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- Harry Derham confirms Brentford Hope has been retired following his run at Newbury (28 February).
- Derham says the decision ensures Brentford Hope retires “sound in body and mind”.
- Plans are already underway to secure him a permanent retirement home.
OLBG-sponsored National Hunt trainer Harry Derham has announced the retirement of Brentford Hope after his run at Newbury on Saturday (28th February), revealing the nine-year-old “told us he’s done enough” and will now be given the chance to enjoy a healthy retirement while still sound in body and mind.
Q: We’ve got some news to share in regards to Brentford Hope - do you want to tell us the update?
HD: “After speaking to his owners on Saturday at Newbury, we decided to call it a day with him. It was the first time I've ever seen him not want to jump off. Now, he ran fine and gave a stone away to the first three. He's nine. His body isn't getting any better. You know, he's always had a sort of flat horse trot, but it's getting progressively worse. And I think, after all he's done for us, I'd like him to have a retirement while he's still sound in body and mind.
“He has just been absolutely magnificent for us. You sort of get to a stage where, if he went back down to 130, he might be able to win again, but the body’s not getting any better. I've watched him in a lot of races now, obviously, and at the start on Saturday I've never, ever seen him look reluctant before. Meg was having to boot him round and kick him to get him going, and she pushed him away from the start. I thought that was probably him telling us he's done enough.”
Q: Well, he's such a character, and it will be so sad to not have him in the yard, because, as you say, when he goes around the trotting ring his ears are back, and you can tell what sort of day it is just from walking in first thing in the morning. But yeah, as you say, what a legend he's been. For you, he's been here from almost the very start, hasn't he?
HD: “Yeah, so we bought him in February 2023. Obviously, I started my first run on Boxing Day 2022, so he has basically been with us from the start. And like you say, he started early. I think the thing with him is that when you start out, you have lots of horses running midweek races, Class Four and Class Five races. From the beginning, he was running in good races, good Saturday handicaps, and he just got us on that bigger stage. That was absolutely amazing. I think he's paid for himself the whole way along. I think he's earned £150,000 in prize money in our care.
“I've got to give a mention to all of his owners, the Optimist Syndicate, who basically all got involved when I started out. It was a lot of money, but they all committed. I've never, ever, ever once had, “We'd like to do this with him” or “We'd like to do that with him.” It has always been all of them saying, “Do what's best for him.” If he's got beat, they've never been worried. We've raced him, we've campaigned him, and they've let him get involved. I mean, he finished second and third in two International Hurdles just because they were willing to have a crack. He's just been absolutely brilliant for us.
“I feel responsible that I want him to have a healthy retirement. I think a line that is appropriate, which Sam Turner, one of his owners, used, is to leave the game before the game leaves you. I think the game is starting to leave him. He doesn't have the legs that he used to have. People might say, “Oh, well, he finished on the line the other day,” but as we all know, that was a sprint race for two furlongs. The most telling thing for me was Newbury at the start the other day. I've always tried to listen to my horses, and I think that was him saying, “I've actually had enough of this.” He's been on the go since he was two, and I'll always be so grateful for what he's done for us. In the grand scheme of racing he's not a superstar horse, but he'll always be a superstar for us. He's been absolutely mega.”
Q: What was your most memorable day on the track with him?
HD: There have been so many. It’s hard to say just one. I think I got an enormous thrill when he was my first runner at the Punchestown Festival and he finished second to Daddy Long Legs. He ran an amazing race that day. That was at the end of when he was at his best. He’d won two that season, finished third in the Gerry Feilden, finished second in a good Newbury handicap, won at Newcastle, and won the Challenger Final. So that day was mega.
“But I’ve also got to say Haydock this year, when he won, was absolutely amazing because he's not as good as he was. He’s always had that sort of furlong dash and then been hanging on, and he had that last little kick. He was clinging on by the line, but he had his ears flat back and his head out, and he still wanted to win. I got an enormous sense of satisfaction that day because this season we were hoping he might just have one more day in the sun, and he deserved it.
“I've had loads of good days. Even when he finished second to Constitution Hill at Cheltenham, there was an enormous crowd because of Constitution Hill. He was stood in the second-place enclosure as if he’d won, just standing there with his ears up. There are some great pictures from that day. I've had some amazing memories with him.
“He’ll have a fantastic life. We’ll make sure he’s got a forever home. We’ve already been making some plans for that, and we’ll bring you more news of that at some stage. But yeah, that’s it. He’s in one piece, and you deserve a good life now, don’t you?”
