ALTIOR. The Latin word for higher. What an appropriate name it is for the superstar gelding who is able to being a tear of joy to the eye of his devoted trainer Nicky Henderson.

At the weekend he won the centrepiece Grade1 Bet365 Celebration Chase at Sandown Park for a third time to establish a record in National Hunt racing, winning for the 19th consecutive time and the 20th in all. He was beaten on his second and third runs only, and he is firmly established as a racing icon.

Altior was bred in Co Laois by Paddy Behan and sold for €60,000 to Highflyer Bloodstock at the Goffs Land Rover Sale in 2013 as a three-year-old. A bumper winner and placed in a listed event from three starts in that code, he was unbeaten in five starts over hurdles and now has an unblemished record in 14 starts over fences.

GRADE 1 SUCCESSES

At Grade 1 level he has been successful in the Queen Mother Champion Chase twice, last weekend’s Celebration Chase three times, the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham, the Tingle Creek Chase and Henry VIII Novice Chase at Sandown, the Clarence House Chase at Ascot and the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. He has been successful at four consecutive Cheltenham Festival meetings.

A son of High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells), Altior is the second produce of his dam to be successful at graded level. He was preceded by the Old Vic (Sadler’s Wells) mare Princess Leya and she landed the New Stand Hurdle at Fairyhouse in 2014 for Mag Mullins and was placed in a few black type races. She is now at stud and has a couple of youngstock by Leading Light (Montjeu).

Altior and Princess Leya are out of Monte Solaro who carried Paddy Behan’s colours to success in a Grade 3 hurdle race at Tralee when she was trained by the late Francis Flood. The daughter of Key Of Luck (Chief’s Crown) should be a perfect five winners from her first five foals but one of them, Altior’s full-brother Cestus, died after making just a single start, finishing second in a bumper for Charlie Brooks.

Monte Solaro’s sixth foal is a six-year-old mare named Melior (Milan) and she was runner-up last year in a Downpatrick bumper for Paddy Behan.

Next up is a four-year-old son of Milan (Sadler’s Wells) who turned from being a €40,000 foal purchase by John Dwan of Ballyreddin Stud into a €365,000 store at last year’s Derby Sale when bought by Aidan Murphy.

He is followed by a two-year-old daughter of Walk In The Park (Montjeu), while in 2018 Monte Solaro was covered by Camelot (Montjeu).

Monte Solaro was bought in utero when his dam Footsteps (Broken Hearted), a winner at Newmarket and Folkestone at two when trained by Paul Cole for Prince Fahd Salman, was sold for IR6,400gns at the Goffs December Sale 20 years ago. She was the only winner from 10 foals bred by the mare.

PERFORMERS OF NOTE

Two other National Hunt performers of note appear in the further removes of the pedigree. They are Moorish (Dominion), a half-brother to Footsteps, who never bettered his performance in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle where he was runner-up to Mysilv. He did however compile a record of five wins and also finished second in the Long Distance Hurdle at Haydock.

Further back again and you come across the name Decent Fellow (Rarity) who was trained by Toby Balding to win the John Porter Stakes on the flat and become an even better hurdler. His eight victories over the smaller obstacles included the Sweeps Hurdle at Leopardstown and the Weetabix Hurdle at Liverpool, and he too was second in the Triumph Hurdle. He went on to become a National Hunt sire.