why honeysuckle should never be considered one of national hunt's greats.

​For all the legend that she is, no one can take the view that Dawn Run was one of the great horses of National Hunt. History-maker, yes; the only mare to win both the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup, the achievement that I read is tempting the connections of Honeysuckle for next season. Dawn Run was a mighty racehorse who sadly met a tragic end running in a race her connections could have easily left alone. She is legend of the sport and should never be forgotten but her achievements would hardly get her into the top fifty or even top hundred (a bit extreme, I suspect) of all-time.
When in 1986 Dawn Run heroically got up to beat Wayward Lad a length, she was receiving 5Ibs from all her opponents and at level weights it is almost inarguable that she would not have got up.
These days mares receive a 7Ib gender allowance and it is this well-meaning and highly successful incentive to encourage owners and breeders to have mares in training that contorts all debate when it comes to assessing the truly great from the out-of-the-ordinary racehorses of National Hunt.
The gender allowance is unarguable in novice hurdles and chases and in higher grades of race. But at championship level the gender allowance becomes unfair. Honeysuckle is now the best hurdler in Britain and Ireland; no one could argue otherwise and she would have, in my estimation, won the 2021 Champion Hurdle off level weights. She was the most impressive Champion Hurdle winner, again in my estimation, since the days of Istabraq. She didn’t beat a field of high a quality as when Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon and Monksfield were swapping crowns but then it is very unlikely we will ever witness so many supreme horses running in Champion Hurdles again. Her superiority was on display for all to see; so why in every race she runs in from now on will she receive 7Ib from clearly inferior opposition? There are no incentives necessary for her owner to keep her in training other than the glory and satisfaction she must bring to him. Of course, brave and patient man that he is, Kenny Alexander is building-up a National Hunt breeding operation and Honeysuckle will one day become his stand-out broodmare, not that I can see him choosing to retire her early while she has hardly tapped into her true potential.
Once a mare has reached a certain official rating or has won a championship race, the 7Ib gender allowance should be reduced, perhaps in instalments outside of the championship races and to level weights come the festivals of Cheltenham and Punchestown. Honeysuckle, like all mature mares, is not physically weaker than a gelding. She could pull a cart or plough every bit as well as a gelding and carrying 12-stone would hardly burden her. It is easy to imagine Honeysuckle winning the next two Champion Hurdles to draw her equal to all the other triple winners but the gender allowance will always distort the reckoning as to whether she was the equal to Sir Ken, Persian War and Istabraq.
You may say what difference does it matter, its only opinion or bias, isn’t it? We will never know if she would have beaten Sir Ken or Persian War off level weights. Which is true. But the sport’s history demands we know the difference between the out-of-the-ordinary, the great and the greatest horses of all-time and the gender allowance unbalances the calculations.
I will be as surprised as anyone if I am consulted as to the future of Honeysuckle but if Mr. Alexander were to ask my opinion, I would offer him this nugget of advice. If she is as good a jumper of a fence as we are led to believe, if you do not at least school her over steeplechase fences you will one day look over the paddock railing at her, with foal at foot, and think ‘I wonder what would have happened if we had given chasing a try’. And you will wonder and wonder and wonder. If she should school brilliantly, run her in a novice chase, perhaps at one of Ireland’s charming country (gaff) courses when the pressure will be least. Then you will have evidence upon which to base your long-lasting decision. She might knock your socks off with her ability over a fence or she might be chancy, too frightening to watch and Rachael might pull her up, and the decision will be made for you. Her history will either be three champion hurdles or one champion hurdle and possibly one Dawn Run equalling Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But the unfair 7Ib gender allowance in championship races has to be looked at again by the B.H.A..