Christian and Geri Horner could be wannabe Cheltenham Festival winners after their horse returned to the number one spot at Warwick on Monday.
The couple, boss of Formula 1 team Red Bull and former Spice Girl, have a handful of point-to-pointers trained in Hinton-in-Hedges, Northants by Maxine Filby.
The star is Lift Me Up, named after Horner’s 1999 solo chart-topper, who won three point-to-points in a row then gave the couple their first winner under rules at Newbury in 2023.
This season the nine-year-old finished third in a hunter chase at Cheltenham and was runner-up in the Horse And Hound Cup at Stratford in May last year.
After a warm-up effort in a December point-to-point, in which he was pulled up, a performance described by the Racing Post as ‘laboured’, he was not in pole position for the Willoughby De Broke Hunter Chase on Monday.
Yet fitted with cheekpieces for the first time, he took the lead before the second last fence and defeated veteran Bennys King by a length and a quarter under 6ft 4in rider Jack Andrews at odds of 15-2. The first prize was £2,053.20.
Geri Horner raised her arms aloft as Lift Me Up crossed the line in front and was then embraced by husband Christian, boss of Formula 1 team Red Bull.
Racing TV pundit Sam Turner commented: “I could hear her shrieking. It’s a bit like taking me back 25 years ago listening to her sing! No, that’s very unkind.
“A very, very enthusiastic owner and tremendous scenes here at Warwick.”
He added: “We haven’t seen scenes like that since Max Verstappen won the world title.”
Lift Me Up is now in line to run in the season’s highlight for hunter chasers, the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase, known as the Gold Cup for amateurs at Cheltenham in March.
“It was a great race and great to see him run so well against some strong horses,” said Christian Horner.
“There’s more similarities than you might think between horse racing and motor racing, just in the way a jockey gets the most out of a horse.
“Jack (Andrews) did a wonderful job today, he rode him really well and timed the race brilliantly, so there are more similarities than you think.
He went on: “We’ve been involved for about three or four years now and it’s just a bit of fun, this horse is going to the hunter chase at Cheltenham, so this was a good warm-up race for him.
“I don’t know about it getting serious, we’re very pleased with the little team we have; Maxine Filby has done a great job training him and all the girls and guys that are involved.”
However, Horner’s job means he will not be at Cheltenham as it clashes with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.
He said: “Racing is a great sport, it’s great to see it supported, we’re only at the shallow end but it’s great to be involved.
“Travelling (with Formula One) is tiring but it is a pleasure what we get to do. Our first race coincides with Cheltenham, so I’ll be glued to the internet trying to find out how he gets on. It’s in Australia, so I’ll be up in the middle of the night.”
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