Big Buck’s Dies Aged 23: Remembering One of National Hunt Racing’s Greatest Staying Hurdlers
Some horses are remembered for a single extraordinary afternoon. Others build a reputation so formidable that, for a period of time, defeat begins to feel almost unimaginable.
Big Buck’s belonged firmly in the second category.
The brilliant staying hurdler, who dominated his division during one of the strongest eras in Paul Nicholls’ training career, has died at the age of 23. His passing brings to an end the life of a horse whose achievements place him among the outstanding National Hunt performers of the modern era.
Four consecutive victories in Cheltenham’s championship staying hurdle, four Liverpool Hurdles, three Long Walk Hurdles and an extraordinary sequence of 18 successive National Hunt victories tell part of the story.
Yet Big Buck’s career might never have happened at all.
His transformation from an unreliable chaser into an almost unbeatable staying hurdler remains one of the great examples of a trainer recognising where a horse’s true strengths lay.
The Hennessy Fall That Changed Everything
Big Buck’s was not originally intended to become a staying-hurdle legend.
Connections believed they had a potentially top-class staying chaser, and there was enough ability there for Nicholls to harbour serious ambitions over fences.
The problem was his jumping.
Nicholls later recalled how Big Buck’s could negotiate a sequence of fences in completely different ways and still possess sufficient ability to win. That raw talent encouraged connections to persevere.
Then came the 2008 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury.
Big Buck’s fell at the final fence, and the experience ultimately persuaded Nicholls and owner Andy Stewart to return him to hurdles.
Stewart apparently thought his trainer was “bonkers”.
History delivered a rather different verdict.
From Failed Chaser to Staying Superstar
Once returned to hurdles, Big Buck’s found his calling.
He possessed stamina, class and an extraordinary ability to keep finding when races appeared to be moving against him. That became one of the defining characteristics of his career.
Those who followed him will remember the familiar pattern.
Big Buck’s could travel comfortably before apparently hitting a flat spot, occasionally giving supporters a few uncomfortable moments. Then, often under Ruby Walsh, he would gather himself and begin moving through the race again.
By the time Cheltenham’s famous hill arrived, the result so often looked inevitable.
He won what is now the Stayers’ Hurdle four consecutive times, establishing himself as the dominant staying hurdler of his generation.
And he didn’t only dominate Cheltenham.
Big Buck’s collected four Liverpool Hurdles at Aintree and three Long Walk Hurdles at Ascot, repeatedly proving his superiority wherever the major staying prizes were staged.
If there was an important long-distance hurdle race, Big Buck’s generally turned up.
And usually won it.
Eighteen Consecutive Victories
Perhaps the statistic that best demonstrates his dominance is 18.
After reverting to hurdles, Big Buck’s eventually surpassed Sir Ken’s long-standing mark by winning 18 consecutive National Hunt races.
For a horse competing season after season at the highest level, it was an extraordinary achievement.
Only Altior subsequently bettered the sequence.
Winning streaks of that magnitude require far more than ability. Horses must remain sound, maintain their form and repeatedly overcome whatever opposition, ground and tactical circumstances confront them.
Big Buck’s managed it while carrying the expectations that inevitably accompanied his reputation.
He wasn’t merely expected to compete.
He was expected to win.
For several seasons, he almost always did.
The Fourth Cheltenham Crown
When Nicholls was asked to choose one performance from a career filled with memorable afternoons, he selected Big Buck’s fourth consecutive championship victory at Cheltenham.
That assessment makes sense.
By then, Big Buck’s was not an emerging champion attempting to establish himself. He was the horse everybody wanted to beat.
In Voler La Vedette, he faced an outstanding Irish challenger capable of asking serious questions of the champion.
Big Buck’s answered them.
The victory completed an unprecedented fourth successive triumph in the Festival’s staying hurdle championship and confirmed a level of dominance rarely witnessed in a major National Hunt division.
It was the sort of achievement that changes how a horse is remembered.
He was no longer merely the best staying hurdler around.
He had become part of Cheltenham history.
A Golden Era at Ditcheat
Big Buck’s achievements become even more remarkable when considering the company he kept.
Nicholls was overseeing an exceptional group of horses at Ditcheat, including Kauto Star, Denman, Master Minded and Neptune Collonges.
Those names represent some of the defining National Hunt horses of their generation.
Yet Nicholls places Big Buck’s alongside them.
He described him as potentially as talented as anything he trained and continues to wonder what might have happened had the horse possessed a more natural technique over fences.
Nicholls believes Big Buck’s had the raw ability required to win a Cheltenham Gold Cup.
We will never know.
What we do know is that abandoning the chasing experiment allowed him to become something arguably even more distinctive.
John Mills’ View
There is a wonderful lesson in the career of Big Buck’s.
His greatest success emerged from something that initially looked like failure.
Connections wanted a top-class chaser. They discovered that, despite possessing enormous ability, Big Buck’s simply wasn’t natural enough over fences to fulfil that ambition.
Rather than continuing to force the issue, they changed direction.
The result was one of the finest staying hurdlers National Hunt racing has produced.
Four Cheltenham championship victories would have guaranteed his place in racing history on their own. Add those Aintree and Ascot successes and a sequence of 18 consecutive victories, and his standing becomes indisputable.
Big Buck’s was surrounded by extraordinary horses during that golden period at Ditcheat.
He was unquestionably one of them.
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