FOR THE RECORD
JUNE 22, 2009
Yeats’ golden quatrain
When YEATS (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) swept to the front in Thursday’s Gold Cup
(Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, the eight-year-old was powering toward an historic milestone
that had never previously been achieved — a fourth
victory in the premier contest for stayers. Seizing the 2 1/2-mile prize in his
fierce grasp, the Aidan O’Brien star stormed clear not once, but twice. His
initial surge propelled him well clear of the field, with only Patkai (Indian
Ridge) desperately trying to mount a rally in midstretch. As Yeats heard the
hoofbeats of the pursuing Patkai, he produced yet another change of gear to draw
away by 3 1/2 lengths, and to establish a Gold Cup record that may never be
equaled.
To put Yeats’ four Gold Cups into proper perspective, we must turn to the
annals of the Ascot feature, which dates back to the time of the Napoleonic
Wars. (For a handy reference list of all past winners, visit the Turf Hallmarks section of tbheritage.com.)
Since its inaugural running in 1807, and until the advent of Yeats, a grand
total of 20 horses have won the Gold Cup more than once. Of them, only one,
Sagaro, captured the race three times (1975-77), but he was retired to stud
after his third coup and never got the chance to bid for a fourth.
Bred in Great Britain but trained in France by Francois Boutin, Sagaro had
push-button acceleration rarely found in a stayer, and that proved to be a
lethal asset at Ascot. No less an authority than Timeform deemed him to be an
easy winner in all three of his Gold Cups.
Timeform’s Racehorses of 1975 declared Sagaro “one of the easiest
winners of the Gold Cup we have seen,” adding that his four-length margin of
victory “could have been doubled had his jockey (Lester Piggott) wished….As
soon as Piggott put his foot on the accelerator, the race was over. Sagaro
settled his field in a few strides, strolling nonchalantly into a clear lead a
furlong out, with his rider looking round, and winning with any amount in hand.”
The following year, Sagaro won by a cozy length. According to Racehorses
of 1976, the five-year-old gave Piggott “an armchair ride,” displayed
“easily the best acceleration,” and scored “in very smooth style.”
At six, Sagaro was even more impressive, and Racehorses of 1977
offered a suitable tribute:
“Sagaro’s ascendancy over an outstanding Gold Cup field in 1977 convinced most critics that
if he had remained in training, he could have won the race again as a
seven-year-old…..He cantered home on a tight rein, five lengths in front of
the Prix du Cadran winner Buckskin with the best of the English-trained
challengers, the St Leger winner Bruni and the Yorkshire Cup winner Bright
Finish, well beaten off.
“Without Sagaro the 1978 Gold Cup may be like putting on Hamlet
without the Prince.”
Indeed, that verdict has the ring of truth. The 1978 edition witnessed
Shangamuzo beating a relatively lesser group, in Timeform’s view. If Sagaro had
been anywhere near his imperious self, he surely would have throttled them all
for the fourth time.
Sagaro’s case furnishes an important reminder. To set such a record, it takes
not only prodigious talent, a willing attitude, long-term soundness, and
judicious handling on the part of the trainer: even a horse blessed with all of
these prerequisites must have the opportunity to run in multiple Gold Cups.
While Yeats deserves to be on the short list of all-time great stayers, we
must remember that he has capitalized on an exceedingly rare opportunity. And,
in turn, Sagaro was afforded a third chance that other members of the pantheon
did not enjoy. Indeed, several of the sport’s titans landed the Gold Cup in
their sole attempt — the invincible St. Simon in 1884, to mention only one —
and would have added to their trophy collection if given the chance.
Moreover, it’s also worth emphasizing that the Gold Cup, in its prime, was
not the sequestered preserve of a marathon set as it unfortunately is today.
Rather, the Gold Cup was a prize coveted by all, and the natural aim for the
very best horses in training, often classic winners of past seasons.
In the first two decades of the Gold Cup, a pair of horses managed to win
twice, but neither achieved legendary status. Anticipation was initially
successful as a four-year-old in 1816, but the chestnut did not regain his crown
until the age of seven in 1819. Bizarre captured consecutive editions in
1824-25, defending his title in the latter after a protracted stretch battle
with Longwaist.
The next dual Gold Cup winner, however, was a phenomenal one — Touchstone
(1836-37) — who rose from humble circumstances to become a breed-shaping
stallion. His second dam, an erstwhile hunter, was exchanged for a cow.
Touchstone’s breeder, the Marquess of Westminster, was unable to find a home for
the unprepossessing colt, and thankfully, wound up keeping him. At the time, few
could have envisioned that the long-bodied dark bay, with an extra vertebra and
two extra ribs, would go on to win the St Leger, two Doncaster Cups and two Gold
Cups.
