A five-time Grade 1 winner who consistently dined at the top table of jumps racing, Sire de Grugy was the horse of a lifetime for all involved. The sight of the chestnut horse with the big white face and his jockey’s red and blue racing silks expertly negotiating fences in the industry’s biggest races still lives long in the memory, particularly for the West Sussex-based trainer, Gary Moore.
Moore and his family were synonymous with the career of the great Sire de Grugy, with father, Gary, expertly preparing the 2-mile chaser for action, before giving son, Jamie, the leg up on their beloved stable star.
Outright Odds
Sire de Grugy provided his connections with some memorable moments at the Cheltenham Festival through the years, and in 2023 the same group will return to the festival with their new hero Editeur Du Gite.
Potentially another star in the making, Editeur Du Gite is currently priced at odds of 6/1 in the outright horse betting markets for the Champion Chase, a race that Sire de Grugy won in 2014.
Sire de Grugy’s Early Career
Sire de Grugy began his career at the age of four, finishing second in a race where his immaturity came to the fore. This immaturity was quick to pass, however, and he recorded the first victory of his career on New Year’s Day in 2011 when winning a maiden hurdle race at Fakenham having been sent off as the odds-on favourite in the horse betting market.
That victory was followed by two further successes over the smaller obstacles, culminating in an 11-length victory in the Grade 2 Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton. Whatever Sire de Grugy would achieve over hurdles was always going to be a bonus, with Moore and owner, Steve Preston, knowing that they had an exciting future chaser on their hands.
The Move To Chasing
After having 11 starts over hurdles, Sire de Grugy made the switch to jumping fences in October of 2012, easily winning a Beginner’s Chase at Kempton, again with his trainer’s son Jamie in the saddle.
Making quick progression through the ranks of young chasers, he would finish his Novice season by winning the Grade 2 Celebration Chase at Sandown, after which he was sent on his summer holidays to prepare to take on the best 2-mile chasers that the sport had to offer.
Taking On The Best
It didn’t take long for Sire de Grugy and Jamie Moore to make their mark at the top level, when, on just their third start of the 2013/14 season, the pair won their first Grade 1 in the prestigious Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown.
The pair would go on to dominate the 2-mile chasing division for the remainder of the season, picking up the Desert Orchid Chase and the Clarence House Chase, before lining up at the Cheltenham Festival for the first time and winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Sire de Grugy would become part of a golden generation of 2-mile chasers, with him being forced to tackle the likes of Sprinter Sacre, Un De Sceaux, Special Tiara, and Dodging Bullets throughout the remainder of his career. His final Grade 1 success came when winning his second Tingle Creek in 2015 and he would go down by just a length when making his hat-trick bid at Sandown 12 months later.
With the then 11-year-old’s form taking a nosedive in later years, Gary Moore and the rest of his connections decided to retire their superstar. It brought the curtain down on the career of one of the finest chasers to have graced the track in recent times.
