Galileo

Nowadays, Galileo, by Sadler’s Wells out of Urban Sea, is best known as a champion sire. Indeed, in 2017, he was named leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland for the ninth time in ten years, with 12 Group 1 winners, including Classic winners Churchill and Winter, and just under £12 million in prize money. Since 2012, he has stood exclusively at Coolmore Stud, Co. Tipperary, for a “private” fee, which is reputed to be in excess of €400,000.

In a racing career lasting exactly a year and a day, Galileo won six of his eight races, including the Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes in 2001, and earned over £1.6 million in prize money. He raced just once as a juvenile, winning his maiden, over a mile, at Leopardstown, by 14 lengths from subsequent winner Taraza. He reappeared in the Listed Ballysax Stakes, over 1 mile 2 furlongs, at the Co. Dublin course the following April when, at odds of 1/3, he made short work of stable companion – and future St. Leger winner – Milan, winning easily by 3½ lengths. He stepped up in class for the Group 3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial over the same course and distance less than a month later but, although he had to work a little harder for victory, he stayed on strongly to beat Exaltation by 1½ lengths.

As an unbeaten colt with a top pedigree, owned by Mrs John Magnier and Michael Tabor and trained by Aidan O’Brien, it was really no surprise that Galileo started joint favourite, at 11/4, for the Derby at Epsom. His main market rival, Golan, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, was also unbeaten and already a Classic winner, having beaten Tamburlaine in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket the previous month. Nevertheless, it was Galileo who prevailed, leading inside the final quarter of a mile and drawing clear for an impressive 3½-length win over Golan, with Tobougg a never-nearer third, beaten a further neck. Galileo earned a Timeform rating of 132, making him one of the best Derby winners since the turn of the century, alongside Authorized and Workforce.

Dancing Brave

Dancing Brave, owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla and trained by Guy Harwood, was officially the second highest rated horse on the Flat since official international figures were first published in 1977. Only Frankel was rated higher and, even then, only after a “historical recalibration” of the rankings in 2013, which downgraded Dancing Brave from 141 to 138.

During his career, Dancing Brave won eight of his 10 races, including the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, and was named European Horse of the Year for 1986.

An unimposing son of Lyphard, Dancing Brave made his racecourse debut in the Dorking Stakes at Sandown in 1985, which he won convincingly. Guy Harwood later recalled, “[Stable jockey] Greville Starkey got off and said, ‘This horse is my Derby ride.’” Dancing Brave followed up, in similar style, in the Soham House Stakes at Newmarket, and went into winter quarters as favourite for the 2,000 Guineas.

On his reappearance, he started favourite for the Craven Stakes at Newmarket, which he won emphatically. On his return to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas, he came with a powerful run going down into ‘the Dip’ and quickened clear in the closing stages to beat Green Desert by 3 lengths, with jockey Greville Starkey looking around for non-existent dangers.

His subsequent defeat by Shahrastani in the Derby, in which Starkey gave him far too much to do, has been well chronicled elsewhere, but his finest hour came at Longchamp on October 5, 1986. Sent off favourite, once again, for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he was switched off at the rear of the field by Pat Eddery before being asked for maximum effort in the final furlong-and-a-half. Delivering his challenge wide, late and fast, Dancing Brave passed a dozen rivals – including Bering, Triptych and Sharastani – in the final furlong to win by 1½ lengths. Commentator Graham Goode said afterwards, “Pat Eddery has never ridden a better race.”

Yeats

These days, Yeats, who was retired from racing in October, 2009, stands at Castlehyde Stud, Co. Cork, where he commands a stud fee of €5,000. Granted his exceptional sire, Sadler’s Wells, and his own exceptional ability, it’s no real surprise that he’s garnering a reputation as a sire of top-class jumpers.

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.”

Native River

Owned by Garth and Anne Broom, under the banner of Brocade Racing, and trained by Colin Tizzard in Milborne Port, Dorset is a bay gelding, by Indian River out of a Be My Native, best known for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2018. Having finished third, beaten 2¾ lengths and a short head by Sizing Europe and Minella Rocco, in the Cheltenham showpiece in 2017, Native River was involved in an epic duel with Might Bite in 2018, eventually outstaying his main market rival in the last half-a-furlong or so to win by 4½ lengths, with 33/1 outsider Anable Fly a further 4 lengths away in third. In so doing, Native River gave trainer Colin Tizzard his first winner in the race.

