Limestone Lad

Limestone Lad
Racing silks of James Bowe
Sire	Aristocracy
Grandsire	Lord Gayle
Dam	Limestone Miss
Damsire	Raise You Ten
Sex	Gelded male
Foaled	(1992-04-01)1 April 1992[1]
Died	28 March 2024(2024-03-28) (aged 31)
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	James Bowe
Owner	James Bowe
Trainer	James Bowe
Record	65: 35-13-6 4: 0-1-2 flat 8: 2-0-1 NHF 47: 29-11-3 hurdles 6: 4-1-0 chases
Earnings	£546,142
Major wins
Morgiana Hurdle (1999, 2001, 2002) Hatton's Grace Hurdle (1999, 2001, 2002) Christmas Hurdle (1999, 2002) Bank of Ireland Hurdle (2000, 2001, 2002) Boyne Hurdle (2000, 2001) Irish Field Novice Chase (2000) Craddockstown Novice Chase (2000) Champion Stayers' Hurdle (2002) Lismullen Hurdle (2002)
Honours
Limestone Lad Hurdle

Limestone Lad (1 April 1992 – 28 March 2024) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competed mainly in National Hunt racing. Bred, owned and trained by a farming family in rural Ireland he was offered for sale as a three-year-old but was rejected after failing a medical examination. His early racing career was unremarkable but he made steady improvement and eventually retired with a record of thirty-five wins and nineteen places from sixty-five races. He was best known for his durability and his performances in long-distance hurdle races and usually raced from the front.

Limestone Lad began by running in National Hunt Flat races and was unplaced in his first four starts before winning two minor races and was then switched to novice hurdles, winning one of his next six starts before the end of the 1997/98 National Hunt season. In the following season, he improved through the handicap hurdle ranks, winning seven of his ten starts. In the 1999/2000 season he emerged as a top-class performer, winning eight races including the Morgiana Hurdle, Hatton's Grace Hurdle (beating Istabraq), Christmas Hurdle, Bank of Ireland Hurdle and Boyne Hurdle. In the following season he was tried over fences and won the Irish Field Novice Chase, Craddockstown Novice Chase as well as repeating his previous wins in the Bank of Ireland Hurdle and the Boyne Hurdle.

Limestone Lad returned to hurdling in the 2001/02 National Hunt season and won six races including a second Morgiana Hurdle, a second Hatton's Grace Hurdle, a third Bank of Ireland Hurdle and the Champion Stayers' Hurdle. In his final season he won another five races including the Lismullen Hurdle, a second Christmas Hurdle, a third Morgiana Hurdle and a third Hatton's Grace Hurdle. At the end of his racing career he was described as "Ireland's most famous racehorse".^[2]