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Seeing talk of Morston in the Arthur Budgett (RIP) thread had me thinking that there must have been quite a few that never saw the track again?
I think that Golden Fleece of the Sangster / O’Brien / Eddery team may have been an example David
Golden Fleece certainly. I know Vincent O’Brien and Pat Eddery both thought this horse was the most talented they’d ever been involved with and when you think that includes the likes of Nijinsky, El Gran Senor and Dancing Brave that is quite remarkable.
Such a shame he never raced again and had the chance to show his true worth he could well have been one of the greatest horses of all time.
Amato (1838 ): made racecourse debut in Derby, won then retired – raced 1 won 1 Will never happen again !
Humorist ( 1921 ) – died 2 weeks after Derby win
Secreto ( 1984 ) – retired to stud after defeating El Gran Senor
As for Morston. The horse was due to race again that season but was retired due to injury.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Pat Eddery is often quoted as saying that Golden Fleece was the best he’s ever ridden.
That is some accolade given the horses he’s been on board (inc. Dancing Brave, El Gran Senor, Grundy and Pebbles of course).
I know injury/illness was cited as the reason for Golden Fleece’s hasty retirement (before his next intended run in the Eclipse if memory serves); a reason perhaps supported by the fact the horse died young, but it seemed to me at the time, and still does really, that this was a prime example of the Sangster operation’s thoroughly unsatisfactory stud-fee-and-breeding is everything, racing is secondary approach to the game
I say this despite the fact that Golden Fleece’s Derby was the only one I witnessed live on the Downs, so I could be forgiven for promoting the horse and race into the stratosphere
A hot and humid day, punctuated by a thunderstorm before the Derby. Strangely, the clearest memory is of a muscular 2yo speedball named Brondesbury (O’Gorman/Ives??) winning the Great Surrey Stakes over 5f. Watched it on the rails with bins focussed all the way up the straight. Brondesbury seemed to flash past at the speed of light. He went on to win the Norfolk Stakes
Far too much reminiscing recently Drone. Time to shut up
Pat Eddery is often quoted as saying that Golden Fleece was the best he’s ever ridden.
That is some accolade given the horses he’s been on board (inc. Dancing Brave, El Gran Senor, Grundy and Pebbles of course).
Unlike Lester Piggott regarding his indecisive views on the merits of Sir Ivor and Nijinsky, and depending upon which day of the week it is
Pat Eddery, on the other hand, is much more forthright in his views on the subject. He does put forward Golden Fleece as his bestDerby
winner, but since 1986, he has consistently said in interviews that Dancing Brave was the best horse he has ever ridden.
My own view is that had Golden Fleece raced on, he most definitely had the potential to be one of the greats, along with his illustrious sire. His trainer, Vincent O’Brien, certainly thought so.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
They were ushered off quickly to stud in those days Drone.
And Brondesbury. I remember him vividly.
A post mortem on Humorist showed that he ‘was suffering from a long standing tubercular lung condition’, and that ‘he most certainly only had one lung functioning when he won at Epsom’. A terribly sad and tragic end to a horse that was unbelievably brave
You might as well add Oath (1999) to this list Corm – he was entered and did indeed contest that years King George but was injured exiting the stalls and was tailed off.
Still gets slated as being a poor Derby winner – he didn’t have a chance to prove how good he was (unlike the likes of Kris Kin, Sir Percy and Motivator)
1833 Dangerous
He had a walk over after his Derby win (his only win), but never raced again.
Or was he a four-year-old. We never will know now.
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1833 Dangerous
He had a walk over after his Derby win (his only win), but never raced again.
Or was he a four-year-old. We never will know now.The 1833 Derby is the subject of one of Raymond Mortimer’s briefest yet most typically engaging essays in his
History of the Derby Stakes
. "Very strongly suspected", he tells us, and explains why
Dangerous
never ran again (lameness both before and after the race itself, by the jockey’s report.)
Michael Church casts more light on the reputed 4yo aspect of the matter: it stems from the
Recollections
of veteran trainer Thomas Coleman, in which he states he was given information to that effect by an associate of the owner/trainer Isaac Sadler.
Dangerous
in fact won
two
walkovers after the Derby (one at Stockbridge, another at Winchester) but never raced against another horse again, as you say.
As horses at that date celebrated their communal birthdays on May 1st rather than January 1st, he may not have been that much older than the rest. The Jockey Club had declared (a month before the 1833 Derby) that from 1834 January 1st should be the official date, and this to some extent seems to have stopped further controversies over "elderly" Derby entrants.
The race was run on Thursdays in those good, old times…
Pat Eddery, on the other hand, is much more forthright in his views on the subject. He does put forward Golden Fleece as his best
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