Immediately after the race, Tizzard said, “It was unreal, wasn’t it? To win the Cheltenham Gold Cup means everything to everyone’s life. Let's not pretend it’s not,” adding, “We’ve had a wonderful preparation and you think something could go wrong in the race, but it didn’t.”

Unlike in 2017, when the Cheltenham Gold Cup was something of an afterthought after victories in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow and Betfair Denman Chase, also at Newbury, Native River was trained with the “Blue Riband” event as his only major target of the season in 2018. En route, he did win the Betfair Denman Chase for second year running, jumping well for a ready 12-length win over Cloudy Dreams.

In winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Native River achieved a Timeform rating of 172, still 10lb inferior to that achieved by his stable companion Cue Card in his heyday, but he is still only eight years old and remains relatively lightly raced, so it remains to be seen where he ends up in the hierarchy of staying chasers since World War II. Currently 8/1 third favourite, behind Presenting Percy and Might Bite, for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2019, Native River has stamina in abundance, but isn’t, necessarily an out-and-out mudlark so, barring accidents, looks one to keep on the right side wherever he goes.

Camelot

Bred by Sheikh Abdulla Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, bought, as a yearling, by the Coolmore organisation and trained by Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle, Co. Kildare, Camelot, was a bay colt by Montjeu. He was one of the few horses of the modern era to attempt the traditional English Triple Crown – that is, the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St. Leger – last won by Nijinsky in 1970.

Camelot raced just twice as a juvenile, easily winning his maiden at Leopardstown in July before giving his rivals similarly short shrift in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October, when stepped up to Group One level for the first time. He reappeared in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket the following May without the benefit of a preparatory run but, although left with plenty to do entering the final quarter of a mile, led inside the final furlong and stayed on well to justify favouritism, beating French Fifteen by a neck.

In the Derby at Epsom, Camelot started 8/13 favourite to beat just eight rivals – the smallest field since 1907 – and duly obliged, running on strongly to beat Main Sequence by 5 lengths, eased down. Aidan O’Brien said afterwards, “From day one he’s been exceptional, so I was really taking it race by race rather than by trip.”

In the Irish Derby later the same month, Camelot faced just five rivals, including stable companion Astrology, whom he’d already beaten at Epsom, and was sent off 1/5 favourite to extend his unbeaten record. Before the race, Aidan O’Brien had expressed concerns that the soft to heavy going at the Curragh might prove too testing for Camelot but, despite jinking left in the closing stages, he kept on well inside the final furlong to beat Born To Sea by 2 lengths.

Camelot was rested for six weeks until his bid for the Triple Crown at Doncaster in October. His nine rivals in the St. Leger included Thought Worthy, his old rival Main Sequence and Encke, who’d previously finished first, second and third in the Great Voltigeur at York. However, over the extra 2½ furlongs on Town Moor, Encke fared best of that trio and proved to be the proverbial fly-in-the-ointment for Camelot. Try as he might, the 2/5 favourite could never quite reel in the 25/1 outsider and Encke held on well to win by three-quarters of a length.

Katchit

Katchit was best known for winning the Triumph Hurdle in 2007 and the Champion Hurdle in 2008. The latter victory made him the first horse since Persian War, in 1968, to complete the Triumph Hurdle - Champion Hurdle double in consecutive years and the first five-year-old since See You Then, in 1985, to win the Champion Hurdle.

Small in stature, but a swift, instinctive hurdler, Katchit was bought by Wiltshire trainer Alan King after he watched him win his only race on the Flat, a 0-75 handicap, over 1 mile 2 furlongs, at Salisbury in June, 2006. Katchit made his hurdling debut at Market Rasen the following September and only had to be pushed clear by Robert “Chocolate” Thornton to win by 9 lengths, eased down. Indeed, Katchit won seven of his eight starts as a novice, culminating with two victories at Grade 1 level. In the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, he led approaching the last flight and was driven clear for an impressive 9-length win, while in the Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree, less than a month later, he stayed on strongly to beat Punjabi by 4 lengths.

