He was set a stiff task on his seasonal re-appearance the following October as no less than Kicking King was present in the field. However, he rose to the occasion admirably, running out the cosy three length winner. A notable victory over Rathgar Beau in the Clonmel Oil Chase followed, but he disappointed when sent off at 4/5 to win the John Durkan Memorial Chase three weeks later. He bounced back to something near his best 17 days later when finishing second to Beef Or Salmon in the Grade 1 Lexus Chase and Morris opted to put him away until his ultimate target, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
 
At the time it was a commonly held view that last March’s Cheltenham Gold Cup was a below par renewal following the death of Best Mate and the injuries in Kicking King and Trabolgan. The result was that one of the biggest fields in living memory assembled for the race with 22 runners taking their place in the line-up. But War Of Attrition, the youngest horse in the field, proved to be much the best on the day. He relished the good ground and stamina sapping trip, sealing his victory with two prodigious leaps at the final two obstacles to run out the 2½ lengths winner from Hedgehunter. He wrapped up his season with a triumphant return to Ireland in the Guinness Gold Cup at the Punchestown Festival, making all to beat Beef Or Salmon by 2½ lenghts.

For the second year in succession, War Of Attrition made a successful seasonal re-appearance in the Daily Star Chase in October 2006, comfortably accounting for his old rival Watson Lake. He met with defeat at the hands of the enigmatic Beef Or Salmon last time out in the James Nicholson Champion Chase, but there was no shame in that as Michael Hourigan’s charge is exceptionally difficult to beat on soft ground.

Unfortunately for the connections - and just a week before he travelled to Cheltenham to defend his Gold Cup crown - War Of Attrition was struck by a tendon injury and was unable to make the trip. However, the horse has undergone an intensive period of rehabilitation and there are hopes that he may yet return to racing.
 

 

 

For now though, Mouse is concentrating on developing a string of excellent young horses owned by a a group of top owners, including business magnate Sir Anthony O'Reilly, Gigginstown House Stud owner and Chief Executive of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, and Cork property developer Michael O'Flynn, who have been involved with the Evarardsgrange yard for many years and whose continued support indicate a bright future for the Fethard trainer.

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