Looking Back 33) Voyage

                Voyage Sans Retour

I have to confess that today’s horse is not one I had really heard of but was asked to write about by regular reader John Wallage.  Voyage Sans Retour - a journey without return.  Although not perhaps a household name he had some high class form and boasted a very good wins to runs ratio.  He was a 1985 born chestnut son of Le Naine Jaune and his dam was called Mativa.  He was French bred and began his career on the flat in France, trained by H A Pantall.  He had two educational runs as a two year old and got his first win on his first start as a three year old at Challans in April 1988.

He went on to record a further four victories that summer and in fact did not finish out of the first three from 11 runs.  Quite an impressive record that year – five wins, three seconds and three thirds running over distances from 1m2½ f to 1m6f.

He arrived at Pond House in November 1988 and made a winning Pond House debut over hurdles the following month at Haydock.  He followed this up by winning at Cheltenham in January 1989 and he ran in the Triumph hurdle at that year’s Cheltenham Festival.  While this was a bridge too far at this time he returned back to Cheltenham for their April meetings and won his third hurdle race of that season.

He was then not seen for nearly twelve months but he made a winning return in a handicap hurdle at Newbury in March 1991 with Mark Perrett in the saddle.  He finished fifth at Aintree after this and then returned to Cheltenham for the April meeting once again and it was the same result as last year as he won a handicap hurdle with Jonothan Lower on board.

After a summer at grass he came back for what was to be his final season at Pond House.  He finished second at Cheltenham in January 1991 and then went on the win the Agfa hurdle at Sandown in February of that year.  He ran a fine race in that year’s Champion hurdle, finishing fifth only 8 lengths behind winner Morley Street.  He finished runner up in the Welsh Champion hurdle and then his last run for the yard was in the Scottish champion hurdle at Ayr where he finished last of five runners but was not beaten that far.

After going home for his summer holiday his owners decided to move him to pastures new.  He moved to Jonjo O’Neill who was based up in Cumbria in those days.  He won two novice chases from only 3 more career starts after leaving Pond House before he was sadly killed in a fall at Bangor in December 1991.

Rated 150 over hurdles he was the winner of eight of 17 starts in England and was placed another three times winning over £30,000 in prize money.  Not many horses can boast such a good strike rate at a pretty good level as well.

Watch his win in the 1989 Steel Plate 4 yo hurdle at Cheltenham here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7aTvnnTAOI