Katchit reappeared at Aintree the following October, taking revenge on Degas Art, the only horse to have beaten him as a novice, but was beaten the next twice, in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle and the International Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Nevertheless, he resumed winning ways in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton in February, running on well to beat Blythe Knight by 5 lengths. In the Champion Hurdle a month later, Katchit started only joint fifth choice in the market in a field of 15 runners, which included Osana, who’d beaten him 8 lengths in the International Hurdle, and Harchibald, who’d beaten him 3¼ lengths in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. However, in the Cheltenham showpiece, Katchit took the lead with two to jump and, although strongly challenged by his old rival Osana at the last flight, stayed on well up the hill to win, all out, with Punjabi a further 5 lengths away in third.

Sadly, Katchit never won again. When he died, as a 10-year-old, in 2013, following colic surgery, Alan King said of him, “He was a marvellous horse. He was just tough. It is definitely up there with my best winners and we will never forget him.”

Golden Horn

Bred and owned by Anthony Oppenheimer and trained by John Gosden in Newmarket, Suffolk, Golden Horn was named Cartier Horse of the Year in 2015 after winning the Derby, the Coral-Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. All in all, in a career lasting just over a calendar year, he won seven of his nine races and earned over £4.4 million in total prize money.

A March foal, Golden Horn raced just once as a juvenile, overcoming greenness to win a run-of-the-mill maiden stakes race over an extended mile at Nottingham in October, 2014. However, he improved significantly from two to three, winning the Listed Feilden Stakes, over 1 mile 1 furlong, on his reappearance at Newmarket the following April and readily accounting for stable companion Jack Hobbs in the Betfred Dante Stakes, over 1 mile 2½ furlongs, at York a month later.

Golden Horn was supplemented for the Derby, at a cost of £75,000 to connections, and faced 11 rivals, headed by Jack Hobbs and Giovanni Canaletto, trained by Aidan O’Brien, who’d been narrowly beaten in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh on his previous outing. He was sent off 13/8 favourite and duly collected, running on well in the closing stages to record a comfortable 3½-length victory over his old rival Jack Hobbs.

Winning jockey Frankie Dettori, who’d first won the Derby eight years earlier on Authorized, said afterwards, “When you’re young, you don’t really appreciate the full importance of this Derby, so it means a great deal to win it for a second time.”

Golden Horn took on the older horses for the first time in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July and, although involved in a good battle with The Grey Gatsby throughout the last half a mile, stretched clear in the closing stages to win by 3½ lengths. He faced The Grey Gatsby again in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York the following month and, as he had at Sandown, started 4/9 favourite to extend his unbeaten record to six. Golden Horn beat The Grey Gatsby easily enough but, surprisingly, failed to overcome 50/1 outsider Arabian Queen – a three-year-old filly officially rated 21lb inferior – going down by a neck.

Golden Horn resumed winning ways in the Irish Champion Stakes, won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe under a fine ride by Frankie Dettori and finished his career by finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland, Kentucky.

Harbinger

According to Timeform ratings, which are widely accepted as a definitive measure of the relative merit of racehorses from different generations, Harbinger was on a par with Shergar, Dancing Brave and Sea The Stars, but raced just once at the highest level.

In the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July, 2010, he beat a field that included Workforce, the Derby winner, Cape Blanco, the Irish Derby winner, Youmzain, second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe the previous October, and Daryakana, winner of the Hong Kong Vase the previous December, by 11 lengths. Sadly, Harbinger suffered a fractured left foreleg in a routine gallop on the Limekilns in Newmarket shortly afterwards and, although the injury wasn’t life-threatening, he never raced again.

Owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing and trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Harbinger was a slow maturing type, who didn’t race as a two-year-old and, frankly, didn’t appear to have any aspirations of becoming a bona fide Group 1 contender until he turned four. His three-year-old campaign started promisingly enough, with an impressive win in a maiden, over 1 mile 2 furlongs, at Chester in May on his second start, followed by another convincing victory in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, on his first attempt at 1 mile furlongs, when next seen in July.

However, despite starting 13/8 favourite for the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at York the following month, he trailed in last of the seven runners, beaten 27¼ lengths, behind Monitor Closely. Given another short break, he was dropped back into Group 3 company for the St. Simon Stakes at Newbury in October, but could still only finish third of 11, beaten 6¼ lengths.

Harbinger blossomed as a four-year-old, though, striding clear for an impressive 3-length win over subsequent Yorkshire Cup winner Manifest in the John Porter Stakes at Newbury on his reappearance in April, followed by further convincing victories in the Group 3 Ordmonde Stakes at Chester and the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. Before his injury, he was already hot favourite for the Juddmonte International Stakes at York and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe but was, tragically, the highest rated horse in the world for just two weeks.

