2018 Gold Cup hero Native River has run his final race

Native River was one of those horses who would run through a wall for you; jump over a cliff if he thought it might gain him half a length.

It endeared him to a legion of jump fans from when he made he made his debut in a point-to-point (unseated rider) to when he pulled up in today's Coral Welsh Grand National, after which it was announced he had been retired.

In between the two non-completions at the beginning and end of his career, there were eight years of of memorable scraps and glittering triumphs. He won many of the sport’s top prizes, although rarely in an effortless fashion. Blessed with buckets of courage and toughness, his triumphs were usually reward for hard work, honesty and sheer grit.

Days away from his 12th birthday, with many hard miles on the clock, the flame had begun to flicker and his below-par run at Chepstow on Monday will be the final time he will be asked to carry his shield into the heat of battle.

The 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner won 11 of his 24 chase starts, amassed over £1million in prize-money for his owners, Garth and Anne Broom, and gave the Colin Tizzard yard dizzy days it will never forget.

Winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in 2016, he went on to land the Coral Welsh National the same season, before finishing a fine third to Sizing John in the 2017 Gold Cup.

But it was the following year that he tasted glory at Cheltenham, staying on relentlessly up the hill to beat Might Bite by four and a half lengths after the pair had been locked in battle from the outset.

That afternoon was like watching two heavyweight boxers exchange blows from the first bell to the last. Neither would submit until Might Bite finally wilted near the finish. He never was quite the same horse, part of his spirit forever crushed, but Native River dusted himself off and came back for more. And more.

The ground was deep and time desperately slow that day at Cheltenham. But when the going got tough, Native River always got going. He was made for Richard Johnson, his regular rider, who had a similar never-say-die spirit.

“He is an amazing horse. The first time we ran him, he finished third in a bumper and he won the next time (at Stratford)," Tizzard said. "The next year he went novice chasing and he just progressed.

“We thought we had a good horse on our hands when we went to Newcastle and he won the French Furze Novices' Hurdle on his third run for us.

“He was never the fastest, but then we had a real field day with him when he won the Hennessy, the Denman and the Welsh National – we didn't hold him back.

“He has always been a thorough stayer and we just thought today, he didn't like the ground or didn't really want to be doing it. And we thought that the time before, so it was the right time to do it."

The Brooms took huge pride in the performance of Garfield – their nickname for him because of his chestnut colouring – and tonight I would imagine their over-riding emotion will be one of relief that their pride and joy has bowed out sound and healthy.

I spoke to the couple before the 2019 Cheltenham Festival when they explained how they came to buy Native River as a four-year-old after Tom Malone, a bloodstock agent, phoned to tell them he had “quite a nice horse here” for them to look at.

“We usually go for big, strong bays. Tom told us he was a chestnut with four white feet and a big white blaze – not our type at all - but he was just down road and so we went out of courtesy,” Garth said.

“As soon as he pulled him out he was almost cat-like, he just flowed and was very light on his feet. Driving home I said “I like that horse’ and Anne said “So do I” and so we took a punt on him.”

About eight years later, the bond between them and their horse has enever been stronger. The couple have watched his journey with a mix of excitement and terror. Many owners juggle the two emotions.

“He [Garth] usually freezes, while I’m usually shaking and grabbing hold of a friend,” Anne said. “At every fence, I say ‘jump’.”

Garth found himself unfrozen once Native River had negotiated the final fence in the 2018 Gold Cup, when his stirring battle with Might Bite was reaching a thrilling denouement.

“I was shouting so much on the run-in that I lost my voice for two days,” he said. “It was surreal. Winning the Gold Cup? That’s the Holy Grail. You dream of having a horse good enough to run in it, let alone win it. I’d have thought I had more chance of going to the moon than doing that.”

Anne nodded her head in agreement. “For the first few months afterwards we would rewatch it most nights on television – just to make sure it happened. Even now, if one of ours disappoints and we need cheering up, we will watch it again.”

Garth said: “Horses like him are so rare. You hope all your geese will end up as swans but most of them end up as ducks.”

Native River would always give his all but the Brooms, and Tizzards, never abused that generosity.

Garth said on Monday evening: “The writing was on the wall a long way out, but we thought we'd give him a couple of runs this season with his ground, which he has had both times. But his jumping had not been how it had normally been.

“He has been such a grand servant and we just decided enough is enough. It is about the first time in about 25 races that he has been out of the first four, I think.

“He is like a big teddy bear in the stable, but he has a rod of steel down his back when he is a racehorse. He is a horse of a lifetime and we have been very lucky to have him."

“He seems very tough but you can’t abuse that – you’ve got to look after them,” Garth said in that spring of 2019. “You can only go to the well so many times, especially in these top races. That’s why we don’t over-race him, to win a Grade One race or top handicap you have to put it all in."

He added: “He will be retired to Tom Malone, who originally bought him. We agreed that several years ago, even before he won the Gold Cup. He lives just a few miles down the road from us (near Taunton).

“There have been several people who have offered to have him in retirement – I think we could have given him to 20 different people! So many people have taken a liking to him.

“Obviously the Gold Cup was the big highlight, but he won the Hennessy, the Denman Chase and the Welsh National in the same season as a six-year-old and then just got touched off for second place in the Gold Cup. That was a golden season.

“He has given us so many good days, but you can't top the Gold Cup.

“I suppose Remastered is the biggest hope we have of replacing him, but if any horse does half as well as Native River, we will be doing well.

“He ran with his heart on his sleeve – that's why people took to him. He always tries. He has never run a bad race – even today when everything wasn't right for him, but he tried up to a point. We said if he was struggling to pull him up. We have some lovely memories with him.”

Tizzard Sr added: “He wouldn't hurt anybody. He wouldn't bite you. A child could walk through his back legs and he wouldn't have it in his mind to do anything silly.

“We had an era when we had Cue Card, Thistlecrack and Native River, and Native River and Cue Card won over £1.3million each. If ever Joe (Tizzard) is going to be able to find one like that, it will be amazing.

“It is the end of the big three, really."

He added: “He is a lovely boy and retiring him is the right and proper thing to do. When you talk about the big races, the biggest is the Cheltenham Gold Cup and he won it – so finding the next one is not going to be easy. There are a lot of people trying to find those big, strong staying chasers. He has been fantastic to us.”

And fantastic for the rest of us. Now take it easy, old friend. You’ve earned a long and happy retirement.