As a contemporary observer noted, “Neither distance nor state of going made
any difference to him, but at exercise he was very lazy and could hardly be
kicked along; a very hard puller, and speed was his greatest point” (quoted in
Richard Ulbrich’s Great Stallion Book).
Retired to stud before he could seek a third Gold Cup, Touchstone ranked as
Britain’s leading sire four times. He has left an incalculable legacy, with the
branches of his male line including such divergent types as Domino and Hyperion,
not to mention the saturating presence of his various descendants in all other
quadrants of the pedigree.
Seven years after Touchstone, an unnamed three-year-old colt by Defence
landed the Gold Cup in 1844, with Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in attendance.
Captivated by the spectacle of the entire meeting, the Tsar had already offered
to contribute a plate worth £500 to the winner of
the Gold Cup. The owner of the unnamed colt saluted Ascot’s
imperial guest by naming the colt The Emperor. Appropriately enough, The Emperor
won again in 1845 and took home the Tsar’s plate.
Because the Tsar was providing a valuable prize, the Gold Cup was known as
the “Emperor’s Plate” for nearly a decade. During this time, another dual winner
emerged in The Hero (1847-48), a fine stayer who had claimed the Doncaster Cup
in 1846 and added a victory in the Goodwood Cup in 1847.
When Anglo-Russian relations were ruptured by the outbreak of the Crimean
War, the contest lost its recent moniker. Now called the Gold Cup once more, the
1854 running was plundered by England’s first Triple Crown winner, West
Australian, then a four-year-old. The once-beaten colt was whisked off to stud
after that season.
In staggering contrast, dual Gold Cup winner Fisherman (1858-1859) raced 121
times, winning 67, 69, or 70, depending on the source. The prolific runner won
23 times in the year 1856 alone, reputed to be a British mark for most victories in
a season. Exported to Australia for stud duty, Fisherman sadly died young and
left only 36 foals. Nevertheless, the sparely-made bay made an enduring mark on
the Australian Thoroughbred.
The next two-time Gold Cup victor, Isonomy (1879-80), was to exert a profound
influence on the entire breed. As a yearling galloping around the paddock with
other youngsters, he threaded his way through traffic, altering course as
appropriate, and rallied to lead the pack. Trainer John Porter happened to be
watching the smart colt, and bought him for owner Frederick Gretton.
A sure-fire winner of the Derby, had he been
allowed to run, Isonomy was instead kept under wraps as a three-year-old until the Cambridgeshire
H., all because of a grand betting coup orchestrated by his owner.
Making his only sophomore start in that valuable handicap, Isonomy sprang a 40-1
surprise under a light weight. At four, he became the first horse ever to sweep
the “Stayers’ Triple Crown,” comprising the Gold Cup along with the Goodwood and
Doncaster Cups, in a single season. Isonomy showed uncommon courage to win the final leg, for rival jockey
Fred Archer deliberately struck his spur into Isonomy’s shoulder to stop him from rallying
up the rail. Disregarding the pain and blood emanating from the wound, Isonomy
got up late to triumph.
As the respected Duke of Portland observed, “if Isonomy had not been one of
the gamest and best horses that ever ran, he could not possibly have won”
(quoted in Joe Palmer’s Names in Pedigrees).
Isonomy duplicated his Gold Cup score as a five-year-old, but embarked upon
his stallion career at six. Like Touchstone, who appears in the fourth
generation of his pedigree, Isonomy rates as one of the key building
blocks of the Thoroughbred. Among his most significant offspring was Isinglass,
hero of the 1893 English Triple Crown as well as the 1895 Gold Cup, from whom
the Swynford male line descends.
Although the ensuing series of two-time Gold Cup winners did not leave as
indelible an imprint, they were obviously top-class in their own day. The White
Knight, whom Ulbrich regards as “one of the greatest stayers seen on the English
turf,” turned the Coronation Cup/Gold Cup double in 1907-08. (The White Knight
is not to be confused with the similarly-named White Knight, who became the
paternal grandsire of Exterminator.)
The 1907 Gold Cup is better remembered for its attending commotion, both on
and off the course. The White Knight actually dead-heated with Eider, but was
awarded the victory outright when Eider was disqualified for his waywardness in
the stretch. As the thrilling race unfolded, the security guards took their eyes
off the trophy, and thieves executed a well-timed heist to make off with the
Gold Cup.
*Prince Palatine rolled to a five-length score in the 1912 Gold Cup,
completing a three-generation sweep that began with his grandsire St. Simon and
continued with his sire Persimmon, a dual classic hero and 1897 Gold Cup star.
