Hello Bud - Keith Melrose
Hello Bud's career carried to almost a full decade, yet it was nearly over after just a couple of months. He missed more than three years after his first, stunted season with Peter Casey and even on his return to Rules offered little more than a whiff of ability. It was only with David Wintle and, upon that trainer's retirement, Nigel Twiston-Davies that he started to achieve all he could.
Three 'Nationals' (Southern, Somerset and Scottish) in 2008/9 made Hello Bud's name, but it was for his exploits at Aintree that he'll be most fondly remembered. He was fifth in both the Becher and the Grand National the following season before putting his trademark brio to good use when landing the 2010 renewal of the Becher. Higher marks meant he would struggle to win again over the next two years, before he returned at the age of 14 to Aintree for the final time.
Evidently undimmed despite his near-15 years, Hello Bud went through the 2012 Becher Chase like he had most of his other races: enthusiastically up with the pace. He was headed by Gullible Gordon just after Becher's Brook, but held his place and eventually found himself in front again jumping two out as supposedly quicker sorts toiled. Past the elbow, as Big Fella Thanks tired and an outpaced Join Together charged, Hello Bud was stoic in front and held the latter off by a neck.
Even commentator Richard Hoiles' voice cracked towards the finish that day, but the 14-year-old Hello Bud didn't. It makes you wonder what he might have achieved without those lost years in Ireland.
Monkerhostin - Matt Gardner
Effective at any trip, on any ground and at most tracks, we could well be talking about Monkerhostin as the 2005 King George winner had he jumped the final fence more fluently that day, ultimately going down by just a neck to Kicking King but by no means done with prior to that mistake.
That year's renewal of the King George was staged at Sandown, the first one to be run there since One Man's triumph in 1996, and Monkerhostin would go on to gain his final two wins at that track, in the bet365 Gold Cup in 2008 and in another competitive handicap in February of 2010.
Monkerhostin's win in the bet365 Gold Cup (or the Whitbread for the traditionalists) will go down as his most memorable victory but it is his final entrance into the winners' enclosure, gained as a 13-year-old, which merits his inclusion on this list. The race was short on progressive types but Monkerhostin made light of his years to triumph in a typical Sandown finish, half a dozen still in with a chance three out before the old-timer made his late play.
Monkerhostin would race twice more, latterly finishing fourth in the 2010 renewal of the bet365 Gold Cup, briefly looking as though he might reach the leaders when still going well early in the straight but ultimately unable to sustain his effort.
His adaptability as a young horse made him famous, but is was as a veteran at Sandown that Monkerhostin ensured his legacy.
Spot Thedifference - Tony McFadden
Not everyone loves the Cross Country Chase - such is the amount of people that use the race as a time to head to the bar the queue is often longer than between races! However, one man who certainly appreciates the hedges, wedges and assorted ledges that are there to be clambered over is Enda Bolger: the king of the Cross Country. Bolger's record over the banks is unrivalled - he trained Risk of Thunder for five of his wins in the prestigious La Touche Cup at Punchestown - and he unsurprisingly dominated the early renewals of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, sending out four of the first five winners.
It was Bolger's first winner of the Cheltenham race, Spot Thedifference, who is arguably most fondly remembered. At the age of 11, Spot Thedifference should have been entering the twilight of a solid but unspectacular career where he had achieved a useful level of form as a conventional chaser. However, rather than winding down, Spot Thedifference's standing among racing fans began to increase as he completed a clean-sweep of the events over the unique course in the 04/05 season, lumping top weight to victory at The Festival, staying on determinedly to grind out victory. He wasn't quite so prolific the following season, though, winning just once, but he captured the hearts of some of the biggest Cross Country deriders with a gallant bid to defend his Festival crown at the age of 13, finishing runner-up to a rival receiving over a stone in weight.
The teenage Spot Thedifference wasn't ready for retirement just yet, though, as he won at Cheltenham twice in the 06/07 season. He was beaten at the 2007 Festival but gained a memorable and well-deserved swansong at his favourite course in a race that may have been farcical in nature - Timeform's report stated that some of the riders who departed 'exited like extras shot in a western' - but was exactly what the crowd had wanted: a final success for their cult hero. To further add to the drama, in a true display of showmanship, Spot Thedifference slipped as they passed the line and lay prone, leaving spectators fearing the worst. However, the 14-y-o got to his feet and walked off to a rapturous reception and well-earned retirement.
