Blaklion

Another product of Kayf Tara - who’s also been the stud to Thistlecrack, Ballyandy, Carruthers, No Planning, Ballybolley and many others - Blaklion was born in 2009. He was owned by Nigel Twiston-Davies until 2014, where he was bought by Simon Such and Gino Paletta while being left at Grange Hill Farm in Cheltenham in order for Nigel Twiston-Davies to remain as Blaklion’s trainer.

It was possible to gain a level of consistency through Blaklion remaining with Nigel Twiston-Davies throughout his life and racing career. He currently holds a record of nine wins, six seconds and three thirds from a total of twenty-seven major race meetings, and as Blaklion continues to race, there’s potential for future wins.

Taking on a handful of practice races saw Blaklion winning the Brightwells Bloodstock Geldings Maiden at Tinahely, finish third in the Enter Brightwells Cheltenham December Sale Maiden at Lingstown, fourth in the Goffs Bloodstock Sales Maiden at Durrow, and fifth in the DBS Hennessy Sale at Ballinaboola. The mixed results didn’t give Nigel Twiston-Davies a lot to go by, but he felt that Blaklion was ready to compete at the next level, winning the Glyn Abbey Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race at Ffos Las, the Haydock Park Races Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race at Haydock, the Pipe And Piling Supplies Day Novices’ Hurdle at Perth, and the Totepool Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow.

Achieving five wins in succession showed a lot of promise for Blaklion but he was met with his first major defeat at Cheltenham’s November Meeting, finishing at a respectable second in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle. He was able to make up for the shortcoming in winning the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham a month later, but it was disappointing to see a third-place finish in the Betfred Goals Galore Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury, a second-place finish in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster, and a failure to finish in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival.

Two fourth place finishes in the Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree and The Robert Mottram Memorial Trophy at Chepstow showed even more disappointment, not helped by falling in the next entry into Cheltenham during the Mallard Jewellers Novices’ Chase. When all hope was lost, Blaklion responded in winning the Harrison James And Hardie Novices’ Chase and the RSA Chase at Cheltenham, as well as the Totepool Towton Novices’ Chase at Wetherby. A variety of second, third, and fourth-place finishes occurred at Wetherby, Newbury, and Haydock, up until 2017, where Blaklion won the Randox Health Becher Handicap Chase at Aintree. This was followed by a second-place finish in the Betfred Grand National Trial Handicap Chase at Haydock, and failures to complete runs in the 2018 Aintree Grand National, and the Bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Sandown.

It would be fair to say that - while Blaklion hasn’t proven himself to be the most consistent horse - he’s taken his greatest achievement at Aintree Racecourse. The first entry at Aintree came in 2015, where he finished fourth in the Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle. He could then only reach third in the Betfred Mildmay Novices’ Chase and fourth in the Randox Health Grand National. Success finally came at Aintree when Blaklion won the Randox Health Becher Handicap Chase in 2017. It was hoped that the win would be enough to inspire a strong showing in the coveted Aintree Grand National, but his following attempt saw him brought down early on.

Past successes have made a lot of punters interested to see Blaklion odds as they’re released for future races. We’ve made this page into a hub for information on Blaklion, including all entries into race meetings on the calendar, which are listed below:

When is Blaklion’s next race?

Saturday 8th December 2018: Randox Health Becher Handicap Chase