At the end of the 1971 Flat season, the big question for racing fans was whether the two champions to have emerged that season would ever meet for a second time.

Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef, the leading juveniles of 1970, had met only once in the 2000 Guineas over Newmarket’s straight mile, a distance which suited the Brigadier rather better than his rival with the result that Brigadier Gerard won what has gone down as one of the highest quality Classics ever run.

After the Guineas, Brigadier Gerard proved himself the best miler seen for many a long year with victories in top races like the St James’s Palace Stakes, the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes before winding up with a hard fought win over 10 furlongs on heavy ground in the Champion Stakes.

Mill Reef, meanwhile, had stepped up in trip and won the Derby by two lengths, the Eclipse Stakes by four lengths and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by six lengths. To top it off, Mill Reef had also won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe by three lengths.

Going into the 1972 season, there were a number of races which could see the re-match, notably the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and a valuable new race, the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup over an extended 10 furlongs, to be run as one of the highlights of York’s Ebor meeting in August.

There was some concern when Mill Reef was forced to miss the Eclipse and the King George. It was thought he was suffering from a virus which affected many of the horses of Kingsclere at the time, but he returned to training and was said to be working with all his old zest and being prepared for York.

Trainer Ian Balding had just over a fortnight to get Mill Reef ready for the York showdown with the Brigadier, who, in Mill Reef’s absence, had won both the Eclipse and, on his only attempt over 12 furlongs, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

However a swollen hock meant the clash was off and so Brigadier Gerard arrived at York with just four rivals for the new prize and even though they included the first two home in the Derby, Roberto and Rheingold, nobody doubted that this would be win number 16 in the Brigadier’s 16^th race.

An enormous crowd packed into the Knavesmire on a brilliantly hot summer’s day and there was a spontaneous round of applause when Brigadier Gerard entered the parade ring. Little wonder as he looked magnificent.

Lester Piggott, who had ridden Roberto to win the Derby, had swapped to runner-up Rheingold and so the ride on Roberto went to Panamanian jockey Braulio Baeza, who was having his first and what turned out to be his only ride in Britain.

From the start, Baeza had Roberto disputing the lead with Bright Beam, who had been entered for the race in order to set the pace for Mill Reef. Despite the champion’s withdrawal, he was left in the race.

The pair set such a hot pace that Bright Beam was done with before the turn into the straight and the rest – other than the Brigadier – were off the bit and clearly struggling.

With Baeza sitting as still as a mouse, Roberto set sail for home, but to the delight of the packed crowd Brigadier Gerard moved away from the pack and by the two furlong marker was little more than a length behind the leader.

Soon after, Joe Mercer drew the whip on Brigadier Gerard, but with Roberto keeping up a relentless gallop the response was limited and a furlong out the writing was clearly on the wall. Roberto galloped all the way to the line and passed the post three lengths clear, a margin exaggerated a little by Mercer dropping his hands in the last 100 yards.

Brigadier Gerard retired at the end of the season, having cleared any doubts by taking his win tally to 18 with victories in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes.

Despite his defeat at York, the race went from strength to strength and now, as the Juddmonte International Stakes, is not only one of the highlights of the British calendar, but among the top races from around the world.

Mill Reef, of course, never raced again. A broken leg sustained on the Kingsclere gallops, threatened his life but owner Paul Mellon financed the intricate operation and his life was saved. He retired to the National Stud.

Where better to start this series on Yorkshire’s famous races, but with the best known of them all, the world’s oldest Classic race, the St Leger at Doncaster?

When the St Leger was first run in 1776, George III was on the British throne, Marie Antoinette was queen of France, the United States had just begun its fight for independence from Great Britain and only five years had passed since James Cook had returned to Britain having charted the eastern coast of Australia for the first time.

The race was originally run over two miles at Cantley Common, Doncaster on Tuesday, September 24, 1776 although you wouldn’t have known it as it then had no title, but was reported at the time as ‘A sweepstake of 25gns each’. It was won by Lord Rockingham’s brown filly with Mr St Leger’s bay filly second.

