Champion Hurdle heroine Epatante retired and in foal to Walk In The Park

Epatante, winner of the 2020 Champion Hurdle, has been retired and is in foal to Walk In The Park, trainer Nicky Henderson revealed on Sunday. The JP McManus-owned nine-year-old was last seen finishing fourth behind Echoes In Rain in the Grade 1 Mares' Champion Hurdle at Punchestown in April.

"She was a brilliant hurdler who gave us a great day when she won the Champion Hurdle, one of the many super days we had with her," said Henderson.

During her 24-race career, Epatante finished outside the first three only four times. She recorded 12 victories and collected £997,915 in prize-money. Her biggest success came when beating Sharjah by three lengths in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival under Barry Geraghty.

"She was a very good jumper and held her form well," said Frank Berry, racing manager to McManus. "If all goes well, we'll look forward to racing her progeny."

Epatante scored on her stable debut at Kempton in November 2018 and the following season won the Christmas Hurdle at the track, her first British Grade 1.

During the 2020-21 season, she won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle before finishing nine and a half lengths behind Honeysuckle in the Champion Hurdle. The following campaign followed a similar pattern. She won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Christmas Hurdle, as well as the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle.

Epatante finished behind Constitution Hill on her first two starts last season before securing her final victory in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares' Hurdle at Doncaster in January.

Read these next:

'If the Grand National entries closed tomorrow she'd be in it' - could Fantastic Lady complete Aintree dream for Nicky Henderson? 

Hillcrest ruled out for a second season as connections give him more time to recover from leg injury 

Racing Post Members' Club: subscribe for just £9.99 

Do you want £400+ of free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.