Constitution Hill crowned Horse of the Year

Last night, Thursday 7 December, saw the Racehorse Owners Association host its annual Horseracing Awards ceremony to crown the stars who have lit up the sport in 2023.

The event at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel saw owners, trainers and key industry figures gather to celebrate the highlights of another memorable year of incredible action on Britain’s racecourses, with the award winners decided by the votes of ROA members.

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of The ROA Horse of the Year award, which was won by Michael Buckley’s outstanding unbeaten Champion hurdler Constitution Hill, who in seven races has a cumulative winning margin of 89 lengths. Constitution Hill also won the Tote Outstanding Hurdler Award on the night, following his Outstanding Novice Hurdler Award at last year’s ROA ceremony.

This year’s ROA Owner of the Year is the Shadwell Estate Company Ltd. Fresh from the brilliance of Baeed in 2022, Shadwell’s iconic blue and white colours have had another incredible year on the track, led by the likes of Mostahdaf, Hukum and Al Husn for Sheikha Hissa, the head of Shadwell and daughter of its founder Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum.

The 16 categories were sponsored by The Large Independent Racecourses, Arena Racing Company, Sports4Causes, The Tote, Fitzdares and Owner Breeder Magazine.

Commenting on the Awards, ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton said “The ROA Awards continue to hold a special place in the hearts of the participants in British Horseracing and tonight’s event was as exciting as ever. The winners ranged from horses owned by small syndicates to some of the world’s biggest owner breeders and are voted for by the owners themselves. The sport is going through a period of change and challenge at the moment, but the enthusiasm in that room this evening demonstrates that the passion for racing is as strong as ever.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

 

Arena Racing Company Outstanding All-Weather Horse	Lord North	HH Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Juvenile	City Of Troy	Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Sprinter	Shaquille	Hughes, Rawlings, O’Shaughnessy
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Miler	Paddington	Tabor, Smith, Magnier, Westerberg, Brant
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Middle Distance Horse	Auguste Rodin	M Tabor & D Smith & Mrs J Magnier & Westerberg
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Stayer	Trueshan	Singula Partnership
Large Independent Racecourses Outstanding Filly or Mare	Highfield Princess	Trainers House Enterprises Limited
Sports4Causes Flat Special Achievement	Quinault	TJE Racing
Tote Outstanding Novice Hurdler	Facile Vega	Hammer & Trowel Syndicate
Tote Outstanding Hurdler	Constitution Hill	Michael Buckley
Fitzdares Outstanding Novice Chaser	The Real Whacker	Neville, Mann, Duffus and Dennis
Fitzdares Outstanding Chaser	Galopin Des Champs	Mrs Audrey Turley
Owner Breeder magazine Outstanding National Hunt Mare	Honeysuckle	Kenneth Alexander
Sports4Causes National Hunt Special Achievement	Corach Rambler	The Ramblers
ROA Owner of the Year		Shadwell Estate Company Ltd
ROA Horse of the Year	Constitution Hill	Michael Buckley