page_title: Easter Hero
section_title: 1928/29 National Hunt season
hierarchical_section_title: Easter Hero / Racing career / 1928/29 National Hunt season
caption_attribution_description: English: Time magazine, Volume 21 Issue 13. Front cover is a photograph of John Hay Whitney.
context_page_description: Easter Hero was an Irish-bred British-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and made three unsuccessful attempts to win the Grand National. He showed little early promise and was passed from owner to owner before beginning to display ability in 1927. Wins in the Becher Chase and the Coventry Chase established him as a leading steeplechaser and he was bought by Alfred Loewenstein with the aim of winning the National. In his first attempt at the race he fell at the eighth and brought the field to a virtual halt after becoming trapped in the ditch in front of the fence.
  After Loewenstein's mysterious death Easter Hero was bought by the American John Hay Whitney and in 1929 he won his first Cheltenham Gold Cup by twenty lengths. In the 1929 Grand National he produced one of the best performances in the history of the race, finishing second under a weight of 175 pounds despite being hampered in the closing stages by a twisted plate. He won a second Gold Cup in 1930 but sustained an injury in doing so and missed that year's National. In his final season he won four races but fell in the Grand National.
context_section_description: Alfred Lowenstein was declared dead after disappearing from an aircraft over the North Sea on 4 July 1928. His horses were put up for sale and Easter Hero was bought by the American John Hay "Jock" Whitney, in a reported £20,000 deal which also included the Grand Steeplechase de Paris winner Maguelonne. Whitney sent him to be trained by Jack Anthony, a former champion jockey, at Letcombe Regis. In the early part of the season Easter Hero won four times in hurdle races. Cold, frosty weather in early 1929 led to most National Hunt meetings being abandoned in February and the Cheltenham Festival was postponed for a week. Anthony reportedly kept Easter Hero fit by cantering him on the beach at Tenby. In the Gold Cup he was ridden by Dick Rees and started the 7/4 favourite in a ten-runner field with his rivals including Koko (winner in 1926 and third in 1928), Grakle (runner-up in 1927) and Brights Boy (third under top weight in the 1927 Grand National. Rees sent him straight into the lead and was thirty lengths clear with a circuit to go. None of his opponents ever threatened to mount a challenge and he won by twenty lengths from Lloydie, with Grakle two lengths back in third place. The Sporting Life commented "Easter Hero, in cantering away with the Cheltenham Gold Cup yesterday, gave one of the most sparkling exhibitions of clean, quick jumping and resolute galloping ever seen on this particular course".
  In the Grand National Easter Hero carried top weight of 175 pounds and started the 9/1 favourite in a record field of sixty-six runners. As in the previous year he led soon after the start and set a strong pace but on this occasion the obstacles gave him no problems and he held a clear advantage from the fourth fence. At some point after clearing Valentine's Brook on the second circuit however he partially dislodged and twisted a racing plate which hampered his progress from then on. He was still in front at the second last but was overtaken and beaten six lengths into second place by Gregalach. After the race the runner-up was given a reception normally accorded to winners as he was mobbed by admirers, some of whom attempted to pull hairs from his tail as souvenirs. "Augur" writing in the Sporting Life called Easter Hero's run "one of the best performances in the history of the race". He also defended the jockey against criticisms that he had made "too much use" of the favourite, pointing out that the horse was at his best when allowed to race from the front.
  Easter Hero was sent to France in summer and started favourite for the Grand Steeplechase de Paris. He built up his customary big lead but was pulled up by his jockey after sustaining a back injury at the water jump.
caption: Jock Whitney, Easter Hero's fifth and final owner on the cover of Time (27 March 1933)
exif: {}