A RUN OF THE AGES

REMEMBERING DAWN RUN'S REMARKABLE GOLD CUP

- By Jon Lees

THE modern era is now littered with mares who have won the Champion Hurdle, but none have proved a match for the mighty Dawn Run.

When she won the Champion Hurdle in 1984 she became only the second mare to win the big race.

Yet completing a famous double by adding the Cheltenham Gold Cup two years later put her in a league of her own.

That iconic contest 40 years ago climaxed a dramatic and controversial buildup in which owner Charmian Hill’s decision to dump Dawn Run’s regular jockey Tony Mullins, the son of trainer Paddy Mullins, was vindicated.