Looking Back 64) Granville

                   Granville Again

Granville Again was a 1986 born chestnut gelding by Deep Run and his dam was called High board. He won the 1993 Champion hurdle and was a high class horse.  He began his career in Ireland and won a bumper at Leopardstown on his racecourse debut in in March 1990.  He finished runner up on his second start and won again on his third start, a bumper at Phoenix Park in Ireland.

He joined the Pond House team after this and made his stable debut over hurdles at Chepstow in December 1990 and finished second.  He won on his second start, a novice hurdle at Wolverhampton in January and followed up this with two more victories at Leicester and Kempton.  He then lined up in the Supreme Novices hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.  He was sent off the 2/1F and finished second to Destriero with Peter Scudamore on board.  He went on to Aintree after this and won the Grade 2 novices hurdle.

He then had a summer holiday and his first run back was at Leopardstown in November 1991 and he won easily.  He actually won his first four races of that season, coming back from Ireland and winning at Cheltenham in December, Chepstow and then he won the Champion hurdle trial at Haydock in January 1992.  It was then onto the Champion hurdle itself at the Festival in March where he had made headway 3 out and had every chance when falling two from home.  He bypassed Aintree this year and instead headed to Ayr for the Scottish Champion hurdle in April.  He was the impressive winner, beating Jinxy Jack by five lengths with Peter Scudamore in the saddle.

He then went on his summer holidays once again and returned to action at Cheltenham in November.  He finished a 1 length second to Morley Street in the Elite hurdle and then finished runner up back at the course in December as well.  He was third in the Christmas hurdle at Kempton and his next start was then the Champion hurdle in March 1993.  Held up he made headway before leading at the last and he was driven out to beat Royal Derbi by one length.  He then went on to finish a close second to Morley Street in the Aintree hurdle in April.

It was then time for his summer holiday again and when he returned he was unfortunately not in the same scintillating form.  Granville Again had always had a few health issues that were managed very well by MCP but unfortunately as he got older things became more of a struggle and this affected his performances on the racecourse.  He was fourth but well beaten on his comeback run at Ascot in in November 1993 and was an early faller in the Bula hurdle at Cheltenham the following month.  In January he went over to Leopardstown for the Irish Champion hurdle and finished fourth, before he then finished seventh in the Champion hurdle in March 1994 behind winner Flakey Dove.  After this his owner decided to move him and he went north to trainer Lenny Lungo.  He had one for him where he finished second to last in the Scottish Champion hurdle before he was moved to pastures new once again with trainer Muriel Naughton. 

He did return for the Champion hurdle in 1994 but finished 12^th of 14 behind Alderbrook and he actually pulled up in his final three runs of his career before he was retired, running his last race in the Fighting Fifth hurdle at Newcastle in November 1996.  He sadly died at the age of 17 in 2003.

Granville Again won twelve races from 30 career starts and was placed ten times as well and he won over £208,000 in prize money.  He was a super talented horse who is warmly remembered at Pond House.

Watch him win the 1993 Champion hurdle here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8POsF4Ga8pk