Workforce

Bred by Juddmonte Farms, owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah and trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Workforce was a bay colt by 2,000 Guineas winner King’s Best, famous for winning the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2010. In fact, Workforce won just four of his nine races between 2009 and 2011, but his two successes at the highest level contributed to total career earnings of over £3.2 million and were sufficient for him to be named Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt in 2010.

Having won his maiden at Goodwood in September, 2009, with consummate ease, Workforce was beaten 3 lengths by subsequent Irish Derby winner Cape Blanco in the Dante Stakes at York on his reappearance the following May, although his cause wasn’t helped by the bit slipping through his mouth in the closing stages. In any case, he was sent off 6/1 joint second favourite for the Derby at Epsom three weeks later and, having collared pacemaker At First Sight with over a furlong to run, drew away to win by 7 lengths. In so doing, he broke the track record set by Lammtarra 15 years earlier.

The King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July was his next target but, despite starting 8/11 favourite against the older horses, he ran the proverbial ‘stinker’, trailing in fifth of six, beaten 16¾ lengths, behind the 4-year-old Harbinger, also trained by Sir Michael Stoute. Sir Michael said afterwards, “I didn’t know which was the better horse. I’ve never pitted them together. It was just a question of which horse had progressed the most since his last run.”

Workforce wasn’t seen again until the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October where, in a rough race that saw the eventual seventh, Planteur, disqualified for causing interference, he ran on strongly to beat Japanese challenger Nakayama Festa by a head. In so doing, he gave Sir Michael Stoute his first winner of the race. Stoute said, “I'm thrilled to have won it with this horse, especially after he was so brilliant in the Derby and inexplicably disappointing in the King George.”

Ouija Board

Owned by Lord Derby and trained by Ed Dunlop in Newmarket, Ouija Board has the distinction of being named Cartier Horse Of The Year twice, once in 2004, when she was also named Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, and again in 2006, when she was also named Cartier Older Horse. Dunlop once said of her, “Having her outweighs everything. She’s changed my career, changed my life, changed [owner] Lord Derby’s life.”

Her three-year-old campaign was, undoubtedly, her best. Having won the Listed Pretty Polly Stakes, over 1 mile 2 furlongs, at Newmarket by 6 lengths on her seasonal debut, she turned the Oaks at Epsom into a procession, surging clear in the closing stages to beat All Too Beautiful and Punctilious by 7 lengths and 3½ lengths. She beat Punctilious again, albeit by just a length after being eased in the closing stages, in the Irish Oaks the following month, but wasn’t seen again until the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 77 days later.

Initially held up at the rear of the field, she finished strongly down the centre of the track but, at the line, was 1½ lengths adrift of the winner, Bago. She ended the season on a winning note, though, running on strongly to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Lone Star Park, Texas.

Ouija Board didn’t reappear until June, 2005, when she was beaten out of sight in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, run at York while Ascot was being redeveloped. Having resumed winning ways in the Group 3 Princess Royal Stakes at Newmarket in September, she finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Arlington Park, Chicago, fifth in the Japan Cup at Tokyo and completed her season with a convincing win in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

The following season, she proved her York run all wrong by winning the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and added the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and another Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, this time at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, to her winning tally later in the campaign. All in all, she won 10 of her 22 races, including seven at the highest level, and earned just over £3.5 million in total prize money.

Enable

Owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah and trained by John Gosden – both of whom described her as a “filly of a lifetime” – Enable was named Cartier Horse of the Year in 2017 after a phenomenal three-year-old campaign, in which she won five Group 1 races.

Having won her sole start as a juvenile, Enable was beaten in a condition stakes race over 1 mile 2 furlongs at Newbury on her three-year-old debut, staying on to finish third, beaten 2½ lengths and a head by stable companion Shutter Speed and Raheen House. However, her proximity to the 110-rated Raheen House, who’d finished fourth in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster the previous October, earned her an 18lb rise in the weights.

She proved that the weight rise was justified, though, by winning the Cheshire Oaks by 1¾ lengths, eased down, on her next start at Chester. Winning jockey Frankie Dettori said afterwards, “She’s a very nice filly, who is improving all the time. She is beginning to know what she is doing.”

