Great Grey Horses of Racing and Eventing
Famous Performers
This item's partner article recognised the great grey horses of Dressage, Show jumping and Showing. Here we continue to examine some of the best loved greys of Horse Racing and Three Day Eventing.
Horse Racing
Native Dancer
This legendary American Racehorse was nicknamed the ‘Gray Ghost’ and achieved new levels of fame due to the growing popularity of new innovation, television, which transmitted many of his successes into the homes of excited watchers. A true champion he won the Travers, Preakness and the Belmont Stake and came second in the Kentucky Derby in 1953. Of his 22 races, he won 21. He was U.S champion two year old and three year old in 1952 and 1953 and then hailed as the U.S. Horse of the Year in 1954. He retired to stud in that same year and is grandsire to the great Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector.
Desert Orchid
'Dessie' as he was affectionately known is as recognisable outside racing as he is within it. The galloping grey's gutsy front running performances won the hearts of thousands, and his fan club followed him faithfully throughout his retirement until his death at the grand old age of 27 in 2006.
Desert Orchid had an impressive strike rate, winning 34 of 70 starts and £654,066 in prize money. He won the King George four times, the only horse to have done this. He also holds the Irish Grand National, the Racing Post Chase and the Whitbread and Cheltenham Gold Cups among his impressive tally of victories. Timeform has rated him as the fourth best National Hunt Horse of all time.
One Man
Something of a tragic hero, ‘One man’, affectionately known in the yard as Solo, won £459,000 in prize money and counted successive King George VI wins at Kempton and a Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham among his impressive victories. He was in fact the first horse to win both these races. Sadly just weeks after the win in the Queen Mother, on the 3rd April 1998, One Man fell and broke a leg at Aintree, being put down immediately afterwards. It was a sad day for all who follow Jump Racing.
Three Day Eventing
The Gray Goose
At one point the Gray Goose and his human partner, American Kim Walnes, were the third highest rated Eventing pair in the world. This Irish Sports Horse gelding took time to adjust to the idea of being ridden, expressing his initial aversion by regularly dumping his unfortunate rider. In time though, his introduction to the world of Horse Trials changed this attitude- he simply loved going cross country. His bold style over the most imposing fences proved a thrilling sight to Eventing fans worldwide. His greatest achievements included a second at the 1981 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and Individual and Team Bronze Medal at the 1982 World Three Day Event Championship in Luhmuhlen, Germany. He died in 2000, at the grand age of 30.
Murphy Himself
Ian Stark has had two notable grey partners in the Eventing world, Murphy Himself and Glenburnie. Arguably his more famous partner through the late 1980s and early 90s was Murphy, a grey Irish bred Thoroughbred first ridden by Ginny Leng. His career highlight was probably his individual and team silver at the Stockholm Equestrian Games in 1990.
Flint Curtis
During 2009 yet another grey came to fore in Three Day Eventing and secured victory at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials. Flint Curtis, the mount of Oliver Townend, had already proved an extremely talented horse with a victory in the biggest Eventing competition ever, the £100,000-to-the-winner Express Eventing International Cup, held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in November 2008. The Badminton victory proved this was no fluke, and may suggest that there is more to come from this handsome individual. His rider Oliver Townend is lucky enough to compete another talented grey, Carousel Quest, winner of the Burghley Horse Trials in 2009.
A Grey Mare
|
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles