DESERT ORCHID PASSES AWAY AGED 27

Richard Dunwoody on Desert Orchid

Photo courtesy of Steven Cargill

Courtesy of The Racing Post 13/11/06

HORSERACING on Monday lost its most enduringly popular performer and Britain a national treasure when Desert Orchid, a true legend of the sport, died at the age of 27.

The great grey horse, whose 34-race win record included a victory in the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup and four successes in the King George VI Chase, died at the stables of trainer David Elsworth in Newmarket on Monday morning, his health having deteriorated in recent days.

Announcing the news, Elsworth said: “Desert Orchid died peacefully in his stable at 6.05am this morning. There was no stress. He departed from this world with dignity and no fuss - he did his dying with the same individual way that he did his living - it was time to go.”

Over the weekend the grey had received visits from owner Richard Burridge and hislong-time groom Janice Coyle. “He went his own way,” said Burridge.
“He’d had a fantastic summer with me but had gone down very quickly. It was a mercy, I am sure.”

Desert Orchid became one of the most celebrated racehorses in the history of the sport, his achievements gaining him a nationwide following that stretched way beyond the boundaries of jump racing. His fame was undimmed even by retirement.

His colour, flamboyant character, versatility and will-to-win ensured he stood out, the extraordinary depth of his racing successes under jockeys Colin Brown, Simon Sherwood and Richard Dunwoody assured him a place in history.

His narrow defeat of Yahoo at Cheltenham 17 years ago, at a track where he had not previously shone, was voted by Racing Post readers as the greatest ever horse race.

Yet there were so many other highlights too, unforgettably at Kempton where his Boxing Day performances in winning from the front played out to full houses. His four wins in the King George VI Chase have never been matched, his first in the race under Sherwood was to begin an unbeaten nine race partnership between the pair.

He excelled whether he ran over two miles or three and a half miles, also winning a Tingle Creek Chase, Victor Chandler Chase, Chivas Regal Gold Cup, Racing Post Chase, Whitbread Gold Cup and Irish Grand National.

Burridge, for whom Desert Orchid raced in partnership with his step-mother Midge and friend Simon Bullimore, said: “His first King George was the highlight for me. That put him on the map. It was his first solid entry in the record books.

“The Gold Cup was the day to remember and the Whitbread was one of my favourite races. That was a fantastic race too. “He ran seven or eight times every seasonin heavy or fast ground, two miles or three and often with huge weights. There was always an element of drama about his races. He somehow managed to be the underdog, usually because he was giving weight away, or running over what people considered an inadequate or excessive distance.

“What shone was his vitality, appetite for life and toughness, but if he hadn’t had that ability we wouldn’t be talking now. When his big black eye looked at you he gave the impression he knew something important.

“He did have that curiosity. His mental faculties were completely undimmed.”

Desert Orchid retired the day after the 1991 King George in which he fell at the third last fence at Kempton where his jumps career began in similar fashion when he came down at the last flight and lay winded for several minutes on his hurdling debut in January 1983. He had gained 34 wins, seven seconds and three thirds from 71 starts and collected total prize-money of £654,066.

He survived a serious bout of colic and remained in the limelight to make regular appearances at Cheltenham, Sandown, Wincanton and Kempton each Christmas. Desert Orchid’s ashes will be buried next to his statue near the parade ring at Kempton where this year he will also finally have a race named after him with the first running of the Desert Orchid Chase, formerly Wetherby’s Castleford Chase, on December 27.

Burridge added: “He still did attract that attention. His charisma certainly didn’t diminish in his declining years. We knew the clock was ticking but there was something about him that made you think he would go on forever. 27 years is a big chunk of people’s lives.

“Whenever he was in public he used to get himself up and put on a show. People saw him looking like a seven-year-old but after that he used to suffer a bit and would be very tired for several days after which was why we cut his appearances down.

“He did my sister’s wedding in August and then attended a National Stud open day in September andthose were his last two events. It’s sad that the race at Kempton will be turned into a memorial rather than a celebration.

“A lot of his achievements are down to the character of his trainer who realised what a tough competitor he was. David is a very sporting man and Dessie thrived under that particular direction.

“He was definitely one of our family. A lot of people had a personal connection with him. He lived a wonderful life and I am very proud of everything he achieved.”

Former jockey Brendan Powell recalls getting into some memorable battles with Elsworth's grey over the years.

One particular contest etched into racing legend is the 1989 Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot, when Desert Orchid had to display all of his fighting spirit to overhaul Powell and Panto Prince after the pair had engaged in a rousing battle.

Powell said: "I took him on that day going down the hill because the one thing Panto could do was jump.

"We matched strides all the way round and going to the last I still thought we'd win but he was an amazing horse.

"He'd be three or four wide of you and then Simon would pull him in and as soon as he got to you he'd go and find a bit more.

"It was a great performance as Panto was a good horse and he gave us around a stone and a half that day.

"I think that was actually named the race of the season and we went some gallop from the word go and it was scary half the time."

Powell remembers the Desert Orchid era with great fondness, even though he was never asked to take the reins.

"He was a tremendous horse to do what he did. He won the Irish National with 12 stone and was then also a two-miler," he said.

"He was just a great horse and I was associated with David Elsworth at the time.

"I always thought he might put me on him one day but I think he was maybe too good for me!

"It's Janice (Coyle, stable-lass) and the head lad Rodney Boult you have to feel for as they rode him every single day but I never got on him at home.

"I rode him once at Perth, about six or seven years ago when he paraded, and they were having a bet as to whether he'd run away with me or not.

"But I knew what he was like and I didn't let him out of a trot," he told At The Races.

"Dessie" parading at Greatwood Caring for Racehorses in August 2005