The daughter of Nathaniel certainly knew what she was doing by the time she arrived at Epsom for the Oaks proper, drawing clear in the closing stages to beat the odds-on favourite, Rhododendron, by 5 lengths, with her old rival Alluringly a further 6 lengths away in third.

She won at the Curragh, with a minimum of fuss, to become a dual Oaks winner and moved on to Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, in which she faced older horses, including colts, for the first time. Frankie Dettori wasted down to 8st 7lb, his minimum riding weight all year, to take the ride and Enable quickened clear in the closing stages to win by an impressive 4½ lengths.

After another facile victory in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York in August, at odds of ¼, Enable made her final start of the season came in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, run at Chantilly during the redevelopment of Longchamp, in October. Sent of 10/11 favourite, she was ridden clear 1½ furlongs from home to beat Cloth Of Stars by 2½ lengths. Her Timeform rating of 134 is only a few pounds behind the best fillies of the last five decades or so and she stays in training as a four-year-old, so she could still be better yet.

Montjeu

Bred by Sir James Goldsmith, owned by Michael Tabor and trained by John Hammond in Chantilly, France, was a bay gelding by Sadler’s Wells, probably best remembered for winning the Derby, the Irish Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a 3-year-old and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes as a 4-year-old.

In fact, his victory in the latter contest, in 2000, is widely considered the easiest since Nijinsky and Lester Piggott toyed with the opposition three decades earlier. Certainly, Montjeu started the shortest-priced favourite, at 1/3, since Nashwan, at 2/9, beat Cacoethes by a neck in 1989. Facing just six rivals, all of whom had 11lb or more to find on official figures, Montjeu made progress from the rear of the field with two furlongs to run and cruised home by 1¾ lengths from Fantastic Light with jockey Mick Kinane barely moving in the saddle. Kevin Darley, rider of the fourth home, Beat All, said afterwards, “It looked as if he [Monjeu] had just joined in at the turn.”

Montjeu ran his last race at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, in November, 2000, finishing a never-nearer seventh of 13, beaten 4½ lengths, behind Kalanisi in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. At the end of his racing career, he had won 11 of his 16 races, including six at the highest level and earned over £2.2 million in total prize money. His Timeform rating of 137 was the same as that achieved by Derby winners Grundy, Troy and Peintre Celebre.

He was retired to Coolmore Stud, Co. Tipperary for the start of the 2001 breeding season, initially with a stud fee of £30,000. However, Montjeu proved extraordinarily successful as a stallion, siring Motivator, Authorized, Pour Moi and Camelot, winners of the Derby in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012 respectively. Consequently, his stud fee rose considerably, to as high as €125,000 in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

When he died in 2012, due to complications arising from acute septicaemia, trainer John Hammond said, “He was a wonderful racehorse and a wonderful stallion. If you wanted to get yourself a Derby horse, he was your man. If he had been human, he would have been an eccentric genius.”

Harry Angel

Bred by Paul and Marie McCartan under the banner of CBS Bloodstock, owned, since June, 2017, by Godolphin and trained by Clive Cox in Lambourn, Berkshire, Harry Angel was Cartier Champion Sprinter in 2017. In fact, he was the fourth highest-rated horse in Europe, behind only Battaash, Cracksman and Enable.

A February foal, Harry Angel began his racing career with defeat, by the minimum margin, in a novice stakes race, over 5 furlongs, at Ascot in May, 2016. He raced just once more as a juvenile, returning from a 133-day break to win the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes, over 6 furlongs, at Newbury in September in convincing style.

An enthusiastic, free-going sort, he pulled too hard for his own good when second in the Group 3 Pavilion Stakes, over 6 furlongs, at Ascot on his three-year-old debut. However, he returned to winning ways in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, quickening clear on the firm going to beat Second Thoughts by an impressive 4½ lengths.

Harry Angel was bought, privately, from original owner Peter Ridgers by Godolphin shortly afterwards and made his first appearance in Group 1 company in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in June. Sent off 11/4 second favourite, he led until the final half a furlong, but was unable to withstand the hitherto unbeaten Caravaggio, who ran on strongly in the closing stages to win by three-quarters of a length.

The pair met again in the Group 1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket three weeks later but, ridden with a little more restraint, Harry Angel led approaching the furlong marker and, although the likes of Limato, Brando and Caravaggio set off in vain pursuit, he crossed the line 1¼ lengths in front. Winning jockey Adam Kirby said afterwards, “He’s gone from boy to man with every race and I can’t express how good he is.”

