Which Royal Ascot G1 winner is this?

New role: Colour Vision’s owner-rider, Bev Seymour, says, “It was a bit chaotic at first because when he got to the showjumping shows he thought he was going to race, and he was very, very excitable. He now he loves jumping.” Photo: ror.org.uk

He’s a showjumper now, and an accomplished one at that - as you’ll see in the video at the end of this story, but five years ago he was one of Europe’s outstanding racehorses, a Royal Ascot G1 winner and voted a champion at the annual Cartier Awards, the nearest thing Europe has to an Eclipse Awards.

This is Colour Vision, who took the G1 Gold Cup for Godolphin at the 2012 Royal Meeting after an epic battle with Opinion Poll, another Godolphin runner.

That was a banner year for the son of Rainbow Quest out of a Monsun mare. The then 4-year-old won the two-mile G3 Sagaro Stakes at Kempton in May in track record time (beating Red Cadeaux among others) before that thrilling Gold Cup (see YouTube video below).

He went on to finish third in the G2 Goodwood Cup and the G1 Prix du Cadran and was voted the Cartier Champion Stayer of 2012.

Colour Vision had won once from four starts as a 2-year-old and was gelded at the end of the year.

In 2011, he showed steady improvement when moved up to longer distances, winning three minor races and finishing third in both the famous Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket and the G3 British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot.

He was trained by Mark Johnston at Middleham in North Yorkshire until his 4-year-old career, when he was transferred to Godolphin and trainer Saeed Bin Suroor.

Colour Vision failed to reproduce his best form in 2013, but ran well to finish fourth behind Estimate in the Gold Cup. He was retired from racing at the end of the year.

After his retirement Colour Vision joined Godolphin’s rehoming programme. Since 2015, he has been in the care of Newmarket-based Bev Seymour, who describes the grey’s aptitude for his new life as a showjumper in the video below.

 

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