The Champion Bumper: ten top names who finished out of the frame

The Weatherbys Champion Bumper initially felt like the closing credits at the cinema when they add on that bit of extra action or a humorous out-take.

It was lobbed on to the end of the Cheltenham Festival as a little extra when first introduced in 1992. A compromise, perhaps, as some racing fans felt that a “Flat” race had no place at the greatest Jump meeting of them all.

However, it did not take long for the new "getting out stakes" to establish itself as an integral part of the meeting. In fact, it took just two races.

Montelado romped home in that first renewal and then landed the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle 12 months later. He’s likely to be the only horse in history to win successive Festival races.

In an instance, the Champion Bumper earned credibility and it's been run on the Wednesday of the meeting ever since.

There have been many other brilliant Champion Bumper winners since Montelado but do not dismiss the also-rans. Here are ten horses who barely merited a word after the race but subsequently made plenty of headlines. 

Trainer: Oliver Sherwood. What happened: thirteenth to Rhythm Section in 1993. 

The bay, usually ridden by Jamie Osborne, had beaten a big field at Doncaster on his debut but never budged out of mid-division at the Festival. 

He would go on to land 12 of his 25 races over hurdles (never ran over fences), chalking up four victories at Cheltenham. As a novice, he won the Challow Hurdle before finishing third to Flakey Dove in the Champion Hurdle. Twelve months later, he beat all bar Alderbrook in the same race. 

Trainer: Ferdy Murphy. What happened:  sixth to Florida Pearl in 1997.  

The giant gelding was ridden by Richard Hughes at Cheltenham and was in contention a long way before fading in the closing stages. 

He won all five of his races over hurdles the following season, including the Turners at Cheltenham after a runaway victory in the Tolworth. And the following campaign he had three good tussles with Istabraq, finishing third to him in the Champion Hurdle. 

His physique suggested he could be even better over fences and he won easily on his chasing debut in the autumn of 1999 but, sadly, he suffered a fatal injury at home the following month. 

Trainer: Jonjo O’Neill. What happened:  fifth to Pizzaro in 2002. 

They grey did not have the gears to keep up in the Bumper and was beaten 17 lengths but excelled when unleashed over long distances as a novice hurdler the following season, including when running a screamer to split Baracouda and Limestone Lad in the Stayers’ Hurdle (the Albert Bartlett did not come along until 2005). 

Iris’s Gift turned the tables on Baracouda a year later in another epic and followed up in the Aintree Hurdle. Chasing did not go quite so well but, overall, he won 14 of his 25 races, plus the hearts of all paddock watchers. 

Trainer: Jonjo O’Neill. What happened:  sixth to Hairy Molly in 2006. 

The first three home in 2006 failed to go on and hit the heights, winning just eight of their subsequent 50 races between them. 

By contrast, Albertas Run, who finished tailed off at 40-1, would go on to become something of a Festival legend under AP McCoy. He justified favouritism in the 2008 Brown Advisory and landed the Ryanair Chase in 2010 and 2011. For good measure, he also won the 2010 Melling Chase at Aintree. 

Trainer:  Philip Fenton. What happened: seventh to Cousin Vinny in 2008. 

He was owned and ridden by Barry Connell when outrunning odds of 66-1 in the Bumper, only backing out of things in the final furlong. 

His career was then something of a mix until he changed hands in 2013 and moved to the yard of Dr Richard Newland. 

The following year he would be a fabulous winner of the Grand National, having warmed up with a close third in the Pertemps Final. 

Trainer: Nigel Twiston-Davies. What happened: sixth to Champagne Fever in 2012. 

The New One gave his all to finish a gallant sixth and there was plenty more from where that came from. 

He would end his career having won half of his 40 races, chalking up six wins at Cheltenham and earning his connections more than £1 million (he earned £737 of that with his Bumper run). 

Highlights included a win in the 2013 Turners plus victory in the 2014 Aintree Hurdle, but the Champion Hurdle eluded him. He ran in it four times, never finishing worse than fifth. His close third in 2014 edition, having been hampered, was a story of what might have been. 

Trainer: Jessica Harrington. What happened:  eighth to Champagne Fever in 2012. 

Jezki was one-paced where it mattered in the Bumper but brighter days lay ahead. 

The following season he won Grade One contests at Fairyhouse (beat Champagne Fever) and Leopardstown before finishing third in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (behind Champagne Fever). Twelve months later, equipped with a hood, he made it third time lucky at the Festival when edging out My Tent Or Yours in the Champion Hurdle. 

He still had three more top-level wins in him, including when mastering Hurricane Fly over 3m at Punchestown in the spring of 2015. 

Trainer: Oliver Sherwood. What happened: ninth to Champagne Fever in 2012. 

Many Clouds plugged on from the rear in the Bumper at 25-1, hinting at what was to come. 

He came into his own when his stamina was tested, landing the 2014 Hennessy before humping 11st 9lb to victory in the Grand National the following year. In between, he beat Smad Place, Dynaste and The Giant Bolster in a memorable Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham. 

Many Clouds also finished runner-up in the 2016 Cotswold Chase, too, before edging out Thistlecrack in the 2017 renewal. Tragically, he collapsed and died moments afterwards after suffering a pulmonary haemorrhage. 

Trainer: Henry De Bromhead. What happened:  sixth to Moon Racer in 2015. 

Supasundae was a well-fancied 15-2 chance for the Bumper having won his first two starts (each for different trainers other than De Bromhead) but he raced keenly and did not quite get home. 

Little more than a year later he had changed hands for a fourth time and hit the heights for Jessica Harrington. Victory in the 2017 Coral Cup was a precursor to three Grade One triumphs, including a defeat of Faugheen in the 2018 Irish Champion Hurdle. 

His other efforts included finishing runner-up to Buveur D’Air in the 2019 Punchestown Champion Hurdle. 

Trainer: Willie Mullins. What happened: tenth to Moon Racer in 2015. 

Was unable to add to his trainer’s impressive haul of Bumper winners as a five-year-old but he signed off the campaign with Grade One glory at Punchestown and would go on to land three more victories at the highest level. 

Highlights included his Punchestown Gold Cup victory in 2018, when he fended off Djakadam, and exciting defeat of Road Tom respect in the Irish Gold Cup the following year.