I saw the name Labaik mentioned for the first time this year on social media recently, which means it’s time to recall him and many others who flew high, perhaps reappeared, then vanished with their legacy.
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GG Jumps Journal – The Forgotten Horse
There are many ways to become the “Forgotten Horse”. For some, it counterintuitively improves their reputation, while others arrive in that space with something left to give.
I have taken a look at five such forgotten animals from the past decade below, all of whom fill that space for entirely different reasons.
Labaik – The Not-So-Forgotten Horse
Labaik is gone but never forgotten. His name rings out between January and March every year, the horse that everybody and nobody backed, the horse that never started, yet finished when it mattered.
We all know the story up until the 2017 Cheltenham Festival. Labaik had refused to race on his final flat race for Owen Burrows, then did so again on his debut for Gordon Elliott before the guessing games began. He won his next two starts, including a Grade 3 novice event at Navan, then refused twice more to participate before deigning to trot into a gallop at Naas just two weeks before the Festival…a furlong after his seven rivals had got underway.
Thus we arrived at Cheltenham, his odds famously slashed below half from 25/1 to 10/1 as soon as he galloped away on par with the Supreme Novices’ field. A 17-year-old Jack Kennedy stood up in the saddle for his craft.
What happened next is discussed less primarily because it did not occur at Cheltenham, but it burgeons further the rascal reputation of Labaik. He effectively refused again in Punchestown’s Grade 1 novice hurdle, only to turn up three days later in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle and nearly win it against his much more experienced rivals, flying home into fourth, just 2½ lengths behind Wicklow Brave.
And then he never raced again. It may be that legal disputes regarding his ownership prevented him from doing so as much as his attitude, but no horse has ever left such a legacy of what ifs and absolutes.
The Nice Guy – The Unbeaten Forgotten Horse
In five races between November 2021 and April 2022, The Nice Guy went unbeaten. Trained by Willie Mullins, he won two bumpers over 2m on good and soft ground before connections decided it was high time he tried hurdles that very same season.
An eight-length win over 2m3f at Naas was the only prelude to an 18/1 starting price for the 2022 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, reasonable odds given his relative inexperience of jumping compared to three stablemates that included Dublin Racing Festival scorer Minella Cocooner.
Yet, under Sean O’Keeffe, he travelled like a dream, swanning clear up the Cheltenham hill to win by eight lengths on his first try over 3m. He backed up the victory at Punchestown for good measure; five races, five wins, the world at his feet.
In the intervening two years since he was last ruled out for the season in 2023/24, we have heard no peep as to his wellbeing, a disappointment from a welfare perspective as much as anything else. Perhaps, Mullins’ surprise after his Cheltenham success was prophetic – “he shows me nothing at home” – as aged 11, he could still viably make a comeback. However, as the years draw on, that increasingly unlikely probability leaves him as one of the more tantalising forgotten horses.
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Wed 14 Jan 2026Allart – The Genuinely Forgotten Horse
While it is simply assumed what happened to The Nice Guy, it is anybody’s guess where Allart is now. It has never been confirmed if injuries after a fall at Haydock took their toll, but what a prospect he was for Nicky Henderson and owner Ronnie Bartlett.
He was a participant in the pre-COVID Festival of 2020, entering that year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as a 33/1 shot primarily because Henderson’s hand that year was steel-clad: Shishkin won the race, while Chantry House was third, though Allart put in a performance full of promise in fifth, having won his previous two novice hurdles by comfortable margins.
He looked destined to reach higher echelons over fences though, winning the Grade 2 Noel Novices’ Chase on his fencing debut at Ascot, with Fiddlerontheroof and Pic D’orhy among those trailing in his wake. He was an impossibly easy winner that day, though a fall on his second chase start at Haydock is the last time he visited a racecourse.
Who knows where his limitations lay, but his is another career sadly lost only among questions.
City Island – The Faded Forgotten Horse
The Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle so often promises the world. The likes of Envoi Allen, Bob Olinger and Impaire Et Passe have at least threatened to deliver it since winning the day two opener at the Cheltenham Festival, but as promising as any of those names was City Island, the 2019 victor.
To that point in time, City Island had been first past the post on all four hurdling starts (he was disqualified on hurdles debut), with his crowning moment at Cheltenham seeing him hold off Champ in the closing stages. Among those further in behind were Graded scorers Brewin’upastorm (4th), Sams Profile (5th), Easy Game (8th) and Battleoverdoyen (PU), while future Gold Cup favourite Galvin was sixth and subsequent Cheltenham Festival winner Seddon seventh. (Third-placed Bright Forecast could also have made this article, as he never raced again afterwards.)
Whatever became of his talent, City Island is proof that horses are living, breathing beings and cannot always maintain their performance levels. He never won another race, finishing only sixth in a Grade 1 at Punchestown and pulling up or finishing last in four of his remaining six races thereafter.
Even an authoritative Festival hero can prove an Icarus among the Cheltenham stars.
Spillane’s Tower – The Current Forgotten Horse
It feels prudent to include a horse who may yet rediscover his mojo. While the only thing Spillane’s Tower currently shares with Sprinter Sacre are his first two letters, he could yet be a resurgent force in the best chases on offer.
He is included for being a two-time Grade 1-winning novice chaser and for almost winning one of the strongest races in modern times when a half-length second to Fact To File in the 2024 John Durkan Chase at Punchestown, finishing ahead of Galopin Des Champs. A disappointing effort as favourite for the King George and only an adequate offering in second in the Punchestown Gold Cup ensured he was not on many radars for this season.
Yet that John Durkan effort was only a little over 12 months ago and James Joseph Mangan has seemed keen to keep him under wraps for as long as possible this season, running him over hurdles over which he is much less effective. This weekend will tell whether he is to join the above only in the recesses of racing consciousness, or spring right back to the forefront, as he is entered, and an intended runner, in the Cotswold Chase on Trials Day at Cheltenham.
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Wed 07 Jan 2026Tip for the Weekend
Impose Toi is an imposing and improving favourite for the Cleeve Hurdle (3.35 Cheltenham) on Saturday, but Ma Shantou makes some appeal against him. For now, he is backable each-way, but if the field cuts up, the seven-year-old could well remain a worthwhile bet for win only purposes, as he receives 6lb from the favourite, loves Cheltenham, is on the tup and runs for a yard in good form so far in 2026.