2008 Champion Hurdle
| 78th Champion Hurdle Cheltenham, 11 March 2008 |
 |
| won by Katchit (IRE) |
The 2008 Champion Hurdle was a horse race held at Cheltenham Racecourse on Tuesday 11 March 2008.[1] It was the 78th running of the Champion Hurdle.
The winner was the DSJP Syndicate's Katchit, a five-year-old gelding trained in Wiltshire by Alan King and ridden by Robert Thornton. The victory was the first in the race, for owner, trainer and jockey.
Katchit won at odds of 10/1 by a length from Osana. As of 2017, he remains the only five-year-old to win the race since See You Then in 1985. The field included Sublimity, the winner of the race in the previous year. Fourteen of the fifteen runners completed the course.
Race details
- Sponsor: Smurfit Kappa
- Purse: £350,000; First prize: £205,272
- Going: Good to Soft
- Distance: 2 miles 110 yards
- Number of runners: 15
- Winner's time: 4m 08.10
Full result
| Pos. | Marg. | Horse (bred) | Age | Jockey | Trainer (Country) | Odds |
| 1 | Katchit (IRE) | 5 | Robert Thornton | Alan King (GB) | 10/1 | |
| 2 | 1 | Osana (FR) | 6 | Tom Scudamore | David Pipe (GB) | 9/2 |
| 3 | 5 | Punjabi (GB) | 5 | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Henderson (GB) | 25/1 |
| 4 | 1 | Sublimity (FR) | 8 | Philip Carberry | John Carr (IRE) | 7/1 |
| 5 | 8 | Straw Bear (USA) | 7 | A. P. McCoy | Nick Gifford (GB) | 20/1 |
| 6 | 2¼ | Catch Me (GER) | 6 | Ruby Walsh | Edward O'Grady (IRE) | 10/1 |
| 7 | ½ | Afsoun (FR) | 6 | Mick Fitzgerald | Nicky Henderson (GB) | 16/1 |
| 8 | 1¼ | Farmer Brown (IRE) | 7 | Davy Russell | Pat Hughes (IRE) | 50/1 |
| 9 | 7 | Kawagino (IRE) | 8 | Wayne Kavanagh | Seamus Mullins (GB) | 200/1 |
| 10 | 7 | Harchibald (FR) | 9 | Paul Carberry | Noel Meade (IRE) | 13/2 |
| 11 | 2½ | Blythe Knight (IRE) | 8 | Dougie Costello | John Quinn (GB) | 50/1 |
| 12 | ¾ | Ebaziyan (IRE) | 7 | Davy Condon | Willie Mullins (IRE) | 33/1 |
| 13 | 39 | Contraband (GB) | 10 | Tom Dreaper | Paul Murphy (GB) | 250/1 |
| 14 | 26 | Sizing Europe (IRE) | 6 | Andrew McNamara | Henry de Bromhead (IRE) | 2/1 fav |
| PU | Bobs Pride (IRE) | 6 | Denis O'Regan | Dermot Weld (IRE) | 66/1 |
- Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider; PU = pulled up
Winner's details
Further details of the winner, Katchit
- Sex: Gelding
- Foaled: 23 February 2003
- Country: Ireland
- Sire: Kalanisi; Dam: Miracle (Ezzoud)
- Owner: D S J P Syndicate
- Breeder: Whitley Stud
References
- ^ "Champion Hurdle result". Racing Post. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 2014-03-16.