News Weatherbys Champion Bumper Leading Sires #2

Weatherbys Champion Bumper Leading Sires #2

weatherbys, breeding

To mark the 25th Anniversary of our sponsorship of the Weatherbys Champion Bumper and the launch of nhstallions.co.uk – a site dedicated to promoting National Hunt stallions - Martin Stevens has compiled a top five of Weatherbys Champion Bumper sires.

#2 - KING'S THEATRE

Sire of one winner (Cue Card, 2010) and two runners-up (Regal Encore, 2013; Shaneshill, 2014)

King’s Theatre has, by common consent, been the supreme National Hunt sire of the 21st century so far, and he is also responsible for arguably the best ever winner of the Weatherbys Champion Bumper: the multitalented Cue Card.

Colin Tizzard’s charge might have been a surprise scorer, returning at odds of 40-1, but he went on to land another eight Grade 1 contests including the Betfair Chase three times, a King George VI Chase and a Ryanair Chase. He also finished second in a further eight top-level races and was unlucky to fall when holding a chance in the Gold Cup twice.

King’s Theatre’s two Weatherbys Champion Bumper runners-up are admirable horses too. 

Regal Encore, second to Briar Hill in 2013, became a classy handicapper and is still going strong, having won the Grade 3 Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot this season at the age of 12, and Shaneshill, who found only Silver Concorde too good in 2014, went on to take the Punchestown Champion Bumper and run second in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and RSA Chase.

King’s Theatre, a Derby runner-up and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner by Sadler’s Wells, left a long list of jumps celebrities from his time standing at Ballylinch Stud. They include other Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 winners Brindisi Breeze, Captain Chris, Champ, Glens Melody, Menorah, Riverside Theatre and The New One.