Lord Rockingham, who subsequently named his brown filly Allabaculia, chaired a dinner party at the Red Lion Inn in Doncaster in 1777 when the race was discussed and at the Chairman’s instigation it was named after the man who had suggested it, Colonel Anthony St Leger.

St Leger, who had been born in Grangemellon, County Kildare in 1731, was a career soldier and politician, whose brother Barry St Leger, another career soldier, was a colonel in the British Army which unsuccessfully attempted to quell the rebellion of the colonials in the American War of Independence.

Anthony St Leger was educated at Eton and Cambridge. In 1761, he married Yorkshire-born Margaret Wombwell and was also appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 124^th Regiment of Foot, only for the regiment to be disbanded the following year.

So, in 1762 St Leger settled at the Park Hill Estate in Firbeck, near Rotherham, where he established a Stud farm. He also served as Member of Parliament for Grimsby from 1768 to 1774. He later served as Governor of Saint Lucia from 1781 to 1783 when the British occupied the French colony.

Anthony St Leger died on April 19, 1786 aged 55. He is buried in St Anne’s Church in Dawson Street, Dublin.

The race named in his honour has had its ups and downs, particularly in the early 1970’s when Vincent O’Brien, trainer of Nijinsky, who had become the first horse for 35 years to complete the Triple Crown of 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger in 1970, claimed it was running in the St Leger which had cost his colt his chance of winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

That claim has now been disproved, which helped to restore the fortunes of Britain’s oldest Classic and while the search goes on for another Triple Crown winner, the race is still one of the major highlights of the British season.

The 2019 Go Racing in Yorkshire Summer Festival will be

Sat 20 July to Sunday 28th July

 

With 6 of the 9 Yorkshire Racecourses nominated for the Racecourse Association Showcase awards, Yorkshire Racing has put itself on the map once again.

Pontefract, York, Beverley, Redcar, Catterick and Ripon all have nominations. Pontefract and Beverley really have hit the big time with 4 nominations each! This gives them the opportunity to win the Top Racecourse in the country award which would be well deserved no matter which one was victorious. An award previously won by York Racecourse in 2015.

All 9 Yorkshire Racecourses work tirelessly to improve their customer service and customer experience. The amount of nominations in our region is proof its working! So you have to ask, why would you go racing anywhere else?

In a year, which produced many top-class performances by Yorkshire-trained horses, Quiet Reflection wins the accolade of ‘Yorkshire Horse of the Year’ at the 2016 ‘Go Racing in Yorkshire’ Annual Awards Lunch held at York racecourse.

The ‘Yorkshire Horse of the Year’ Award is judged by a panel of racing journalists and aficionados, is presented to the connections of the horse which has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of racing in the county.

The Karl Burke trained filly, owned by the Ontoawinner Syndicate, Strecker and Burke, was ridden by Dougie Costello,  she posted four wins from six in 2016.

 

SKY BET TROPHIES FOR YORKSHIRE’S BEST ON FLAT AND OVER JUMPS

 

The Sky Bet Trophies for the leading trainer and jockey on the Yorkshire racecourses during the 2016 Flat season went to Richard Fahey and PJ McDonald with 80 and 47 winners respectively on the county’s tracks this year. Malton-based Fahey is the top trainer on the Yorkshire racecourses. Yet again this year no other trainer could get close to him, Mark Johnston was in second place with 49 winners. PJ takes the title with an impressive year in Yorkshire, also winning the leading rider at the GRIY Summer Festival. Both titles were hard fought, with Paul Mulrennan chasing him right to the wire for the Yorkshire title and Franny Norton forcing a final day showdown at the Summer Festival.

The Sky Bet Trophies presented to the top trainer and jockey on the trio of Yorkshire racecourses which staged Jump racing during the 2015/16 campaign was won by trainer Alan King and jockey Danny Cook. Both were won by a nose with Alan clinching victory with his first ever winner at Catterick and Danny winning on countback after tying with two others at the top.

ROWAN SCOTT IS THE YORKSHIRE FUTURE STAR 

Rowan Scott steamed home to win the Go Racing In Yorkshire Future Stars Apprentice Series. Based with Yorkshire trainer Anne Duffield, Scott has had his best ever season.

