Housing star names such as Constitution Hill, Jonbon and many more at his Upper Lambourn yard, Nicky Henderson no doubt heads into the 2024/25 National Hunt season with high hopes. Whether Henderson can go close to a seventh Champion Trainer title remains to be seen, but he will likely hope for better than the 2023/24 campaign, which saw superstar hurdler Constitution Hill appear only once, and sickness in the yard all but write off the Cheltenham Festival.
With established stars returning to fitness and a host of intriguing youngsters coming through the ranks, Henderson boasts an enviable cast of talent to take into battle. However, he must do without a mare who has served the yard with distinction since making her debut in 2019, as this week brought the news that Marie’s Rock would head into retirement. Here, we look back at the career highs of a mare who progressed from Class 5 company to success on the biggest stage of all.
A Promising Start
Snapped up for €35,000 by Middleham Park Racing at the 2018 Goffs Landrover sale, Marie’s Rock made her debut for Nicky Henderson in a Ffos Las Bumper contest in May 2019.
It’s fair to say the daughter of Milan took to racing like a duck to water – winning each of her first three starts by a combined distance of 15¾l. With the last of those victories coming in the Listed Byerley Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Taunton, the future looked bright.
Bump in the Road
Unfortunately, Marie’s Rock missed the remainder of her debut season due to injury – including potential outings at the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals.
Only returning to the track 334 days after that Listed victory at Taunton, much was expected of the unbeaten mare on her first start following a wind operation in a Listed event at Newbury. However, she trailed home in seventh that day and didn’t fare much better when beaten by 22l in her next outing in Grade 2 company.
Having shown so little, Marie’s Rock again skipped the spring festivals of 2021. Returning in October 2021, back-to-back defeats at Wetherby and Cheltenham left many wondering whether the now six-year-old would ever deliver on that early promise.
Exploding Back to Life
Dropped into Class 3 handicap company for her next start, Marie’s Rock rediscovered her mojo to register an effortless 7l success. A setback followed when she was hampered in the Lanzarote Hurdle, but she was back in the Winners Enclosure following a smooth victory in the 2022 Listed Warwick Mares’ Hurdle. And then came her finest hour…
Despite her sparkling recent outings, Marie’s Rock started as a largely unconsidered 18/1 chance in the 2022 edition of the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, with an array of top Irish talent standing in the way of glory. To make the frame in her first crack at a Grade 1 would represent a fine achievement, but Marie’s Rock did much better than that. Moving upsides Queen’s Brook at the last hurdle, one flick of the whip produced a burst of acceleration which propelled the mount of Nico De Boinville up the hill for a cosy 1¾l victory.
MARIE’S ROCK wins the @CloseBrothers Mares’ Hurdle in some style pic.twitter.com/IlrxohHa6b
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 15, 2022
Having finally confirmed her talent beyond any doubt, the thriving mare was sent to Punchestown for her next assignment, as she joined her odds-on stablemate Epatante in the Grade 1 Mares’ Champion Hurdle. Once again overlooked by the market, it was the 10/1 chance Marie’s Rock, rather than Epatante, who powered home after the last to reel in long-time leader Stormy Ireland. From two injury interruptions and loss of form to back-to-back Grade 1 triumphs, Nicky Henderson had worked his magic once again.
A Big Miss to the Yard, but a Boon to the Broodmare Ranks
That spring of 2022 represented the pinnacle of Marie’s Rock’s career, with four subsequent outings in Grade 1 company yielding nothing better than a runner-up finish in the 2023 Liverpool Hurdle. However, she added to her haul in the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle (2023) and Grade 2 Warfield Mares’ Hurdle (2024) to end her career with nine wins from 22 starts and just over £350,000 in total prize money.
Set to be sold as a broodmare to provide the Marie’s Rocks of the future, trainer Nicky Henderson was quick to pay tribute to his departing star, with the 73-year-old stating, “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.” He went on to say, “She will be sold as a potential broodmare and whoever takes her will have the most fantastic broodmare in the world.”
