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One of top jumper sire My Prince's excellent sons, the great Easter Hero won the Cheltenham Gold Cup both times he ran it, winning each race by 20 lengths. Brilliant, fast, with a huge jump, he failed to win the Grand National--in 1928 he stood too far back at the Canal Turn and hung on the fence, causing a spectacular back-up among the 41 horses behind him. In 1929 he started as favorite, but placed second to Gregalach, to whom he had given 16 pounds, and further, it was found he had spread a plate during the running. In 1930, lame after his Cup win, he did not run in the National; in '31 the Cup was cancelled due to weather, and Easter Hero fell during the National, subsequently appearing to lose his form and was gracefully retired by his then-owner American John Hay Whitney. Back in the U.S., Easter Hero was hunted in Virginia by Whitney for several years, and then was sent to Whitney's farm in Kentucky to join the "Gas House Gang." He is buried in the horse cemetery at Greentree. Easter Hero, according to turf writer John Welcome, had the looks, presence, and talent to attract public attention at the end of the 1920s, and consequently "...put steeplechasing on the map as a popular public sport." Easter Hero's tail-female family, the half-bred Irish Arab Maid family, included a number of 'chasers, including Sultana and her sire, Thomastown, who ran in the Grand National of 1866, and, more recently, Red Marauder, winner of the 2001 Grand National. |
