French Holly (original) (raw)

French Holly (26 March 1991 – 5 November 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. During a racing career which lasted from February 1996 until October 1999 he won ten of his twenty races and was placed on six occasions. He won two of his six flat races before switching to hurdling in the autumn of 1997. He was unbeaten as a novice winning five races including the Tolworth Hurdle and Royal & SunAlliance Novices' Hurdle. In the following year he won the Christmas Hurdle but then sustained three consecutive defeats when matched against the reigning Champion Hurdler Istabraq. He was then sent to France where he defeated a strong field in the before finishing fourth in the French Champion Hurdle. He won his first and only steeplec