 TOM O’RYAN HONOURED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

For all the highs in Yorkshire racing this year there was one significant low with the loss of Tom O’Ryan. Tom passed away after a short battle with cancer in August. Tom’s dedication and constant contribution to racing in Yorkshire, from his exceptional journalism to his personable and knowledgeable coaching, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. He is and always will be sadly missed.

 

The sun shone on Gods own county for the full nine days of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival. Yorkshire people once again did racing proud and packed the stands throughout the week. The overall attendance figures in excess of 100,000.
The leading trainer of the festival led from the very beginning, what a fabulous nine days Mark Johnston has had. The jockey title was a serious battle between two Yorkshire based riders. PJ McDonald and Franny Norton have swapped places at the top of the leader board throughout the festival. There has been some good humoured banter in the weighing room between the two, but it was PJ McDonald who came out on top with an exceptional day at Pontefract helping him clinch the title.
Another winner worth a mention is David Yates. He completed his cycling challenge of some 430 miles, cycling from course to course throughout the festival. This was in memory of Ray Gilpin, a friend to all in Yorkshire racing, who sadly passed away last year.
Once again the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival has exceeded all expectations, it continues to grow in attendance and excitement every year

Star trainer Mark Johnston is hoping to become top trainer for a second successive season at this year’s Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival, which gets under way at Ripon this Saturday (July 16).

“Being the leading trainer at the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival is great, though it is not something you can specifically target. However, I am planning to have lot of runners over the nine days and hope enough of them will win to give me the title again” he said.

Johnston, along with his son Charlie, who is his assistant trainer, was hosting the media at his state-of-the-art yard in Middleham to launch the 2016 Festival on Monday and plans to set the tone for his challenge with a possible six runners on the opening day.

That first day salvo is likely to include Notarised, winner of the Old Newton Cup at Haydock Park in 2015 and who is at last getting some respite from the handicapper after 12 months of toiling on a mark of over 100.

Notarised, who was part of the third lot whose work was watched by the press corps, has been dropped to a mark of 98, just 2lbs more than his Old Newton Cup winning rating.

Johnston’s horses have been in great form of late and he has recently passed the century mark for the year, putting him well on course to reach his season’s target – a very precise 247 winners, which would be a personal best by some margin.

“That was the target at the start of the year, but I have lost a few horses lately and some of the Godolphin horses are due to leave shortly to be prepared for Dubai, but I am still hopeful of getting there” he said.

The Summer Festival, now in its 10^th year, brings together all nine Yorkshire courses with meetings on consecutive days and while the racing for the centrepiece, the aim is to provide fun for all the family.

Having taken part for the first time in 2015, Wetherby is not part of the Festival this year while a new grandstand is being built, but will be back in the fold for next year.

The Festival moves from Ripon to Redcar, on to Beverley then to Catterick, Doncaster, Thirsk, York and finally Pontefract on July 24, when the leading trainer will receive a weekend break at the luxury Goldsborough Hall along with the Byerley Turk Trophy, named after one of racing’s three founding sires, who is buried in the Hall’s grounds.

Duing this year’s Summer Festival, leading journalist David Yates of the Daily Mirror will be cycling from course to course, a distance of nearly 450 miles, to raise funds for Jack Berry House in memory of his press room colleague Ray Gilpin, who died last year.

David would welcome anyone wanting to ride along during his eight days in the saddle, but to support him visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/goracing.

Johnston said: “It’s a great effort by David and I am hoping to join him when he rides from York to Pontefract”.

Go Racing In Yorkshire is very excited to announce that the talented and popular artist Darren Bird will be joining the Summer Festival which runs from the 16th – 24th July! Darren will attend two meetings of the festival, Ripon on the 16th July and Pontefract on the 24th July. Darren will be creating an exceptional and unique piece which will depict the nine Yorkshire racecourses. He will work on a giant piece of Perspex drawing the outline at Ripon and painting in the colour and finishing touches at Pontefract. All attending will be able to watch the master at work!
This ‘one off’ will then be put up for auction and all proceeds will go to the Injured Jockeys Fund which is the supported charity of the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival 2016.

Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival
Ripon 16th July
Redcar 17th July
Beverley 18th July (evening)
Catterick 20th July
Doncaster 21st July (evening)
Thirsk 22nd July
York 22nd July (evening, music from the Kaiser Chiefs)
York 23rd July (music from The Corrs)
Pontefract 24th July

TUESDAY 19 JULY 2016 11am
STABLE VISIT
RICHARD FAHEY, MUSLEY BANK, MALTON
FOLLOWED BY
LIGHT LUNCH AND VISIT TO
JACK BERRY HOUSE

 

THIS TOUR IS NOW FULL – FOR THOSE BOOKED PLEASE MEET AT CASTLE  HOWARD ROAD GALLOPS AT 10.30AM – WHEN APPROACHING FROM THE A64 YORK – PROCEED INTO MALTON AND PRIOR TO THE TALBOT HOTEL TURN LEFT ONTO CASTLE HOWARD ROAD

TEL CONTACT FOR DAY – 07944 705825

Mark Johnston 3
Eric Alston 2
David Barron 2
Keith Dalgleish 2
Michael Dods 2
David O’Meara 2
John Quinn 2
Roger Varian 2

Leading Jockeys in Yorkshire 2016

Silvestre De Sousa 3
Richard Kingscote 3
Ben Curtis 2
Tom Eaves 2
Joe Fanning 2
Neil Farley 2
Philip Makin 2
Paul Mulrennan 2

Jill Dales Winner of the  Ladies Day Final

On Friday 20th March 2015, people from all corners of the racing industry gathered at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse to give fundraiser and walker, Richard Farquhar, a send-off to remember for the first leg of his epic fundraising venture, Walking The Courses. From Newmarket, Richard set out on a 72 mile walk to Towcester Racecourse, where he arrived for the race meeting on Monday 23rd March. The next time that Richard is seen at the ‘home of horse racing’ will be in April 2016, by which time he will have covered approximately 3,000 miles on foot and linked all sixty racecourses in mainland Britain, bit by bit, in what will eventually resemble an unbroken chain. By then, Richard hopes to have hit his ambitious target of £1.4m, to have involved people from all across the UK in his challenge – including notable individuals within the racing world – and partnered with some of the biggest corporates within the racing industry.

Already, Richard has attracted donations and pledges to the sum of more than £150,000: a great platform from which to chase his fundraising target of £1.4million in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK and Racing Welfare. The former of these two beneficiaries is the only UK charity fighting pancreatic cancer – the most vicious of all 21 common cancers, with a five-year survival rate of less than 4% (the same rate as in 1975) – on all fronts: information, support, research and campaigning. Pancreatic cancer was the disease that claimed the lives of racing legends Dessie Hughes and John Hills in 2014 alone, as well as Richard’s father a couple of years previously. The latter of the two chosen charities, Racing Welfare, provides professional guidance and practical help to the unseen army of dedicated staff whose work is vital for the well-being of horse racing.

Walking The Courses is officially supported by many notable individuals within the horse racing industry. These include Clare Balding, Cornelius Lysaght (BBC), Charlie Hills, Oliver Sherwood, Lord Grimthorpe (Juddmonte Farms), Roger Weatherby (Weatherbys Ltd), Henry Beeby (DBS & Goffs), Nick Luck (Channel 4), Jonjo O’Neill and Roger Waley-Cohen, to name but a few.

Walking The Courses is currently sponsored by Liontrust Asset Management Plc, Weatherbys Ltd and Subaru UK, the latter of which is providing a Subaru Outback (2015 series) as the support vehicle for the duration of the campaign. Walking The Courses is extremely grateful to these companies for their sponsorship. The campaign is also being significantly supported by Sky’s horse racing channel, At The Races, who are committed to producing coverage throughout the thirteen months of the project. Walking The Courses will continue to seek further corporate support throughout the campaign.

Walking The Courses supporter Henry Beeby, Group CEO of Goffs and DBS, comments, “Richard’s Walk is making a significant contribution to helping so many. I am full of admiration for his energy, courage and inventiveness and hope that the whole of the racing industry really gets behind him”.

