Danoli

Danoli
Danoli
Sire	Hennessy Gold Cup (1997)

Danoli (14 May 1988 – April 2006) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. He was best known for his successes in hurdle races, although he also had success in steeplechases later in his career. Danoli was described as the most popular racehorse in Ireland during the 1990s,^[2] and was regarded as "the People's Champion".^[3] His successes were achieved despite the fact that his career was frequently disrupted by injury. He was noted for a rivalry with another Irish horse, Dorans Pride.

Background

Danoli was a bay horse with a small white

National Hunt

stallion The Parson out of the mare Blaze Gold.

As a three-year-old

Charlie Swan

and Tommy Treacey.

Racing career

1992–1993: National Hunt flat races

Danoli began his career by running in National Hunt flat races (also known as "bumpers") in the 1992/1993 season. He was unbeaten in three starts, winning two races at Naas and one at Punchestown.^[1]

1993–1996: hurdle races

In the 1993/1994 season he began to race over hurdles and won his first two starts before he was beaten by Winter Belle at

Charlie Swan he took the lead four hurdles from the finish and stayed on to win by two lengths from Corrouge.^[7] Describing the reaction of the crowd, George Ennor of the Racing Post wrote that "they cheered him down to the start, they cheered him as he started, they cheered more loudly as he took the lead, and they raised the roof as he passed the post in front."^[6] Having defeated the best of the English and Irish novices, Danoli next faced a much stronger field in the Aintree Hurdle a month later. He started 9/2 third favourite behind the newly crowned English champion Flakey Dove and Fortune and Fame. Swan tracked the leader Muse before going into the lead three hurdles from the finish. Danoli went into a clear lead and was never seriously challenged, winning by eight lengths from Mole Board, with Fortune and Fame third and Flakey Dove fifth.^[8]

Danoli began the 1994/1995 season by winning the

cannon bone in his right foreleg. He was operated on at the University of Liverpool's Leahurst Veterinary College, and his future as a racehorse was left in the balance.^[2]

After a hiatus of more than nine months, Danoli returned with his new regular jockey Tommy Treacy and finished third in the

Gowran Park in February for the Red Mills Trial Hurdle and won by eight lengths. The Glasgow Daily Record described the scenes at the course as resembling "a huge, happy, raucous party".^[11]

He started 5/1 second favourite for the Champion Hurdle and finished fourth behind Collier Bay, Alderbrook and Pridwell. His bid for a third Aintree Hurdle ended in failure as he ran third to the novice Urubande.

1996–2000: steeplechases

The 1996/1997 season saw Danoli switched to racing over larger obstacles as he began his career as a steeplechaser. He won minor races at

Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown on 2 February. The field of experienced steeplechasers included the Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Jodami and Imperial Call as well as the multiple Grade I winner Merry Gale. Ridden by Treacy, Danoli disputed the lead from the start and stayed on under pressure to win by one and a half lengths from Jodami.^[13] His victory was greeted with enthusiastic celebrations from the Irish crowd, who treated him as an "equine folk hero".^[14] Danoli was made second favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup

but was never going well and looked beaten when he fell two fences from the finish.

Injury problems kept Danoli off the racecourse for nineteen months. He returned in October 1998 and finished third to Doran's Pride in a race at Gowran Park, but was then sidelined by injury yet again. In February 2000, now twelve years old, Danoli unseated Treacy in the Hennessy but then showed signs of returning form as he finished third to Micko's Dream at Naas and second to His Song in the Grade II Newlands Chase at Navan Racecourse. Danoli returned to Navan on 25 March and recorded his first win in over three years by beating Jeffell by two and a half lengths.^[15] On his final appearance five weeks later, he fell at the sixth fence in the Punchestown Gold Cup.

Retirement

Danoli's retirement was announced in August 2000 with Foley explaining that "he's given us some great memories and is a horse we'll hardly ever see the like of again. We just don't want to take any kind of chance with him in a chase and see him being put down."^[3] Danoli spent most of his retirement at the Irish National Stud, Kildare. During retirement he became inseparable from another favourite race horse from the 1990s, the Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop. He was euthanised in April 2006 after suffering from a severe bout of colic. According to Tom Foley, "they tried everything they could and had no choice but to put him down."^[16]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Danoli (IRE), bay gelding, 1988^[17]
Sire The Parson (GB) 1968	Aureole 1950	Hyperion	Gainsborough
		Hyperion	Selene
		Angelola	Donatello
		Angelola	Feola
	Bracey Bridge 1962	Chanteur	Chateau Bouscaut
		Chanteur	La Diva
		Rutherford Bridge	Sayajirao
		Rutherford Bridge	Rustic Bridge
Dam Blaze Gold (IRE) 1974	Arizona Duke 1968	Dud de Gueldre	Le Haar
		Dud de Gueldre	Nuit de Veille
		Arizonnette	Rigolo
		Arizonnette	Barbizonnette
	Jut Gold 1957	Liberator	Djebel
		Liberator	Liberation
		Jut Put	Prestissimo
		Jut Put	Come Hither (Family 42)^[18]

References

^ ^a ^b "Danoli". Racing Post. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b Mallon, Brian (11 April 1995). "Danoli's career still in balance after operation". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Danoli, hero of a nation, is retired". Retrieved 21 July 2012 – via Free Online Library.
^ Hugh McMahon. "Danoli images". Sporthorse-data.com. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Goffs sale 1991". Racing Post. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Small-town star who opened the floodgates of emotion". Retrieved 21 July 2012 – via Free Online Library.
^ "Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "1994 Aintree Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "1995 Aintree Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ Mallon, Brian (22 January 1996). "Danoli triumphant in defeat". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Not so much a horse race...more a lap of honour". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Denny Gold Medal Chase". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Hennessy Gold Cup". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Danoli is dynamite". Daily Mirror. 3 February 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Navan Commercials Truck Importers Chase". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Hurdle great Danoli passes away". BBC News. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Danoli pedigree". Equineline. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
^ "Spanker Mare – Family 42". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[racingpost1-1] "Danoli". Racing Post. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012.

[indy-2] Mallon, Brian (11 April 1995). "Danoli's career still in balance after operation". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[thefreelibrary2-3] "Danoli, hero of a nation, is retired". Retrieved 21 July 2012 – via Free Online Library.

[4] Hugh McMahon. "Danoli images". Sporthorse-data.com. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[5] "Goffs sale 1991". Racing Post. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[thefreelibrary1-6] "Small-town star who opened the floodgates of emotion". Retrieved 21 July 2012 – via Free Online Library.

[7] "Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[8] "1994 Aintree Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[9] "1995 Aintree Hurdle". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[10] Mallon, Brian (22 January 1996). "Danoli triumphant in defeat". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[11] "Not so much a horse race...more a lap of honour". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[12] "Denny Gold Medal Chase". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[13] "Hennessy Gold Cup". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[14] "Danoli is dynamite". Daily Mirror. 3 February 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[15] "Navan Commercials Truck Importers Chase". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[16] "Hurdle great Danoli passes away". BBC News. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[17] "Danoli pedigree". Equineline. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

[18] "Spanker Mare – Family 42". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 21 July 2012.

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