Trabolgan

Trabolgan
Trabolgan in March 2005.
Sire	King's Ride
Grandsire	Rarity
Dam	Derrella
Damsire	Derrylin
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1 June 1998
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Michael Lysaght
Owner	Trevor Hemmings
Trainer	Nicky Henderson
Record	17:5-5-0
Earnings	£204,720
Major wins
Royal & SunAlliance Chase (2005) Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup (2005)

Trabolgan (foaled 1 June 1998) is a retired, Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In a racing career which was seriously disrupted by injuries and other health problems, he won five times from seventeen starts between December 2002 and March 2010. After showing promising, but unremarkable form in his early career he showed great improvement when switched to steeplechasing in the autumn of 2004. In March 2005 at Cheltenham Racecourse he won the Grade I Royal & SunAlliance Chase, one of the season's most prestigious races for Novice chasers. On his next appearance in November 2005, he won the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup under the biggest weights carried to victory in the race for twenty years. At the time, he was regarded as one of the best steeplechasers in training, but he never won again: he missed the next three years with injury and failed to recover his form when returning to the track.

Trabolgan is a dark-coated bay gelding bred in Ireland by Michael Lysaght. He was sired by King's Ride who won the Lincoln Handicap in 1980 before becoming a successful National Hunt stallion. His other progeny included Mister Morose (Aintree Hurdle), King's Curate (Stayers' Hurdle) and Kings Road (Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup). His dam, Derrella, was an unraced mare who also produced Huka Lodge, the winner of seven National Hunt races between 2004 and 2009.

In November 1999, the yearling was sent to the Tattersalls Ireland sale and was bought for 49,000 guineas by the British Bloodstock Agency. He entered the ownership of Trevor Hemmings and was sent into training with Nicky Henderson in Upper Lambourne in Berkshire.