Blowing Wind has passed away at the age of 21.

Blowing Wind, a dual Cheltenham Festival winner and twice placed in the Grand National, has passed away at the age of 21.

Trained by Martin Pipe, Blowing Wind also landed a big bonus for his connections when winning the Imperial Cup at Sandown in 1998 and following up in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham just a few days later.

Writing on www.davidpipe.com, Pipe's son David said: "I am saddened to bring you news that a grand old favourite of Pond House stables, Blowing Wind was put to sleep peacefully this morning at the age of 21.

"He was a wonderful horse to have in the yard and will be greatly missed.

Peter Deal, who owned 'Blowers' since his arrival at the stable in late 1997, said, "You could not wish to own a more exciting horse than Blowing Wind. He raced for us for seven full seasons, and always at a high level. He ran 38 times, won nine and placed 12 times.

"He is best known for achieving the Imperial Cup and County Hurdle double in the same year thus winning the Sunderland's Bonus Prize, which was £50,000 in 1998. He then followed up one month later to win the Scottish Champion Hurdle.

"Later he was placed third in two successive Grand Nationals in 2001 and 2002. AP McCoy has always claimed that Blowing Wind's first Grand National in 2001 was 'the one that got away' when he was severely hampered when going extremely well and was remounted to finish third.

"The following year, before the Grand National he won the Mildmay of Flete at the 2002 Cheltenham Festival and thereby became one of the very few horses that have won a handicap hurdle and a handicap chase at the Festival meeting. He was given a wonderful ride that day by Ruby Walsh which became Ruby's first Cheltenham Festival steeplechase victory.

"He retired to Rupert and Amanda Sweeting in Oxfordshire where Amanda hunted him regularly for seven years with the Heythrop. He often led the field over the most fearsome of obstacles. He was instantly recognisable when out hunting and enjoyed a large fan club.

"He spent his final four years in happy but active retirement at the Moorcroft Racehorse Retraining Centre in Sussex where he was a great local favourite and often led their demonstrations and was ridden regularly under the tutelage of Mary Henley-Smith.

"It was a privilege and pleasure to own such a wonderful horse who has left us with so many happy memories. His exploits over such a long period ensured he had a great following."

Martin Pipe said: "We bought him from France and when Peter saw him, he showed the white of his eye which immediately put him off.

"Fortunately, I managed to persuade him that the horse showed a good temperament and attitude and Peter decided to buy him for a bit of fun, and what fun he had!"