Born in 1978, Dawn Run was one of the more successful mares in a sport dominated by the other gender. She started our relatively quiet but would go on to become the most celebrated mare in the records of National Hunt. Most horses start out at the age of 2 but this mare was taken to the competitions at the first time at the age of four and despite the odds against her, she did turn a good result in competitions at the provincial level with her first forays being in flat racing. Charmian Hill, her owner, also doubled as her jockey for the first few games. Hill was 62 years old at the time.
Dawn Run’s trainers seemed to dither a lot on what the horse was destined to do. While some thought that she was best at competitions that involved flat racing, others believed that hurdles were her forte. After the first few flat racing ventures, she would eventually turn to hurdles, where she also shone, coasting to victory in various events. Still undecided, her owner decided that it was time to take a shot at steeple chasing, which is what they prepared her for in 1985. She started her journey in the competition by winning her debut race but was unfortunately injured for a long stretch, making her return at the end of the year. While chasing honours in France, in 1986, Dawn fell heavily and broke her neck. The event was widely covered across the world by major publications, and editorials came out praising her as a gallant soldier that fell in the line of duty.
In her life, she had won a slew of races in all the categories she competed in. However, her biggest accomplishment was that she had managed to set the pace as the only ever horse to win the French, Irish and English treble.