To find out more about Walking The Courses and to get involved, visit www.walkingthecourses.com.

TRAINER
Mark Johnston 84
David O’Meara 82
Richard Fahey 72
Brian Ellison 60
Kevin Ryan 60
Tim Easterby 58
William Haggas 40
Ruth Carr 38
Tracy Waggott 28
Nigel Tinkler 26
Mickey Hammond 25
John Gosden 20
Charles Hills 20
John Quinn 20
Ann Duffield 19
Bryan Smart 19
Charlie Appleby 18
Les Eyre 18
Lawrence Mullaney 16
Ollie Pears 16
Mick Channon 15
Keith Dalgleish 15
David Evans 15
Ivan Furtado 15
David Simcock 15
Saeed bin Suroor 15
Declan Carroll 13
Ed Walker 13
Mick Easterby 11
David Griffiths 11
Michael Appleby 10
Andrew Balding 10
Marco Botti 10
Julie Camacho 10
Henry Candy 10
Michael Dods 10
Ed Dunlop 10
James Fanshawe 10
Kevin Frost 10
Tina Jackson 10
Philip Kirby 10
Paul Midgley 10
Clive Mulhall 10
David Nicholls 10
Mick Quinn 10
Roger Varian 10
Jason Ward 10
Alistair Whillans 10
John Wainwright 10
David Brown 8
Tony Coyle 8
Marjorie Fife 8
Jim Goldie 8
Sir Michael Stoute 8
Alan Swinbank 8
Mark Walford 8
Ian Williams 8
James Given 6
Richard Guest 6
Ralph Beckett 5
Alan Berry 5
Robert Cowell 5
Tom Dascombe 5
John Davies 5
Suzanne France 5
Brian Meehan 5
Hugo Palmer 5
Sean Regan 5
Derek Shaw 5
Ronald Thompson 5
Martin Todhunter 5
Clive Brittain 3
Alan Brown 3
Luca Cumani 3
James Eustace 3
Paul Green 3
Barry Hills 3
Patrick Holmes 3
Daniel Kubler 3
Alan Lockwood 3
Shaun Lycett 3
John Mackie 3
Anthony McCann 3
Geoff Oldroyd 3
Keith Reveley 3
Jean-Claude Rouget 3
John Ryan 3
James Tate 3

JOCKEY
Silvestre De Sousa 136
James Doyle 61
PJ McDonald 54
Philip Makin 53
Tom Eaves 47
Joe Fanning 47
James Sullivan 46
Graham Lee 39
David Allan 37
Daniel Tudhope 36
Jack Garrity 35
Tom Queally 35
Rachel Richardson 35
Graham Gibbons 34
Barry McHugh 34
Paul Hanagan 33
Sam James 31
Fergal Lynch 30
Jamie Spencer 24
Tony Hamilton 23
Callum Shepherd 20
Joe Doyle 18
Josh Doyle 16
William Buick 15
Nathan Evans 15
Neil Callan 13
Ben Curtis 13
Andrew Mullen 13
Paul Mulrennan 13
Dane O’Neill 13
William Carson 10
Robert Dodsworth 10
Stevie Donohoe 10
Royston Ffrench 10
Antonio Fresu 10
Shane Gray 10
Robert Havlin 10
Nicky Mackay 10
Adrian Nicholls 10
David Nolan 10
Patrick O’Donnell 10
Kieran Schofield 10
Kevin Stott 10
George Chaloner 8
Ted Durcan 8
Patrick Mathers 8
Hayley Turner 8
Samantha Bell 5
Megan Carberry 5
Pat Cosgrave 5
Daniel Cremin 5
Sophie Killoran 5
Marc Monaghan 5
Franny Norton 5
Jordan Vaughan 5
Andrea Atzeni 3
Ian Brennan 3
Jacob Butterfield 3
John Egan 3
Jean Bernard Eyquem 3
Neil Farley 3
Russell Harris 3
Rob Hornby 3
Keagan Latham 3
Jordan Nason 3
Jason Nuttall 3
Ryan Powell 3

The next Ladies Day is

PONTEFRACT

Wed 5th August