Limber Hill
Limber Hill (foaled 1947) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1956 Cheltenham Gold Cup. A chestnut gelding, he was bred and owned by James Davey of Limber Hill farm near Great Limber in Lincolnshire and trained in Yorkshire by Bill Dutton.
He began on the amateur point-to-point circuit, then moved to hurdles and finally to steeplechases in 1954. In his first season over fences he steadily improved and won the National Hunt Handicap Chase at Cheltenham. In the 1955/56 season he became one of Britain’s leading staying chasers, beating Gay Donald at Manchester in November and then winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton by a neck from Galloway Braes in a thrilling finish.
Before Cheltenham, Dutton kept Limber Hill fit by galloping him on the beach at Filey due to frostier conditions. At Cheltenham in March 1956, with Jimmy Power aboard, Limber Hill started as the 11/8 favourite and led in the closing stages, winning by four lengths from Vigor; Halloween was third. He thus became the first horse trained in the North of England to win the Gold Cup.
His later career was hampered by injuries. He was beaten on heavy ground in the Emblem Chase at Aintree and then injured his back while preparing for another King George attempt, never regaining his best form. In early 1958 he returned to fitness but broke a blood vessel and was pulled up in the Great Yorkshire Chase; his final Gold Cup bid in March 1958 finished fifth to Kerstin.
In their Timeform-based assessment, Randall and Morris called Limber Hill a “superior” Gold Cup winner and the best British-trained winner since Golden Miller. A Cheltenham street now bears his name.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:34 (CET).