Apple's Jade (foaled 24 April 2012) is a French-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt hurdle races. She won 11 times at Grade I level, making her one of the most successful jumping mares of all time.
After winning her only race in her native country she was sold and exported to Ireland. In her first season at her new base she was one of the best juvenile hurdlers in the British Isles, winning the Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle, Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle and Champion Four Year Old Hurdle as well as finishing second in the Triumph Hurdle. In the following season she was narrowly beaten in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle but proceeded to win the Hatton's Grace Hurdle, David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle and Mares Champion Hurdle. In the 2017/2018 National Hunt season she won the Lismullen Hurdle, a second Hatton's Grace Hurdle and the Christmas Hurdle. In her next season she repeated her successes in the Lismullen Hurdle, Hatton's Grace Hurdle and Christmas Hurdle but was beaten when favourite for the Champion Hurdle. In the curtailed 2019/2020 National Hunt season she failed to consistently reproduce her best form but recorded an eleventh Grade I success when she won the Christmas Hurdle for the third time.
Background
Apple's Jade is a bay mare with a small white star bred in France by Ronny Coveliers. She began her racing career in the ownership of Damien Coveliers and was initially trained in France by Emmanuel Clayeux.
She was sired by Saddler Maker, a well-bred horse who made no impact on the track as he failed to win in four races. He later had more success as a sire of jumpers, with the best of his other progeny including Bristol de Mai (Betfair Chase), Alpha des Obeaux (Clonmel Oil Chase) and Janika (Haldon Gold Cup).
Apple's Jade's dam Apple's For Ever showed no racing ability, but her granddam Apple's Girl was a high-class hurdler who finished third in the Grand Prix d'Automne and fourth in the French Champion Hurdle. She was a distant female line descendant of the British broodmare Miss Wiss (foaled 1919) who was a full-sister to both Sunny Jane and Craig an Eran.
Racing career
2015/2016 National Hunt season
On her racecourse debut Apple's Jade contested a hurdle race over 3300 metres on soft ground at Vichy on 5 May and won by five and a half lengths at odds of 21/1.
The mare was subsequently acquired by the Gigginstown House Stud and sent to Ireland where she joined the stable of Willie Mullins at Muine Bheag, County Carlow.
On her first run in Ireland Apple's Jade started at odds of 12/1 for the Grade 2 Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle over two miles at Leopardstown Racecourse on 26 December and produced a strong late run to win by a head from Jer's Girl. On her next appearance the filly was stepped up to the highest class when she was sent to England to contest the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham Racecourse on 18 March. She took the lead approaching the penultimate flight of hurdles but was overtaken by the favourite Ivanovich Gorbatov in the last hundred yards and beaten into second place by one and a quarter lengths.
Apple's Jade was fitted with earplugs when she faced a rematch with Ivanovich Gorbatov in the Anniversary Hurdle at Aintree Racecourse on 7 April. Ridden by Bryan Cooper she went to the front at the third last hurdle and pulled away from her opponents to win by more than forty lengths. After the race Willie Mullins said "I could not dream of anything like that... That was extraordinary the performance she put in there. I thought Bryan was mad going on before he turned in, you could see him letting her slip into the lead and I thought ‘this straight is far too long with hurdles to jump, keep a little bit up your tank’, but when he got off her he said he still had plenty left in the tank."
Twenty-three days after her win at Aintree Apple's Jade was matched against Ivanovich Gorbatov for a third time in the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle at Punchestown Racecourse. Starting the 8/13 favourite she led from the start and steadily increased her advantage over the last two hurdles to win "easily" by nine lengths from her stablemate Let's Dance. Mullins commented "She had a very hard race in Aintree and I wondered if it would impact on her today... She looks very, very good. She won at Christmas but then we had an awful time as she was stiff and sore and we couldn't train her. She came back at Cheltenham and that put her right as she flew in at Aintree. I'd say we will leave it at that [for the season]."