Owned by Mrs. John Magnier and Mrs.
David Nagle and trained by Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle, Co.
Tipperary, Yeats is best remembered for winning the Gold Cup at Royal
Ascot an unprecedented four times in a row, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and
2009. He was also, unsurprisingly, named Cartier Stayer in each of
those years but, in a lengthy career spanning six seasons, he won 15
of his 26 races, including seven Group 1 races, and earned over £1.3
million in prize money.
Although he ultimately made his name as
an out-and-out stayer, it is, perhaps worth remembering that Yeats
won his maiden over a mile at the Curragh on his sole start as a
juvenile and the Ballysax Stakes and the Derrinstown Stud Derby
Trial, both over 1 mile 2 furlongs, at Leopardstown as a
three-year-old. Indeed, he was a leading fancy for Derby proper in
2004, before injury ruled him out for the rest of the season.
When he returned, after nearly a year
off, he was beaten, at odds-on, in the High Chapparal EBF Moorsbridge
Stakes at the Curragh, but clearly detested the heavy going and
wasn’t beaten up by Kieron Fallon once it was clear he was making
no impression in the closing stages. Indeed, Yeats showed the benefit
of that tender handling in the Coronation Cup at Epsom the following
month, making all to win unchallenged a record his first win at the
highest level. Aidan O’Brien admitted afterwards, “I might have
over-trained him for the Derby last year, which could have brought on
his problems, and we learned a lot from that.”
Yeats didn’t win again until stepped
up to 2 miles 4 furlongs for the first time in the Gold Cup at Ascot
the following June, but the rest, as they say, is history. Following
his fourth, and final, win in the Gold Cup three years later, winning
jockey Johnny Murtagh said, tearfully, “It's one of the greatest
days of my life in racing. Yeats is everything positive about
racing.”
