Shropshire pride at Punjabi's Cheltenham parade

Rachel Kempster, who runs Kinsale Stud in Whittington, near Oswestry, travelled the country with her best friend Julia Tooth to watch the 13-year-old gelding win 12 races - including the 2009 Champion Hurdle.

Miss Tooth, whose father Raymond owned the horse, died aged 41 in 2010 after battling breast cancer.

Now the horse has been rehomed by Miss Kempster, who is retraining him in dressage.

He has now been invited to kick off next week's Cheltenham Festival by taking part in a Retraining of Racehorses parade before the meeting begins.

He will join the likes of former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman and Grand National hero Comply or Die in parading in front of more than 60,000 fans on Tuesday.

Punjabi is now based at Hardwick Hall, near Ellesmere, which is run by Ali Kynaston-Mainwaring.

Miss Kempster said: ""It will be a very proud moment.

"I would never have dreamt that I would ever ride at Cheltenham and to be on a former champion hurdler at the head of a parade is unbelievable.

"I will be thinking of Julia and all the fun we had."

And as a tribute to her friend, Miss Kempster asked to take care of the horse in his retirement, homing him between Oswestry and Ellesmere.

"I was happy for him to be a field ornament, Julia and I had had so many good times with him," she said.

But as he recovered from his career-ending injury, Miss Kempster found out just how well-natured Punjabi was and how much she enjoyed riding him.

She suggested retraining him for dressage - which Mr Tooth was happy with.

"Racing and dressage are like chalk and cheese," she said.

"The horse has to use completely different muscles. But Punjabi absolutely loves it although I can tell that when I first asked him to do something he was thinking 'she has got to be joking."

The horse is now based at Hardwick Hall near Ellesmere, run by Ali Kynaston-Mainwaring.

"They have a wonderful menage there where Judy Price is training both myself and Punjabi," Miss Kempster said.

"She is proving that you certainly can teach an old dog - or old racehorse - new tricks.

"This is a new chapter in both our lives. I am now the age Julia was when she died - 41 - so it is a very poignant time for me."

Punjabi will be at the head of the nine former Cheltenham winners return to the racecourse on Tuesday for the 2016 Retraining of Racehorses parade on the opening day of the four-day festival.

"It will be a very proud moment. I would never have dreamt that I would ever ride at Cheltenham and to be on a former champion hurdler at the head of a parade is unbelievable," Miss Kempster said.

"I will be thinking of Julia and all the fun we had.

"He is one of the easiest thoroughbreds I have ever had to deal with.

"He loves his new job and is adapting really well to dressage. This horse means such a lot to me and we're really excited about being a part of the Racing Post Retraining of Racehorses Parade."

Now aged 13, Punjabi won the Champion Hurdle back in 2009 - a shock 22/1 winner of the race trained by Nicky Henderson and ridden on the day by Barry Geraghty.

Di Arbuthnot, chief executive of Restraining of Racehorses, said: "It is important for us when putting on the parades to not only include former heroes and old favourites but also horses that have proven their adaptability in other disciplines.

"So we are delighted to have a parade line-up this year that has strength in depth in both categories, 10 class racehorses, each one now excelling in another activity.

"We are also delighted to welcome horses from France and Ireland into the parade.

"We are working increasingly closely with other racing nations in promoting the adaptability of former racehorses and Kasbah Bliss, on his return to France, will take up duties at the Living Museum of the Horse in Chantilly as a prime example of that.

Other former stars on show include Denman, Comply or Die, Cappa Bleu and Sizing Europe.