Martin Pipe: the unconventional genius who became a hero to a generation of Cheltenham Festival punters

Introducing our cast of legendary Cheltenham characters. A new instalment will be published twice a week leading up to this year's Cheltenham Festival. Today – Martin Pipe.

What made him great

It is the stuff of fairytales. The bookmaker's son and failed point-to-point rider who taught himself how to train and did it so well he ended up with a Cheltenham Festival race named after him.

The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle honours a man whose revolutionary methods won him more jump races than anyone else. Ever.

And nowhere were the unconventional genius's efforts better showcased than at the sport's equivalent of the Olympics.

He had at least one winner at every festival from 1989 to 2005, finished joint or outright most successful trainer eight times between 1989 and 2002 and retired with 34 victories at the meeting to his name, comfortably more than legends such as Fred Winter and Fred Rimell, whose traditional way of doing things he made look outdated.

Pipe was also a hero to a generation of festival punters who came to rely on his knack of getting horses ready to shine on the biggest stage.

How it started

Pipe's festival success story began in unlikely fashion with the 66-1 shot Baron Blakeney, a boxwalker who had turned out to be lame after he was bought privately in Newmarket in the autumn of 1980.

The trainer worked his magic on the new recruit, conjuring wins at Wincanton and Worcester out of him in the weeks leading up to Cheltenham.

He argued later that the four-year-old would have been a much shorter price for the Triumph Hurdle had he been in a more famous yard, rather than with an unheard-of West Country trainer who had won only 41 races in seven seasons with a licence at that point.

Baron Blakeney hinted at what was to follow by defying those insulting odds, beating 7-4 favourite Broadsword by three-quarters of a length even though jockey Paul Leach dropped his whip after the second-last flight.

Martin Pipe: none of his runners could be discounted at the Cheltenham FestivalCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Amazing feats became commonplace

Pond House sent out winner after winner in its festival heyday, at a time when there were many fewer to go at with just 18 races run over the three days.

Nothing could safely be discounted at Cheltenham, no matter how unlikely. The failed stallion Sondrio, written off at 25-1 after a poor round of jumping in his prep race, proved impossible to catch in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle in 1989.

Rolling Ball did not make his chasing debut until winning at Warwick in late February of 1991 yet he was always in command when pitched into the Sun Alliance Chase at Cheltenham just three weeks later.

And, most remarkably of all, Cyborgo did not run at all after finishing second in the Stayers' Hurdle of 1995 before returning to go one place better in the same race 12 months later. An awesome training performance.

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Monster gamble

Of all the many notable touches Pipe landed, none was so justifiably famous as his success with Unsinkable Boxer, who rewarded a wholesale public gamble in the Gold Card Hurdle Final in 1998.

The trainer knew his three-time hurdle winner had been let in lightly in this handicap and told AP McCoy that the horse who had been backed down to 5-2 favourite in a field of 24 was "the biggest certainty that you will ever ride" as he legged up the champion jockey.

Pipe's words came true as Unsinkable Boxer won every bit as easily as the betting suggested he would.

And plenty of the yard's backers had more reason to smile 48 hours later when 15-8 favourite Blowing Wind saw off 26 rivals in the County Hurdle and landed a £50,000 bonus as he had won the Imperial Cup at Sandown five days previously.

Just champion

There was plenty of quality among the quantity of Pipe's festival winners, none more so than with the pair who landed a Champion Hurdle apiece within four years in the 1990s.

Granville Again was none too easy to train and looked to have blown his chance when he fell two out, going like the winner at the time, in 1992. But he was nursed back to his very best 12 months later, when he made no mistake and took the title under Peter Scudamore.

Tony McCoy salutes the crowd after running away with the 1997 Champion Hurdle on Make A StandCredit: Julian Herbert

Make A Stand was a typical Pipe project, a useful Flat handicapper who rattled up a sequence of wins from the front over hurdles.

He made all in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton and Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury and proved equally impossible to catch upped in class for the Champion, coming home clear some 15 lengths and more under McCoy at Cheltenham in 1997.

Controversy

Only the Gold Cup eluded Pipe, whose Rushing Wild was denied the chance to improve on his 1993 second when he suffered a fatal injury in the Irish Grand National next time out.

The previous year, the yard had appeared set to land the most prestigious prize of all with the outstanding Carvill's Hill, who had put up an astonishing display to win the Welsh Grand National by fully 20 lengths off top weight of 11st 12lb.

He had followed up by a dismissive 15 lengths in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown and started as even-money favourite at Cheltenham.

Yet he was taken on up front by Golden Freeze, an outsider who was a stablemate of leading contender Toby Tobias, made jumping errors and was well beaten when virtually pulled up on the run-in. He never ran again.

Read these next:

Willie Mullins: the festival's leading trainer, the £50m fall and his big hopes this year 

'That's what McCoy is all about' - the punters' pal and a Cheltenham legend 

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