Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

HORSES for SALE

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsesforsale

THEHOMEOFQUALITYHORSES

FOR OVER 135 YEARS

The TRUSTED

PLACE TO buy & sell

YOUR HORSE

TWO-TIMEWINNERS

OFTHEKINGGEORGE

DAHLIA(1973,1974):theAmerican-bredmare,ownedbyTexas

oilmanNelsonBunkerHunt,wasthefirstmaretowinover$1m

andwasa pioneerofinternationaltravel.TrainedinFrance,initially

byMauriceZilber,shewontwoKingGeorges,twoInternationals,

a GrandPrixdeSaint-Cloud,a WashingtonDCInternational,a

CanadianInternationalanda HollywoodInvitationalHandicap

trainedbyCharlieWhittingham.Shewasa goodbroodmareand

diedin 2001 aged31.

SWAIN(pictured,1997,1998):hestartedlifewithAndréFabre,then

wastransferredtoSaeedBinSuroorandGodolphinasanalready

accomplishedfive-year-old.Thatyear,in1997,hecausedanupset

intheKingGeorge—a 16/1shot,hewasriddenbyJohnReidafter

Frankie DettorichosetorideSingspielandbeatPilsudskiand

thehotfavouriteHelissio.Dettorididnotmakethe

samemistakea yearlaterwhenthehorsebecame

theoldestwinner,agedsix.Otherbigwinsincluded

theCoronationCupandtheIrishChampion,but

unfortunately he was not a great stallion.

TALKING

POINT

andI loveher.Inallmycareer,
thatwasthehardestGroupOne
I haveeverhad—nowI deserve
anicecream.”
Reflectingontherace,Gosden
said:“Whenyou’redrawnwide,
it’sa problembecauseyou’ve
gottogetin.Frankiewasinthe
positionoflookingtogetin,
buthewasfourwide.Thenhe
droppedbacka bitandhewas
threewide.Hedidn’twanttogo
roundSwinleyBottomthreewide,
sohedroppedbackagainandwas
twowide.
“TheywerewelloffCrystal
OceanandintheendI thinkthat
affectedhowherodetherace.
Enablecarriedhimbackinto
theracebetweenfiveandfour
furlongsandsuddenlyI thought,
‘MyGod,he’smovingratherearly’.
“ThenFrankiehitthefront
andCrystalOceancamebackat
herandgothisheadinfront—it
wasa properracewithEnable
comingbackathimagain.For
a crowd-excitingmoment,you
couldn’taskformorethanfor
thebestolderhorseandthebest
olderfillytotakeeachotheron
ina raceofthatclass.Somuch
ofit is downtomentalstrength
in a horse — she showed it today

andCrystalOceanshowedit but

Enablesaid,‘No,I’mgoingtowin

thisrace’.”

Followingtherace,Lord

Grimthorpe,ownerKhalid

Abdullah’sracingmanager,not

onlypaidtributetoEnable—

whosenineGroupOnesarenow

onlyoneshortofFrankel’s 10 —

butalsotherunner-up,Crystal

Ocean.Lastseason,theMichael

Stoute-trainedfive-year-old

wasbeatena neckbyhisstable

companion,Poet’sWord,in

anotherterrificduelinthisrace.

Insomeways,it willbea travesty

if hedoesnotaddtohissingle

GroupOne(thePrinceofWales’s

Stakes)beforehiscareerfinishes.

“I’veneverexperiencedcoming

secondina raceandgetting

probablyaslouda cheerasthe

winner,”saidhisjockeyJames

Doyle.“Theyreallydolovehim

—hewearshisheartonhissleeve

andwhata run.

“Itwasa greatrace,Enable

joinedusandweheadedher

back.I thoughtwecouldbein

business,butEnablejustdigs

inandawayshegoes.Creditto

CrystalOcean,however,asheleft

everyinchofhisheartoutonthe

track there,” added Doyle.H&H