Prince Palatine’s title defense in 1913, however, was fraught with
controversy. Just as Tracery was bowling along in command, about to swing for
home, a man waving a suffragette flag and brandishing a gun ran onto the course
and deliberately blocked the colt’s path. The perpetrator was following the
rueful example of Emily Davison, who had thrown herself in front of King George
V’s horse, *Anmer, in that year’s Derby. Unable to avoid a
collision, Tracery was brought down, unseating his rider, and was thereby robbed
of a possible victory. Meanwhile, the innocent Prince Palatine jumped over the
fallen man and barreled home in course-record time.
While Prince Palatine may have gotten an assist from the suffragette
supporter, he was a superb colt in his own right. The winner of the St Leger, he
also boasted scores in the Coronation Cup, Eclipse S. and Doncaster Cup.
Tragically, Prince Palatine died in a 1924 fire at Xalapa Farm in Kentucky, but
he has earned a permanent place in pedigrees. His daughter *Blue Glass figures
in the pedigree of Native Dancer’s sire Polynesian, and Prince Palatine’s
paternal grandson Prince Rose went on to sire *Princequillo.
The next dual Gold Cup victor, Invershin (1928-29), may have received an
entirely different sort of help in his second score, which came at the expense
of American Horse of the Year Reigh Count. After capturing the Coronation Cup
under an inspired Joe Childs ride, Reigh Count loomed a serious threat to lift
the 1929 Gold Cup for the United States — until a rival British owner insisted
on claiming Childs for his own Gold Cup longshot. As Abram Hewitt recalls in
Sire Lines, the gambit was designed to keep Childs off Reigh Count,
presumably to undercut the American’s chance of success.
With Childs thus taken, Harry Wragg picked up the mount aboard Reigh Count in
the Gold Cup and guided him to a second-place finish behind Invershin. As Wragg generously admitted after the race, he
wished he had known Reigh Count better in advance, and if so, he could have won. To be fair, Invershin
won in good style, and he may have defeated Reigh Count even with Childs in the
saddle.
Trimdon landed his first of two Gold Cups in 1931 after a bruising battle
with runner-up Singapore, and the outcome may well have been reversed if the
losing connections had chosen to lodge an objection. Objecting, however, was
considered rather bad form at Royal Ascot, with gentlemen preferring to let the
stewards take action on their own. The stewards saw no reason to demote Trimdon
for shoving Singapore against the rail, so the result stood.
Trimdon extended his Gold Cup reign in 1932, but the real Ascot idol at that
time was the amazing Brown Jack, who won for seven straight years at the Royal
meeting. As a gelding, though, Brown Jack was not allowed into the Gold Cup.
Thus debarred from the highest echelons of the sport, Brown Jack concentrated
his energies on winning six consecutive runnings of the 2 3/4-mile Queen
Alexandra S. (1929-34). Might he have picked up a Gold Cup or two at the height
of his powers? There are formlines both pro and con — most interestingly, Brown
Jack gave six pounds and a beating to Trimdon in the 1931 Chester Cup.
More than 30 years passed before another dual Gold Cup hero emerged, but that
should not be taken as an indictment of the race’s quality. Rather, the reverse
was true: the Gold Cup witnessed a stream of top-class winners, including the
legendary Alycidon (1949), who became the first horse to win the Stayers’ Triple
Crown since his paternal ancestor Isonomy.
The aptly-named Fighting Charlie ended the streak of one-time winners by
capturing consecutive Gold Cups in 1965-66. Piggott guided him to a sharp
2 1/2-length victory in 1965, but deserted him in favor of Aegean Blue in 1966.
For once, the master rider chose the wrong horse, as Aegean Blue trudged home
fourth. Piggott’s misjudgment would only become apparent after one of the most
dramatic finishes in Gold Cup history. Fighting Charlie was under an injury
cloud in the days leading up to the race, and afterward, trainer Farnham Maxwell
said that the odds against his making it to Royal Ascot were 100-1. Inflammation racked both forelegs, and one was as swollen as a “telegraph pole.”
Constant ministrations helped him to recover, and Fighting Charlie lined up
for his title defense beneath Greville Starkey. Everything seemed to be going
swimmingly as Fighting Charlie took command, but he suddenly went wrong, and
Maxwell feared that the gallant stayer had broken down. The reigning Gold Cup
winner drifted far to his left turning for home. Winding up near the stands’
side rail, he had lost the lead and was now about six lengths back. Then, just
as abruptly, Fighting Charlie regrouped and unleashed a dazzling late rally to
regain the lead, and he stormed home by eight lengths. Lest any catastrophe
befall him in earnest, Fighting Charlie was accordingly retired to stud.
