King salutes Edwardstone as hugely popular chaser heads for retirement

Alan King was left to reflect upon the “great memories” and “special days” with Edwardstone after it was announced the popular chaser has been retired.

The 12-year-old was awarded the prize for leading chaser at Tuesday evening’s TBA National Hunt Breeders’ Awards, where the decision was made to call time on a career that spanned eight seasons and produced 12 victories from 42 starts.

Although the decision to retire has only just been reached, Edwardstone provided emotional scenes after what would ultimately be his final outing at Sandown’s end-of-season jumps finale.

Rolling back the years for one last magical moment in the Celebration Chase, the veteran – who had proved as good as ever throughout the season – brought the house down when edging out JPR One for a fourth and final Grade One triumph, and third at his beloved Esher track.

King said: “I hadn’t seen the owners since his win at Sandown, but we saw each other at the TBA awards and had a chat about it and just felt it was the right call.

“It was quite remarkable to do what he did and bow out at Sandown as a 12-year-old. but as I kept saying his work had been as good as ever and he was still loving the job.

“We were just getting to the stage where everyone was getting very nervous in case something happened to him. We’ve got some great memories and we’ll miss him, but we certainly won’t forget him.”

While Sandown provided many momentous occasions for Edwardstone throughout his career, he also got his crowning moment at the Cheltenham Festival, following in the footsteps of King’s Barbury Castle greats Voy Por Ustedes and My Way De Solzen by winning the Arkle in 2022.

Owned and bred by Robert Abrey and Ian Thurtle, he would become a stalwart of the two-mile chasing division, mixing it with best of his era on a regular basis and with King crediting his longevity to the gelding’s steadfast constitution.

King continued: “He’s given us some very special days like when winning the Arkle – any Cheltenham Festival winner is great, but to win an Arkle is special.

“The Tingle Creek day was also terrific and I guess emotions-wise, probably the win at Sandown was right up there with any of them, he’s one of the special horses we’ve had.

“We never got the better of Jonbon and sadly we were around at the same time as him, but he was a very tough and very sound horse who never missed a season.

“He was a pleasure to train and he was owned and bred by some wonderful people who have become great friends. It’s been a great journey and I just have to find another one now, but that won’t be easy.”