He will always be associated with the great Istabraq, on whom he won three Champion
Hurdles. He was twice top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and was champion National Hunt
jockey in Ireland for nine consecutive years.[2] He is now a trainer, based
in Modreeny nearCloughjordan, County Tipperary.
First and only son to Donald Swan, a former British Army Captain, and his wife Teresa, Charlie
was named after an ancestor who was the surgeon to the British King 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'. He
rode his first winner as a baby-faced fifteen-year-old, on his fathers Final Assault, in a two-yearold maiden at Naas in March 1983, and, after a successful spell as an apprentice, he later turned
his attention to the National Hunt scene. He won his first Irish jockeys' championship in 1989/90
and retained the title up to and including the 1997/98 season. He was only deposed as champion
Irish rider after deciding to concentrate on his training career. Swan holds the Irish records for the
most winners in a season (147 in 1995/96) and the most in a calendar year. [3]
Away from Cheltenham, numerous big-race winners have come his way, including Ebony Jane in
the Irish Grand National and the Whitbread Gold Cup at Sandown Park on Ushers Island and Life
Of A Lord.
Contents
[hide]

1Cheltenham

2Istabraq

3Trainer

4References

5External links

Cheltenham[edit]
Swan's first Cheltenham festival winner was Trapper John in the Stayers Hurdle in 1990. He was
twice leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival, 1993 and 1994. He will always be associated
with Istabraq, who won at the festival four years in a row, but other memorable wins
were Danoli's Royal & Sun Alliance Hurdle and Viking Flagship's Queen Mother Champion
Chase.[4]
Cheltenham Victories

1990 Stayers Hurdle Trapper John

1993 Supreme Novices' Hurdle Montelado
1993 Stakis Final Fissure Seal
1993 Triumph Hurdle Shawiya
1993 Stayers Hurdle Shuil Ar Aghaidh
1994 Royal & Sun Alliance Hurdle Danoli
1994 Coral Cup Time For A Run
1994 Champion Bumper Mucklemeg
1995 Queen Mother Champion Chase Viking Flagship
1996 Royal & Sun Alliance Hurdle Urubande
1997 Royal & Sun Alliance Hurdle Istabraq
1998 Champion Hurdle Istabraq
1999 Champion Hurdle Istabraq
2000 Champion Hurdle Istabraq
2000 Champion Bumper Joe Cullen
2002 Supreme Novices Hurdle Like-A-Butterfly
2002 Triumph Hurdle Scolardy

Istabraq[edit]
He will be forever associated with the legendary gelding Istabraq on which he rode to victory 23
times over hurdles including three consecutive renewals of the Champion Hurdle (1998 to 2000),
four Irish Champion Hurdles (19982001) and big race wins
at Aintree, Leopardstown and Punchestown. He won the 1997 Royal and Sun Alliance Hurdle
when sent off a 6/5 fav. Istabraq sweated up badly before the race and Charlie rode a masterful
race, getting him settled at the very back of a large field, then resisting the urge to make up
ground going uphill before battling to victory by a length. In 1998 it was more straightforward as
Istabraq won the Champion Hurdle going right away up the hill to win by 12 lengths. He
confirmed his superiority by winning again in 1999 and 2000, and looked set to make it four in a
row, until the Foot and Mouth outbreak caused the 2001 festival to be abandoned. Despite just
one unconvincing run and plenty of rumours about Istabraq's fitness before Cheltenham, there
was still a late flood of money for the great horse in 2002. But Istabraq was never right and
Charlie had to pull him up in front of the stands. Nevertheless, both horse and rider were given a
tremendous ovation by the crowd.