'She was special in every single way' - Nicky Henderson announces retirement of Cheltenham Festival winner Marie's Rock

Nicky Henderson has paid an emotional tribute to Marie's Rock after announcing the retirement of his Cheltenham Festival winner.

The nine-year-old, who caused an 18-1 shock under Nico de Boinville in the Mares' Hurdle in 2022, won nine of her 22 starts and earned just over £350,000 in prize-money.

Owned by Middleham Park Racing, Marie's Rock was purchased for €35,000 at the Goffs Land Rover store sale before making a successful debut at Ffos Las in May 2019. The mare followed her Cheltenham Festival success with a second Grade 1 victory in the Irish Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

She went on to land the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on New Year's Day last year before taking the Grade 2 Warfield Mares' Hurdle at Doncaster this January. Her last run came on the Flat, when she finished a head second in the Listed Beckford Stakes at Bath this month.

Reflecting on her career, Henderson said: "She was a bit special in every single way. When we bought her, nobody would have ever dreamt then, or even after her first two seasons, that she was going to finish where she did. She never missed a beat throughout her career – it was terrific.

"Fair play to Middleham Park, who have a great squad, because she was very special to everyone and we'll miss her."

Marie's Rock: winner of the 2022 Mares' HurdleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Henderson added: "She will be sold as a potential broodmare and whoever takes her will have the most fantastic broodmare in the world. We gave her two runs on the Flat; she was unlucky the first time and she was only beaten a head in a Listed race a few weeks ago. It's time to move on and hopefully she'll enjoy what's next."

Marie's Rock split multiple Cheltenham Festival winners Sire Du Berlais and Flooring Porter when finishing second in last year's Liverpool Hurdle and explaining why she was so special, Henderson said: "She had one extraordinary trait that we never got to solve and it never interfered with her. 

"You've never seen any racehorse carry its head higher than she did everyday. It almost looked rather unnatural, but she did all her work and schooling that way, and you'd ask yourself how could she even see a hurdle. It's why we got her to wear the sheepskin noseband, to get her to put her head down and see where she was going. 

"It took a jockey with really good hands to ride her because when you have a horse with its head in the air like she did, it's very uncomfortable, but she was very unique and it was her way of doing things. You associate that with the most ungenuine horses, but she was the most genuine horse."

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