Easter Hero
| Easter Hero | |
|---|---|
| Sire | My Prince |
| Grandsire | Marcovil |
| Dam | Easter Week |
| Damsire | Outbreak |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1920 |
| Country | Ireland |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Larry King |
| Owner | Larry King JHC Bartholomew Frank Barbour Alfred Loewenstein Jock Whitney |
| Trainer | Larry King William Jones Alfred Bickley Thomas Pardy Jack Anthony |
| Record | 35: 18–6–0 (steeplechases) |
| Major wins | |
|
Becher Chase (1927) Coventry Chase (1928) Prix des Drags (1928) Cheltenham Gold Cup (1929, 1930) Champion Chase (1931) |
|
Easter Hero (1920–1948) was an Irish-bred British-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and made three unsuccessful attempts to win the Grand National. He showed little early promise and was passed from owner to owner before beginning to display ability in 1927. Wins in the Becher Chase and the Coventry Chase established him as a leading steeplechaser and he was bought by Alfred Loewenstein with the aim of winning the National. In his first attempt at the race he fell at the eighth and brought the field to a virtual halt after becoming trapped in the ditch in front of the fence.
After Loewenstein's mysterious death Easter Hero was bought by the American John Hay Whitney and in 1929 he won his first Cheltenham Gold Cup by twenty lengths. In the 1929 Grand National he produced one of the best performances in the history of the race, finishing second under a weight of 175 pounds despite being hampered in the closing stages by a twisted plate. He won a second Gold Cup in 1930 but sustained an injury in doing so and missed that year's National. In his final season he won four races but fell in the Grand National. He was then retired and lived at his owner's establishments in the United States before dying in 1948.
Eastern Hero was a light-framed chestnut gelding with a white blaze who stood 16.1 hands high. He was bred in County Dublin, Ireland by Larry King, a local farmer who named the horse in honour of the Easter Rising. Easter Hero was sired by My Prince a high-class performer on the flat who became a very successful sire of National Hunt horses. His other offspring included the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Prince Regent and the Grand National winners Reynoldstown, Gregalach and Royal Mail. Easter Hero's dam, Easter Week, was not a Thoroughbred, being a descendant of the mare Arab Maid, whose pedigree on her mother's side was uncertain. Arab Maid's other descendants have included Morley Street and Granville Again.
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