After eight weeks off, he was even more impressive in the 32Red Sprint Stakes at Haydock, making all on heavy going to beat Tasleet by 4 lengths. On his final start, in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot, he again pulled hard and, having made progress to lead inside the final quarter of a mile, faded to finish fourth, beaten 2¼ lengths, behind Librisa Breeze.

Don't Push It

Don’t Push It was a bay gelding, owned by John Patrick “J.P.” McManus and trained by Jonjo O’Neill at Jackdaws Castle in Gloucestershire, who won eight of his 28 races under National Hunt Rules and over £750,000 in total prize money. However, the son of top-class jumps sire Old Vic etched his name into the annals of racing history when, on April 10, 2010, he put in a faultless round of jumping to win the Grand National under A.P. McCoy.

Don’t Push It was backed into 10/1 joint favourite, from 20/1, on the day of the race, but McManus – nicknamed the ‘Sundance Kid’ because of his betting exploits – said, “I noticed his odds had come in before the race but I didn’t back him, I was just happy to see him deliver the goods.”

In a race run at an end-to-end gallop, Don’t Push It made headway from mid-division to track the leaders heading out into the country for the second time and, by the time the bold-jumping Black Apalachi took over from the long-time leader Conna Castle at Becher’s Brook on the second circuit, only a handful of horses were left with a realistic chance of winning. Two of them, Big Fella Thanks and Hello Bud, weakened from the second last fence, at which Don’t Push It took second place. He took the lead at the last and stayed on well from the famous “Elbow” to beat Black Apalachi by 5 lengths, with State Of Play, who snatched third place from Big Fella Thanks close home, a further 20 lengths away.

In so doing, he became the first Grand National winner for A.P. McCoy after fifteen attempts. The perennial champion jockey – who retired in April, 2015, with a record 4,358 winners and was knighted in the New Year's Honours in 2016 – said afterwards, “The National is the people’s race and to have won it at last is really special.”

Jonjo O’Neill, who was also winning the race for the first time, later reflected on the occasion, saying, “I think we’ll always remember the magical day he won the Grand National as it was one of the greatest afternoons in the life of myself, J.P. and A.P. as we had all been trying to win the race for so many years.”

Rock Of Gibraltar

Owned by Sir Alex Ferguson and Susan Magnier and trained by Aidan O’Brien, Rock Of Gibraltar had the distinction of winning seven consecutive Group 1 races in 2001/02, in so doing breaking the record set by Mill Reef 30 years earlier.

Rock Of Gibraltar raced seven times as a juvenile, winning five times, including back-to-back Group 1 victories in the Grand Crierium - Lucien Barriere at Longchamp and the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, both over 7 furlongs, in October. Stepped up to a mile for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on his three-year-old debut, the Danehill colt led the group on the far side over a furlong out and was ridden out to beat stable companion Hawk Wing, who raced on the near side, by a neck.

Rock Of Gibraltar subsequently bolted up in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh three weeks later and readily beat old rival Landseer – whom he’d denied by a short head in the Dewhurst Stakes – in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month. Two more Group 1 wins, in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in July and the Prix de Moulin de Longchamp in September, followed before a trip across the Atlantic to contest the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Arlington Park, Chicago. Sent off at odds-on, for the fifth time in a row, Rock Of Gibraltar finished a never-nearer second, beaten three-quarters of a length, behind 26/1 outsider Domedriver.

Understandably, Rock Of Gibraltar was named Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt and Cartier Horse of the Year in 2002.

In 2004, Ferguson threatened John Magnier, owner of Coolmore Stud, with court action in an extraordinary dispute over stud fees for Rock Of Gibraltar, before settling out of court in a compromise deal worth £2.5 million. In his autobiography, Ferguson dismissed the episode in a paragraph or two, but later told a press conference, “It was straightforward. I had an agreement with John Magnier that, after the settlement, nothing will [sic] be said about it at all. I’ve said nothing and they’ve said nothing. That’s how it is and that’s how it should be.”

Desert Orchid

Assessing the popularity of racehorses from different generations is never easy, but Desert Orchid must surely rank alongside Arkle and Red Rum as one of the most iconic steeplechasers in the history of National Hunt racing. Although officially a grey, Desert Orchid gradually lost his birth colour with age, becoming almost white. As such, he was easy to pick out in a race which, coupled with his bold, front-running style and flamboyant, albeit occasionally erratic, jumping added to his appeal to the general public.

