Graham Dench, who this year celebrated 50 years as a racing journalist since starting out at Timeform, lists the best winning performances since 1973 in Britain’s premier Classic. Tomorrow: the Oaks
1. SHERGAR (1981)
beat Glint Of Gold by 10 lengths
b c Great Nephew - Sharmeen (Val de Loir)
Trainer: Michael Stoute
Jockey: Walter Swinburn
Owner: HH Aga Khan
Career record: 6 wins from 8 starts
Epsom Oaks: Ten greatest winning performances of the last 50 years in the fillies’ Classic
Shergar is remembered as much nowadays for the mystery surrounding his kidnapping as he is for his brilliance on the racecourse, and that’s a shame, because his performance on Derby Day has not been bettered since. As he had already won Sandown’s Classic Trial and the Chester Vase by an aggregate 22 lengths we were entitled to expect for something special, but Shergar made Classic performers look like handicappers as he cantered to the front and strolled home a record ten lengths clear of Glint Of Gold, a top-class colt in his own right. Shergar’s career ended on a low at St Leger, but not before he had landed the Irish Derby and King George with ease.
2. TROY (1979)
beat Dickens Hill by seven lengths
b c Petingo - La Milo (Hornbeam)
Trainer: Dick Hern
Jockey: Willie Carson
Owners: Sir Michael Sobell and Lord Weinstock
Career record: 8 wins from 11 starts
The 200th Derby had a winner well worthy of the occasion when Troy annihilated a good field, coming from halfway down the field of 23 on the turn and producing a devastating turn of foot once switched off the rail. His winning margin over the Irish Guineas and Eclipse winner Dickens Hill was seven lengths, the widest Derby margin in more than 50 years, and most of those seven lengths were gained in the final furlong, so powerful was his finishing burst. Troy beat Dickens Hill again at the Curragh, this time by four lengths, and further wins in the King George and the Benson & Hedges (Juddmonte International) made for an epic summer.
3. NASHWAN (1989)
beat Terimon by 5 lengths
ch c Blushing Groom - Height Of Fashion (Bustino)
Trainer: Dick Hern
Jockey: Willie Carson
Owner: Hamdan Al Maktoum
Career record: 6 wins from 7 starts
Nashwan dominated the summer of 1989 and never looked better than he did in the Derby. Unbeaten in three previous races, including the 2000 Guineas, Nashwan went to post a red-hot favourite at Epsom, where he readily mastered the second favourite Cacoethes at the two-furlong marker and then surged right away to win in the style of one of the greats. After he had followed up in the Eclipse and the King George, his owner -to widespread disappointment – shunned a Triple Crown attempt and aimed instead at the Arc. However, Nashwan never made it after a shock defeat in the Niel.
4. SEA THE STARS (2009)
beat Fame And Glory by 1¾ lengths
b c Cape Cross - Urban Sea (Miswaki)
Trainer: John Oxx
Jockey: Mick Kinane
Owner : Christopher Tsui
Career record: 8 wins from 9 starts
Only ever beaten on his debut, Sea The Stars was pretty much the perfect Thoroughbred and arguably his Derby display ought to be even higher in this list, but his position is compromised by one of the characteristics which made him such an exceptional and durable competitor – his tendency to do no more than was necessary. We saw it time and again in that extraordinary campaign in which he landed six of Europe’s most prestigious G1s in succession, culminating in the Arc, and it was very much in evidence at Epsom, where he cruised up to the long-time leaders and quickly took charge, then failed to draw clear.
5. SLIP ANCHOR (1985)
beat Law Society by seven lengths
b c Shirley Heights - Sayonara (Birkhan)
Trainer: Henry Cecil
Jockey: Steve Cauthen
Owner: Lord Howard de Walden
Career record: 4 wins from 9 starts
Slip Anchor gave a strong hint as to what he might be capable of when a 10-length winner of the Lingfield Derby Trial, yet few were prepared for him to win in quite such spectacular fashion at Epsom, where Steve Cauthen sent him straight to the front and set such a fierce gallop that nothing could live with him. It was both a ride, and a performance, that had the ‘wow’ factor in spades – historians reckoned that no Derby winner had made all since 1926 – and the seven-length margin has since been bettered only by Shergar.
6. GALILEO (2001)
beat Golan by 3½ lengths
b c Sadler’s Wells - Urban Sea (Miswaki)
Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Jockey: Mick Kinane
Owners: Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
Career record: 6 wins from 8 starts
Galileo’s exalted position in racing’s pantheon would be assured purely on his extraordinary influence as a stallion, but he was an exceptional racehorse too. The Racing Post’s front page screamed ‘Perfection’ the day after his win in the Derby, and it’s certainly hard to find fault with a performance which saw him travel strongly throughout, always in an ideal position, and then produce a devastating burst once unleashed. Eased down near the finish, Galileo looked value for at least five lengths over the 2000 Guineas winner Golan, and subsequent easy wins in the Irish Derby and King George confirmed he was every bit as good as he looked.
7. GENEROUS (1991)
beat Marju by five lengths
ch c Caerleon - Doff The Derby (Master Derby)
Trainer: Paul Cole
Jockey: Alan Munro
Owner: Prince Fahd Salman
Career record: 6 wins from 11 starts
Few colts have won the Derby in more breathtaking fashion than Generous, a former Coventry Stakes runner-up who was only fourth in the 2000 Guineas but improved out of all recognition once stepped up to a mile and a half. Generous absolutely bolted up at Epsom, and while five-length runner-up Marju was to prove best at a mile that did not stop him pulling seven lengths clear of the rest. Having followed up with authority in the Irish Derby, Generous routed a worthy, if unexceptional, King George field by a whopping seven lengths to confirm himself the outstanding colt of his generation.
8. GRUNDY (1975)
beat Nobiliary by three lengths
ch c Great Nephew - Word From Lundy (Worden II)
Trainer: Peter Walwyn
Jockey: Pat Eddery
Owner: Dr Carlo Vittadini
Career record: 8 wins from 11 starts
Defeats in the Greenham and the 2000 Guineas left many of Grundy’s fans deflated, but he went a long way to redeeming himself when impressive in the Irish 2000 Guineas and he was simply magnificent at Epsom. It’s true that main rival Green Dancer failed to shine, but in a fast-run race Grundy picked up clear leader Anne’s Pretender with ease and came home three lengths clear of the top-class French filly Nobiliary, who went on to win the Washington International. Subsequent wins in the Irish Derby and in a King George dubbed the ‘race of the century’ cemented his standing among the very best.
9. GOLDEN FLEECE (1982)
beat Touching Wood by three lengths
b c Nijinsky - Exotic Treat (Vaguely Noble)
Trainer: Vincent O’Brien
Jockey: Pat Eddery
Owner: Robert Sangster
Career record: 4 wins from 4 starts
No horse in this list came from further back than Golden Fleece, who was ridden with extraordinary confidence by Pat Eddery considering the magnitude of the occasion. Golden Fleece had only three of his 17 rivals behind him rounding Tattenham Corner, but Eddery’s faith was well founded as the colt passed horse after horse once switched for a long run on the outside. Having hit the front well over a furlong from home Golden Fleece came home three lengths clear of subsequent St Leger winner Touching Wood to make it four wins from four starts. Sadly he was retired without running again.
10. GOLDEN HORN (2015)
beat Jack Hobbs by 3½ lengths
b c Cape Cross - Fleche D’Or (Dubai Destination)
Trainer: John Gosden
Jockey: Frankie Dettori
Owner: Anthony Oppenheimer
Career record: 7 wins from 9 starts
When Golden Horn won the Dante connections were not convinced he would have the stamina for the Derby, but a supplementary entry was justified when he won with complete authority at Epsom, quickening to the front with more than a furlong to go and extending his York superiority over stablemate Jack Hobbs, who went on to an equally comfortable success in the Irish Derby. Wins back in trip in the Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes, followed by another from a difficult draw in the Arc, confirmed him one of the outstanding colts of the last decade, notwithstanding defeats at York and Keeneland.
… and what about the rest?
As the old cliché goes, there really is no such thing as a bad winner of the Epsom Derby, as the idiosyncrasies of the track and the demands of the occasion itself provide a stern examination of so many of the key attributes looked for in an ideal Thoroughbred.
However, some Derby winners are inevitably better than others, and many go on to show better form after Epsom, hence the absence therefore in this list of Derby-winning performances of the likes of Reference Point (1987), Lammtarra (1995), Sinndar (2000) and High Chaparral (2002). All were among the outstanding middle-distance colts of the era judged in the round, but their Derby winning performances were perhaps not their very best.
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