2010 Champion Hurdle
| 80th Champion Hurdle Cheltenham, 16 March 2010 |
 2010 |
| won by Binocular (FR) |
The 2010 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 16 March 2010.[1] It was the 80th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The winner was J. P. McManus's Binocular, a six-year-old gelding trained in Berkshire by Nicky Henderson and ridden by A. P. McCoy. The victory was Henderson's fifth in the race, following See You Then (1985, 1986, 1987) and Punjabi (2009) and a third for McCoy, who had won in 1997 on Make A Stand and 2006 on Brave Inca.
Binocular, who had finished third when favourite for the previous year's race, won by three and a half lengths from Khyber Kim. Punjabi was the only previous Champion Hurdler in the field. All twelve of the runners completed the course. Binocular's win was controversial as Henderson had said in February that the horse would not run in the race. Khyber Kim's trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies said in 2014: "We won the Champion Hurdle four years ago but the horse who was taken out of the race, Binocular, turned up again".[2]
Race details
- Sponsor: Smurfit Kappa
- Purse: £370,000; First prize: £210,937
- Going: Good to Soft
- Distance: 2 miles 110 yards
- Number of runners: 12
- Winner's time: 3m 53.80
Full result
| Pos. | Marg. | Horse (bred) | Age | Jockey | Trainer (Country) | Odds |
| 1 | Binocular (FR) | 6 | A. P. McCoy | Nicky Henderson (GB) | 9/1 | |
| 2 | 3½ | Khyber Kim (GB) | 8 | Paddy Brennan | Nigel Twiston-Davies (GB) | 7/1 |
| 3 | 6 | Zaynar (FR) | 5 | Andrew Tinkler | Nicky Henderson (GB) | 15/2 |
| 4 | 2½ | Celestial Halo (IRE) | 6 | Ruby Walsh | Paul Nicholls (GB) | 7/1 |
| 5 | nse | Starluck (IRE) | 5 | Timmy Murphy | Alan Fleming (GB) | 14/1 |
| 6 | 6' | Solwhit (FR) | 6 | Davy Russell | Charles Byrnes (IRE) | 6/1 |
| 7 | ¾ | Medermit (FR) | 6 | Robert Thornton | Alan King (GB) | 11/1 |
| 8 | 4½ | Jumbo Rio (IRE) | 5 | Andrew McNamara | Edward O'Grady (IRE) | 50/1 |
| 9 | 1¼ | Punjabi (GB) | 7 | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Henderson (GB) | 15/2 |
| 10 | hd | Go Native (IRE) | 7 | Paul Carberry | Noel Meade (IRE) | 11/4 fav |
| 11 | nk | Raise Your Heart (IRE) | 7 | John Cullen | Joanna Morgan (IRE) | 100/1 |
| 12 | 19 | Won In The Dark (IRE) | 6 | Graham Lee | Sabrina Harty (IRE) | 40/1 |
- Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider; PU = pulled up
Winner's details
Further details of the winner, Binocular.
- Sex: Gelding
- Foaled: 5 April 2004
- Country: France
- Sire: Enrique; Dam: Blue Ciel et Blanc (Pistolet Bleu)
- Owner: J. P. McManus
- Breeder: Elie Lellouche
References
- ↑ "Champion Hurdle result". Racing Post. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ↑ Tony Smurthwaite (27 February 2014). "The New One can right a wrong for Twiston Davies". Racing Post. Retrieved 2014-03-18.