Skip to content
GO TO bet365 Sports
Slade Steel
  1. Horse Racing
  2. Horses

Slade Steel Horse - Age, rating, trainer, owner, race record and form

Slade Steel was an impressive winner in the first race of the opening day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, finishing strongly to land the Supreme Novices' Hurdle for the Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore partnership.

Horse Racing

Slade Steel Owner

Brian Acheson's horses run under the Robcour brand, who own Slade Steel. He was brought up at Ballincurrig House Stud and was sold to Gerry Hogan for €12,500 at Goffs, before being sold again as a three-year-old for €30,000.

A winner of his sole point at Dawstown in May 2022 when trained by Pierce Power, Slade Steel was then sold privately to Robcour.

Slade Steel Trainer

Slade Steel is trained by Henry de Bromhead, a hugely successful trainer based in Knockeen in County Waterford in the south of Ireland. He took over from his father Harry in 2000 after stints training for the job with Robert and Sally Alner, Sir Mark Prescott and at Coolmore Stud.

Married to Heather, the couple have three children together - Jack, Mia and Georgia. Tragically, on 3 September 2022, Jack was killed in a racing accident at the Glenbeigh Racing Festival in County Kerry. The 13-year-old was riding in a pony race when he fell off his horse and sustained fatal injuries.

It took De Bromhead eight years to gain his first Grade 1 victory courtesy of Sizing Europe winning the Irish Champion Hurdle and he has never looked back. Stable jockey Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National aboard Minella Times for the yard in 2021.

De Bromhead has amassed 23 Cheltenham Festival winners in his career to date. They include two Champion Hurdle wins with superstar mare Honeysuckle in 2021 and 2022, and four Queen Mother Champion Chase victories thanks to Sizing Europe (2011), Special Tiara (2017), Put The Kettle On (2021) and Captain Guinness (2024).

Probably his finest moment came at the Festival in 2021 as Minella Indo gave De Bromhead his first Cheltenham Gold Cup in the hands of Jack Kennedy, with stablemate A Plus Tard back in second. A Plus Tard gained compensation when winning the race in 2022 under a brilliant Rachael Blackmore ride, with Minella Indo in second on that occasion.

Slade Steel became the first horse to win a Supreme Novices' Hurdle for De Bromhead in 2024.

Slade Steel Age

Slade Steel is a six-year-old gelding by Royal Ascot winner Telescope out of dual-winning hurdler, a mare called Mariet.

Slade Steel Official Rating

Slade Steel has an official hurdle rating of 150 after his success in the 2024 Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. He was rated 147 off the back of his second behind Ballyburn in the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Slade Steel Next Race

With no further entries yet this season, we don't know where Slade Steel will line up next. He could go to Aintree for the Grand National Festival, or could be kept back for the Punchestown Festival. 

Henry de Bromhead gave off strong vibes that he could go over fences next season, and with that in mind he is currently 8/1 for the Arkle Novices' Chase and 8/1 for the Turners Novices' Chase at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.

Slade Steel Record

Slade Steel won a Punchestown bumper on his debut in December 2022 and bumped into a pair of subsequent Grade 1 winners when third behind Ballyburn and Dancing City in a bumper at the same track the following April.

Sent off a 10/3 chance for his hurdling debut at Naas over two miles in November, he comfortably got the better of odds-on favourite King Of Kingsfield, doing his best work at the finish which is a common theme for the horse.

He followed up with victory in a 2m4f Grade 2 at Navan, beating Willie Mullins' Lecky Watson with eventual Albert Bartlett winner Stellar Story back in third and subsequent Martin Pipe winner Better Days Ahead in fourth.

No match for Ballyburn in the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland 50th Derby Sale Novice Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival in February, connections wisely decided to take their chance in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle with Ballyburn opting to run in the Gallagher Novices' Hurdle.

That decision worked out to be a stroke of genius as Rachael Blackmore guided Slade Steel to victory, beating Mystical Power into second.

Slade Steel Prize Money

Slade Steel has already won £135,162 in prize money in his career for his connections.

Slade Steel News

There is every chance Slade Steel will go on a chasing campaign next season. A winning pointer and seemingly a horse with a lot of stamina, Rachael Blackmore thinks he could turn into a Gold Cup horse one day.

Blackmore said: “I think the sky’s the limit for him. He’s just a very talented horse and he could be back here on the Friday [for the Gold Cup] some day, you never know”.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.

Related Articles

bet365 uses cookies

We use cookies to deliver a better and more personalised service. For more information, see our Cookie Policy

New to bet365? Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets Join Now

Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.