Al Eile

Al Eile started racing as a two-year-old in October 2002 when he was entered into the European Breeders Fund Maiden where he finished in 14th place out of 17 entries.

He won his first race, the Devon Inn 3-Y-O Hurdle, in September 2003 at Listowel Racecourse in Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland. In that race, he beat a field of seven horses in what was his first entry into a jump competition.[3] After the victory, Al Eile went on to win five of his next eight races. Of those wins, the first notable victory was in April 2004 when, as a 25-1 outsider, Al Eile defeated 17 other horses to win the Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle, a Grade 2 National Hunt race.[4]

In total, Al Eile has won a total of four Grade 1 races, three of which have come in the Aintree Hurdle at Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside, England. In April 2005, Al Eile beat out Inglis Drever by a neck to win his first Aintree Hurdle.[5] In 2007, he defeated Gaspara by 1.5 lengths en route to his second Grade 1 victory.[6] Al Eile followed his win in the 2007 Aintree Hurdle with another in 2008 when he Osana by 10 lengths.[7] The win made Al Eile the first horse to achieve back to back wins in the Aintree Hurdle since Danoli in 1993 and 1994. Al Eile has won one other Grade 1 race in his career, the 2007 December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown Racecourse in Leopardstown, County Dublin, in which he bested a field of six horses, defeating Hardy Eustace by a single length.[8]