Owned by Richard and Midge Burridge and trained by David Elsworth, the aptly-named son of Grey Mirage I made 70 starts over hurdles and fences, winning 34 of them. His major victories included the King George VI Chase at Kempton (four times), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Irish Grand National.

His finest hour, particularly for a horse famously better going right-handed, came at Cheltenham on March 16, 1989. On heavy, almost unraceable, ground, Desert Orchid started 5/2 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup but, having been left in the lead by the fall of Ten Plus at the third last fence, was headed by confirmed mudlark Yahoo on the run to two out. Yahoo maintained the advantage until the run-in, but Desert Orchid rallied on the famous uphill climb to the line, quickening in the closing stages to win by 1½ lengths. Winning jockey Simon Sherwood said afterwards, “Without doubt he could have won three or four Gold Cups if Cheltenham had been right-handed.”

Aside from his victories at the highest level, Desert Orchid also won numerous handicaps, over a variety of distances, under seemingly prohibitive weights. In the Victor Chandler Chase, over 2 miles, at Ascot in 1989, he beat Panto Prince by a head conceding 22lb and the following April won the Irish Grand National, over 3 miles and 5 furlongs, at Fairyhouse by 12 lengths, despite conceding 26lb and upwards to each of his 13 rivals.

Night Nurse

Owned by Reg Spencer and trained by Peter Easterby at Habton Grange, near Malton, North Yorkshire, Night Nurse is best known for winning the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival twice, in 1976 and 1977, but also has the distinction of being the highest rated hurdler of the Timeform era.

His first victory in the Champion Hurdle, which came at the expense of Lanzarote and Comedy Of Errors, among others, was part of a ten-race winning streak, which also included the Irish Sweeps Hurdle, the Welsh Champion Hurdle and the Scottish Champion Hurdle. His second came at the expense of such luminaries as Monksfield, Sea Pigeon and Bird’s Nest, not to mention Dramatist, Beacon Light and Master Monday, any of whom would have been a worthy winner in any other year. In fact, the 1977 Champion Hurdle is widely considered, by Timeform, the Racing Post and others, the best ever run and set a benchmark for decades to come.

Less than three weeks after the Champion Hurdle, on Grand National Day, 1977, Night Nurse put up a career-best performance, in terms of ratings, forcing a dead-heat with Monksfield, who was receiving 6lb, in the Templegate Hurdle at Aintree.

Switched to steeplechasing, Night Nurse enjoyed an extremely successful novice season in 1978/79 and was quietly fancied to become the first horse in history to complete the Champion Hurdle - Cheltenham Gold Cup double. However, he blundered away his chance at Cheltenham, eventually finishing tailed off behind stable companion Alverton. He missed most of the 1979/80 season through injury but, on his return, produced some magnificent displays of fast, accurate jumping that was the hallmark of his career. He finished second, beaten 1½ lengths, behind stable companion Little Owl in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1981 and was pulled up, despite starting favourite, in the same race in 1982.

Night Nurse was retired from racing, as a 12-year-old, on New Year’s Day, 1983, having won 32 of his 64 races over hurdles and fences and earned over £132,000 in prize money. When he died in 1998, at the age of 27, Peter Easterby summed him up, saying, “What made Night Nurse so special was he was a natural jumper, brilliant from the first time we ever schooled him. He was a very, very brave horse, hard and brave.”

Frankel

Frankel was definitely the best horse in living memory and, arguably, the best horse in the 300-year history of thoroughbred racing. He won all 14 of his races, including 10 at the highest level, was named Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and Cartier Horse of the Year (twice) and was the highest rated horse since the introduction of World Thoroughbred Rankings in 1977.

His final victory, a workmanlike 1¾-length win over Cirrus Des Aigles in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot on October 20, 2012, confirmed his place in racing history alongside legendary undefeated champions, such as Eclipse, Ormonde and Ribot. At the end of his racing career, he had earned £2,998,302 in win prize money.

Frankel was bred by Juddmonte Farms, owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Khalid Abdullah, and trained throughout his career by the late Sir Henry Cecil at Warren Place Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. He was named after the late Bobby Frankel, a celebrated American trainer who saddled many winners for Prince Khalid. Sir Henry, who died from stomach cancer in June, 2013, freely admitted that his relationship with Frankel was key to coping with the ravages of chemotherapy in the last months of his life.

