Much-loved hurdler Limestone Lad dies at 32

People's champion and durable winning machine, Limestone Lad, has died at the age of 32 on the Bowe family farm in Gathabawn, Co Kilkenny where he spent all his life.

Rated joint sixth greatest hurdler of all time by Timeform, the late-blooming son of Aristocracy and Limestone Miss was successful in 35 of his 65 races, and famously claimed the scalp of Istabraq in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle in 1999.

Istabraq had won the last two Champion Hurdles and would go on to make that three a few months later.

That was the first of four Grade One victories for Limestone Lad, although he also claimed both the Christmas Hurdle and Morgiana Hurdle on two occasions each and they were subsequently upgraded to top-flight status.

The five-and-a-half length defeat of Istabraq catapulted him towards a new level of public awareness, and he confirmed his relish for tests of stamina on his first appearance over three miles by cantering to a first Christmas Hurdle by 30 lengths the following month.

In what was a characteristic of the way he was campaigned, this teak tough individual had won a handicap in between at Navan, the first of seven triumphs at a track that played to his strengths. He added the Boyne Hurdle and Lismullen Hurdle to his CV at the Meath venue.

Limestone Lad was placed in his two Stayers’ Hurdle appearances at Cheltenham, beaten a length by Bacchanal in 2000 and finishing third on his final racecourse appearance three years later, but he never enjoyed his travels and ran his heart out despite not eating or drinking on unfamiliar territory.

Remarkably, he was tried as a showjumper initially, having not shown a lot of racing talent early on. He ran in eight bumpers, winning two, before improving steadily with maturity and a switch to