Brave Inca

Brave Inca was bred in Ireland by D W McAuley. His sire was Good Thyne, an American-bred stallion who produced the winners of over 600 jumps races in Britain and Ireland.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/300966/good-thyne |title=Good Thyne Stud Record|publisher=Racing Post |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} He was the first foal of his dam, the unraced Wigwam Mam. He was sold as a foal for 1,600gns at Tattersalls and as a yearling for IR£6,000,{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/559216/wigwam-mam/progeny-sales|url-access=subscription |title=Wigwam Mam (IRE) progeny sales record|publisher=Racing Post |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}{{dead link|date=October 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} eventually becoming the property of the Novices Syndicate. He was trained throughout his career by Colm Murphy in the village of Killenagh, near Gorey, County Wexford.{{cite web|url=http://www.colmmurphyracing.ie/ |title=Trainer Colm Murphy :: Brave Inca|publisher=Colmmurphyracing.ie |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}

Brave Inca began his career by running unplaced in minor hurdle races at Navan and Wexford in March of the 2001/2002 season. The following season began similarly with down-the-field efforts in minor hurdle events at Fairyhouse and Naas. In these two races, he was ridden by Barry Cash, who became his regular jockey for the next three seasons. In March 2003, he was switched to National Hunt flat races and began to show improvement, winning "bumpers" at Fairyhouse and Navan{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/193/navan/2003-03-22/329997 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Results from the 5.30 race at NAVAN (IRE) – 22 March 2003 |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} by wide margins.

Because of his early failures, Brave Inca entered the 2003/2004 season as a novice hurdler. He then went unbeaten in five starts. After picking up two handicaps before Christmas, he won his first major prize by defeating Newmill in the Grade I Deloitte Novice Hurdle.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/187/leopardstown/2004-02-08/345438 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Deloitte Novice Hurdle|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} At Cheltenham, he was sent off 7-2 favourite for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and won by a neck over future Cheltenham Gold Cup winner War of Attrition.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2004-03-16/344427 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Supreme Novices' Hurdle|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} The win provoked "near-hysterical" celebrations among the large Irish contingent, with Colm Murphy being carried shoulder-high into the winner's enclosure.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/racing-cash-and-brave-inca-start-irish-celebrations-566580.html |title=Cash and Brave Inca start Irish celebrations |work=The Independent |date=2004-03-17 |accessdate=2011-09-04 |location=London |first=Sue |last=Montgomery}} In his final start of the season in the Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, Brave Inca defeated the English-trained Top Novices' Hurdle winner Royal Shakespeare by a short head.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/195/punchestown/2004-04-27/351212 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Champion Novice Hurdle|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}{{cite news|last=Armytage |first=Marcus |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/2377823/Afternoon-stroll-for-foot-perfect-Flyer.html |title=Afternoon stroll for foot-perfect Flyer |work=Telegraph |date=2004-04-28 |accessdate=2011-09-04 |location=London}}

File:O'Brien's pub, Killenagh Cross Roads, Co. Wexford - geograph.org.uk - 630628.jpg

In the 2004/5 season, Brave Inca won once from seven starts. On his debut at Dromore in November, he narrowly failed to give 10 lbs to Macs Joy{{note label|Macs Joy|1|1}}, a horse he met many times over the subsequent seasons. Later in the same month, he ran second to the mare Solerina in the two-and-a-half-mile Hatton's Grace Hurdle. Two more second places followed in the December Festival Hurdle{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/4131187.stm |title=Festive success for Macs Joy |publisher=BBC News |date=2004-12-29 |accessdate=2011-09-04}} and the Irish Champion Hurdle with Macs Joy victorious on both occasions.

Brave Inca was sent off as a 10-1 chance for his first attempt at the Champion Hurdle in March 2005. In an eventful race, he finished third, beaten two necks by Hardy Eustace, who won his second championship, and Harchibald, who had seemed certain to win after the final hurdle.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2005-03-15/365983 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Champion Hurdle 2005|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} As a result of this effort, Brave Inca was sent off 2-1 favourite for the Aintree Hurdle but fell for the first and only time in his career. A season of near-misses ended as he rallied after being headed close home to defeat Harchibald and Macs Joy in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle, in which he was ridden for the first time by Tony McCoy{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/195/punchestown/2005-04-29/384116 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Punchestown Champion Hurdle|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}

Although he was already seven years old at the start of the 2005/6 season, Brave Inca appeared to be reaching his peak, an impression that was confirmed when McCoy rode him to victory in the Morgiana Hurdle, beating Harchibald and Macs Joy again.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2005/11/21/brave-inca-is-champion-material-115875-16394012/ |title=Brave Inca Is Champion Material |publisher=mirror.co.uk |date=2005-11-21 |accessdate=2011-09-04}} After another failed attempt at the Hatton's Grace Hurdle, he confirmed his superiority over the best two-mile hurdlers in Ireland with an "easy" and "convincing" victory in the December Festival Hurdle after which he was quoted as 5-1 joint favourite for the Championship.{{cite news|last=Armytage |first=Marcus |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/2370418/Brave-Inca-5-1-for-Champion-after-easy-win.html |title=Brave Inca 5-1 for Champion after easy win |work=Telegraph |date=2005-12-30 |accessdate=2011-09-04 |location=London}} A triumph in the Irish Champion Hurdle{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/187/leopardstown/2006-01-29/400075 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Irish Champion Hurdle 2006|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} meant that he was seen as the potential champion by the time of the 2006 Cheltenham Festival{{cite web|url=https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/events-tickets/the-festival/|title=Champion Hurdle favourite Brave Inca Excels in Workout|publisher=thejockeyclub.co.uk|date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}} Sent off 7-4 favourite in a field of 18, Brave Inca landed the odds in the Champion Hurdle, winning by a length from Macs Joy, with Hardy Eustace three lengths back in third. "He's all there", said Murphy after the race. "He's a complete horse now."{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2333706/Champion-run-for-Brave-Inca.html |title=Champion Run from Brave Inca|work=The Telegraph |date=2006-03-14 |accessdate=2011-08-27 |location=London}} On his final start of the season, Brave Inca finished second to Macs Joy in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

In 2006/7, Brave Inca won the Hatton's Grace Hurdle at his third attempt and a second December Festival Hurdle, as well as finishing runner-up in the Irish Champion Hurdle. In the Champion Hurdle, he defeated most of the leading contenders, including Detroit City and Hardy Eustace, but finished second, three lengths behind the surprise 16-1 winner Sublimity.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/results/11/cheltenham/2007-03-13/422662 |publisher=Racing Post |title=Champion Hurdle 2007 |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}

Brave Inca missed the whole of the 2007/8 season with a tendon injury{{cite news|author=Tony Paley |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/aug/29/horseracing.sport |title=Brave Inca set to miss jumps season with tendon injury|work=The Guardian |date= 2007-08-29|accessdate=2011-09-04 |location=London}} but returned in 2008/9. Although now well past his best, he managed one last major victory by winning the Irish Champion Hurdle at the age of 11,{{Cite web|date=2009-01-26|title=Horse racing: Brave Inca takes Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/jan/26/brave-inca-irish-champion-hurdle|access-date=2020-11-27|website=the Guardian|language=en}} after which Colm Murphy described him as "unbelievable, one in a million. He's as tough as nails".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/brave-inca-regains-title-as-iron-horse-of-ireland-1515798.html |title=Brave Inca regains title as iron horse of Ireland – Racing, Sport |work=The Independent |date=2009-01-26 |accessdate=2011-09-04 |location=London |first=Chris |last=McGrath}}

Brave Inca was retired from racing after running down the field in the 2009 Champion Hurdle.{{cite web|url=https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/559218/brave-inca |publisher=Racing Post |title=Brave Inca |date=2011-06-02 |accessdate=2011-09-04}} He has not, however, retired from competition, becoming a successful show-horse.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishracing.com/v5newsitem?prid=55338 |title=Brave Inca wins at Dublin Horse Show again|publisher=Irishracing.com |date=2011-08-08 |accessdate=2011-08-27}} He has also been used to raise funds for the "Playing for Life" charity by taking part in a "Man vs Horse" race at Leopardstown in December 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.wexfordpeople.ie/news/brave-inca-scores-a-win-with-a-difference-2486704.html |title=Brave Inca scores a win with a difference |publisher=Wexfordpeople.ie |date= |accessdate=2011-09-04}}

{{Pedigree

|name = Brave Inca (IRE), bay gelding, 1998{{cite web|url=http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=ORDER_AND_CONFIRM&reference_number=4561312®istry=T&horse_name==Brave%20Inca%20(IRE)&dam_name==Wigwam%20Mam%20(IRE)&foaling_year=1998&nicking_stats_indicator=Y |title=Brave Inca |website=Equineline|date=2012-05-08 |accessdate=2012-06-30}}

|inf =

|f = Good Thyne (USA)
1977

|m = Wigwam Mam (IRE)
1993

|ff = Herbager
1956

|fm = Foreseer
1969　

|mf = Commanche Run
1981　

|mm = Rozifer
1978

|fff = Vandale

|ffm = Flagette

|fmf = Round Table

|fmm = Regal Gleam

|mff = Run The Gantlet

|mfm = Volley

|mmf = Lucifer

|mmm = Rozeen

|ffff = Plassy

|fffm = Vanille

|ffmf = Escamillo

|ffmm = Fidgette

|fmff = Princequillo

|fmfm = Knights Daughter

|fmmf = Hail To Reason

|fmmm = Miz Carol

|mfff = Tom Rolfe

|mffm = First Feather

|mfmf = Ratification

|mfmm = Mitrailleuse

|mmff = Crimson Satan

|mmfm = La Joliette

|mmmf = Merry Rose

|mmmm = Pandomas (Family: 8-c)}}

{{note label|Macs Joy|1|1}} Macs Joy: This is the correct spelling. There is no apostrophe.

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c0zPbwU8gY youtube clip of 2005 December Festival Hurdle (Incorrectly titled)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nagxxk8_fy4 youtube clip of 2006 December Festival Hurdle (Incorrectly titled)]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCORZ8abxEE AtTheRaces feature on Colm Murphy and Brave Inca from January 2007]

{{Champion Hurdle winners}}

Category:1998 racehorse births

Category:Cheltenham Festival winners

Category:Champion Hurdle winners

Category:National Hunt racehorses

Category:Racehorses bred in Ireland

Category:Racehorses trained in Ireland

Category:Thoroughbred family 8-c