Since Sagaro, the floodgates have been opened, and repeat Gold Cup winners
have become more common. Le Moss won not only the Gold Cup in 1979-80, but the
Goodwood and Doncaster Cups in both years as well, becoming the only horse ever
to sweep the Stayers’ Triple Crown twice. The chestnut with the implacable will
to win had an easier time in 1979 than in 1980, when he dug deep to repel
Ardross in all three Cups. Upon the retirement of Le Moss, Ardross picked up the
baton to score back-to-back Gold Cup victories in 1981-82. The brave bay proved
that he was a world-class performer at 1 1/2 miles as well, narrowly missing to
the filly Akiyda in the 1982 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1).
Next came Gildoran (1984-85), who continued the typical pattern of retiring
rather than seeking a Gold Cup hat trick. Sadeem (1988-89) must be counted as a
questionable two-time winner, for he was awarded his first Gold Cup in the
stewards’ room. Royal Gait crossed the wire light years the best, only to be
disqualified for interference. Sadeem won on merit in 1989, but was trounced in
eighth when attempting a third victory in 1990.
Drum Taps prevailed in 1992 and 1993, but did not bid for a third. The
veteran Double Trigger won the Gold Cup in his first attempt in 1995, and took
three further cracks at the prize, coming closest when going down by a neck to
Kayf Tara in 1998. Kayf Tara, third in 1999, returned in 2000 and
scraped home by a head in his final career start. Royal Rebel likewise notched
his two Gold Cups by slender margins, denying the much-beloved Persian Punch by
a head in 2001 and Ireland’s own Vinnie Roe by a neck in 2002, to rank as the
last dual winner before Yeats. Royal Rebel did not race in 2003, and when trying
for a third Gold Cup in 2004, he wound up a well-beaten fourth.
While Yeats owns the record for the most Gold Cup victories, he is not the
oldest horse ever to win. The only other eight-year-old Gold Cup hero was Merman
(1900), an Australian-bred who was owned by the famed actress Lillie Langtry. An
erstwhile mistress of Queen Victoria’s son Bertie, the future King Edward VII,
Langtry raced her horses in the name of “Mr. Jersey” because women were not
allowed membership in the Jockey Club. Merman was an accomplished stayer Down
Under, and he pulled off a massive betting coup for Langtry in the 1897
Cesarewitch.
The oldest Gold Cup winner was the astounding nine-year-old mare Beeswing
(1842), who was hailed as the “Pride of Northumberland” and the “Flower of the
North.” Victorious in 51 of 64 starts, Beeswing amassed four Doncaster Cups, six
Newcastle Cups, three runnings of the Fitzwilliam S. and two Stockton Cups, to
list only a few of her trophies. The little bay, who stood just 15.2 hands
tall, was a perennial fan favorite, and she thrilled her loyalists with a game
victory at Ascot. Beeswing forged to the front early, was headed, but roared
back to score by a half-length. She closed out her illustrious career next time
out, demolishing the field by six lengths in the Doncaster Cup. Beeswing was
just as remarkable as a broodmare. To the cover of fellow Cup star Touchstone,
she produced two classic winners, notably Newminster, hero of the St Leger, a
two-time leading sire in Britain, and the vehicle for much of Touchstone’s
lasting influence.
In light of the breed-shaping aptitude of the finest Gold Cup winners of ages
past, it is dispiriting that such a great race has become virtually meaningless
in this regard in our own time. Is there any hope of reviving its importance, or
even relevance, to the breeding industry? Or is the very idea nothing more than
purely antiquarian folly?
The first step is to attract truly high-class runners in the Gold Cup,
preferably those with Group 1 form at 1 1/2 miles as well. Yeats fits that bill,
having won the 2005 Coronation Cup. In a similar vein, 2005 Gold Cup hero
Westerner, a son of Danehill, placed second in that season’s Arc and thereby
boosted his profile as a stallion. Both are poised to play a pivotal role in answering these questions
about the Gold Cup’s future.
Although Yeats will no doubt prove popular with the National Hunt breeders, surely Coolmore
will provide a select group of Flat mares for his court, and I suspect that
Yeats will display a wider range of abilities at stud than his Cups career may
imply.
Indeed, Yeats just might be a throwback to the type of old-time Derby winner
who progressed into a top-class stayer as an older horse. We must remember that
he won on his debut as a juvenile, and in his two outings at three, he captured
major Derby trials at 10 furlongs, catapulting him into favoritism for Epsom.
What if Yeats had not suffered those pulled back muscles that ruled him out of
the Derby? The 2004 renewal was not a particularly vintage one, and it is no
great leap to suggest that he could well have won that year’s Blue Riband.
On the other hand, a Derby-winning Yeats would never have taken the Cup route, and we
would have been denied his Gold Cup quartet.