Frankel started favourite for all 14 races and odds against just once, on his debut in a European Breeders’ Fund Maiden Stakes at Newmarket in July, 2010. Indeed, that race was the closest he ever came to being beaten, but he had more in hand of Nathaniel than his half-a-length winning margin might imply. In fact, apart from one occasion, in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2011, he never gave his supporters the slightest cause for concern, although he was racing at prohibitive odds for most of his career.

Since his retirement Frankel has become won of the most exciting young sires in the world, producing more Pattern and Listed winners than his own sire, Galileo, Dubawi and Sea The Stars at the equivalent stage of their careers.

Nijinsky

Nijinsky, named after Russian-born ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, was a bay colt by Northern Dancer, instantly recognisable by his three white feet and almost perfectly heart-shaped white marking between his eyes. He has the distinction of being the only horse since Bahram in 1935 to win the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St. Leger, collectively known as the “English Triple Crown”.

Owned by Charles Engelhard – who was a friend of Ian Fleming and, apparently, the inspiration for Bond villain Auric Goldfinger – and trained by Vincent O’Brien at Ballydoyle, Co. Tipperary, Nijinsky achieved a Timeform rating of 138 as a three-year-old, leaving him officially 2lb inferior to the so-called “greats” of the Timeform era. Nevertheless, having won major races between 6 furlongs and 1 mile 6 furlongs, Nijinsky was, unquestionably one of the most versatile racehorses of the twentieth century.

Nijinsky was unbeaten in five races as a juvenile, his most important victory coming in the Dewhurst Stakes, over 7 furlongs, at Newmarket. He started his three-year-old campaign by winning the Gladness Stakes, again over 7 furlongs, at the Curragh in April, 1970, before heading back to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas. Ridden by Lester Piggott, he started 4/7 favourite and, after travelling well throughout, only had to be pushed out to beat Yellow God by 2½ lengths.

Piggott had to work a little harder in the Derby at Epsom, but the 11/8 favourite was well on top at the finish, beating the the French pair, Gyr and Stintino, by 2½ lengths and 3 lengths. Charles Engelhard described the victory as “the best thing I ever saw”. The Irish Sweeps Derby looked a formality and so it proved, with Irish stable jockey Liam Ward, reinstated over Lester Piggott, oozing confidence as he steered the 4/11 favourite to a comfortable 3-length win over Meadowville, ridden by Piggott.

Piggott was back aboard when Nijinksy “trotted up” in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and, after a forced absence due to ringworm, again when he recorded his eleventh successive victory in the St. Leger. Nijinsky lost his unbeaten record when controversially beaten a head by Sassafras in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and was beaten again, at odds of 4/11, in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket two weeks later.

Kauto Star

According to Timeform, Kauto Star was the fourth best steeplechaser since World War II, rated inferior only to Arkle, Flyingbolt and Sprinter Sacre. Owned by Clive Smith and trained by Paul Nicholls, Kauto Star won 23 of his 41 races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice and the King George VI Chase at Kempton an unprecedented five times.

Bred in France, Kauto Star easily won a novices’ chase at Newbury on his debut for Paul Nicholls in December, 2004, but was subsequently beaten at odds of 2/11 – only by a short head after being remounted – at Exeter the following month and didn’t race again that season. He ran only twice in 2005/06, winning the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, but falling at the third when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

The following season, 2006/07, Kauto Star was unbeaten, winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock, the Tingle Creek at Sandown, the King George VI Chase at Kempton and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The rest, as they say, is history. At the end of his career, Kauto Star had never finished out of the first three in all 35 of his completed starts and become the first horse in the history of National Hunt racing to earn over £2 million in win and place prize money. Upon his retirement in October, 2012, Ruby Walsh, who rode him to 17 of his 23 victories said of him, “He’s the horse of my lifetime. I'm very lucky to be the one who got to ride him.”

Following his retirement from racing, Clive Smith transferred Kauto Star from Paul Nicholls to eventing rider Laura Collett without informing, and against the wishes of, his former trainer. Nicholls said, “…what upset me and my team here is when Clive announced that he had spoken to experts about the horse’s future, but failed to consult and listen properly to the team that had looked after him here for the past nine years.”