Death of Lincoln winner turned broodmare Hunters Of Brora at ripe old age of 30

Long-serving owner-breeder Robert Gibbons has expressed his sorrow at the death of Hunters Of Brora, the gift horse for which he once turned down a six-figure bid.

The star of his half century in bloodstock, who won the Lincoln in 1998 and went on to be a successful broodmare, has been put down aged 30.

"It's very sad, she was 30 years of age and we didn't think she could go through another winter," said Gibbons. "She'd lost condition.

"I've had a dozen emails come in already as word has got round, she seemed to capture the imagination of quite a lot of people over the years. She was very popular with the racing public, I used to get quite a lot of cards and letters from people and I'd never had that before.

Jason Weaver with Hunters Of Brora after winning the LincolnCredit: Smith Phil

"I've been breeding horses for 50 years, I took over from my father in 1970, and celebrated my 100th winner last year - which isn't bad for a small stud in the highlands of Scotland."

Hunters Of Brora, by Sharpo out of the Alleged mare Nihad, also won the Newcastle Gold Cup and earned more than £150,000 in a 44-race career spent with James Bethell in Middleham.

"For some years I ran the Maktoums' racing empire, I was lawyer to Sheikh Maktoum," said Gibbons, 83. "Hunters Of Brora was bred by Gainsborough and Sheikh Maktoum gave her to me as a foal - it was a nice present, wasn't it?

"She was always knocking at the door, then we had this breakthrough as she got older. She won the Lincoln when she was eight and she got better with age - all the horses I breed seem to be like that, I'm happy to say.

"I had offers for her all the time, a group from Australia offered me £100,000, but I was never tempted to sell her."

Bethell, who still trains for Gibbons, said: "It's very sad news, she did us very well. The win in the Lincoln was probably the best memory. She also won the Newcastle Gold Cup and when she was second in the Cambridgeshire to Halling that wasn't bad form considering what he went on to do afterwards!

"She just kept improving and improving, the older she got the better she got, and she gave Mr Gibbons a lot of good days.

"At one stage she had a dreadful sinus problem which needed a big operation, which kept her off for a year, but she kept going until she was eight."

Gibbons, a former Jockey Club steward who also bred smart staying chaser Mid Day Gun, has a granddaughter of Hunters Of Brora at home and is looking forward to better next year from great grandson Stockbridge Tap.

He is also optimistic for the future of the sport and said: "My family have been racing horses for the best part of 100 years.

"We've had good times and bad times and what's interesting about racing is that people think it's all coming to a halt but then new people come in to it.

"After the war the Americans came into it, then the French came in when things were looking bad. Now we've got the Arabs and people from the Far East are taking quite an interest, we're getting a few Chinese and Malaysian owners.

"It's attractive for people to get involved and I think we'll always find new people will want to enter the game. That's been the pattern over the generations."

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