Golden Horn (foaled 27 March 2012) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse and breeding stallion who was the 2015 European Horse of the Year after winning the Derby, Eclipse Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes and Arc de Triomphe and coming second in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
In a racing career which lasted from October 2014 until October 2015 Golden Horn won seven of his nine races. He was bred in England by his owner Anthony Oppenheimer and trained by John Gosden.
After winning his only race as a two-year-old in 2014, Golden Horn won the Feilden Stakes and then established himself as favourite for the 2015 Epsom Derby with a victory over a strong field in the Dante Stakes. After his owner paid a £75,000 supplementary entry fee, Golden Horn won the Derby on 6 June. He then finished first in the Eclipse Stakes. Golden Horn lost his unbeaten record in the Juddmonte International. He went on to win a controversial race for the Irish Champion Stakes in September before a victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Golden Horn ended his racing career by finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
Background
Golden Horn is a brown horse with no white markings bred in England by his owner Anthony Oppenheimer's Hascombe and Valiant Stud. Oppenheimer is a member of the family that controlled the De Beers Mining Company. Golden Horn was sired by Cape Cross a leading miler who won the Lockinge Stakes in 1998 and the Queen Anne Stakes in the following year. As a breeding stallion Cape Cross, who stands at the Kildangan Stud in County Kildare has had considerable success, being the sire of Ouija Board, Sea the Stars and Able One.
Golden Horn's dam, Fleche d'Or, was an unraced daughter of Dubai Destination and came from a family which had produced several major winners for the Oppenheimers. Her half-sister Rebecca Sharp was a top-class racemare who won the Coronation Stakes and finished second in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, whilst her great-grandmother Lora produced the 1000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner On The House. Other descendants of Lora's dam Courtessa have included Habibti and the Australian champions Danewin and Octagonal. Nine months after foaling Golden Horn, Fleche d'Or was sent to the Tattersalls Breeding Stock sale in December 2012 and bought for 62,000 guineas by Harry McAlmont of the Norelands Stud. Golden Horn was offered for sale as a yearling in October 2013 at Tattersalls but was bought back by his breeder when the bidding stopped at 190,000 guineas.
The colt was sent into training with John Gosden at his Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. Gosden is a British native (the son of John "Towser" Gosden) who began his training career in California in 1980 and had his first major success with Bates Motel in 1984. He left the United States in 1989 and has trained in Britain ever since. His other major winners in Europe have included Kingman, Taghrooda, Ravens Pass, Nathaniel and Benny the Dip.
Racing career
2014: two-year-old season Golden Horn made his first and only appearance as a two-year-old in an eight-runner maiden race over eight and a half furlongs at Nottingham Racecourse on 29 October 2014. Ridden by William Buick he started the 15/8 second favourite behind the William Haggas-trained Storm The Stars. He started slowly, but recovered to make progress in the second half of the race and was switched to the wide outside by Buick three furlongs from the finish. Despite showing inexperience (running "green") he took the lead inside the final furlong and won by a head from Storm The Stars, with the pair finishing seven lengths clear of the others. The runner-up went on to finish second in the Chester Vase and win both the Cocked Hat Stakes and the Great Voltigeur Stakes in 2015.
2015: three-year-old season Trial races On his three-year-old debut, Golden Horn was ridden by the veteran Frankie Dettori in the Listed Feilden Stakes over nine furlongs on the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket on 15 April and was made the 2/1 favourite ahead of the previously unbeaten Godolphin colt Festive Fare and the Queen's runner Peacock (trained by Richard Hannon Jr.). He was restrained by Dettori in the early stages before making a forward move two furlongs out, taking the lead approaching the final furlong (despite hanging to the left) and winning by one and a half lengths from Peacock.
On 14 May Golden Horn was moved up in class to contest the Group Two Dante Stakes at York Racecourse, a major trial for the 2015 Epsom Derby which attracted a strong field. Ridden by Buick colt started 4/1 third favourite behind Jack Hobbs (also trained by Gosden), and Elm Park with the other contenders including the Aidan O'Brien-trained pair John F Kennedy and Ol' Man River (winner of the Beresford Stakes). Golden Horn was restrained by Buick in the early stages as the outsider Lord Ben Stack led, before moving into contention three furlongs from the finish. He moved past Elm Park to take the lead inside the final furlong and drew away to win by two and three quarter lengths from Jack Hobbs, with Elm Park three and a quarter lengths back in third. Golden Horn had not been entered for the Epsom Derby and Oppenheimer was initially unwilling to pay the £75,000 supplementary entry fee as he believed that the colt's pedigree meant that he was unlikely to stay the Derby distance of one and a half miles. The Prix du Jockey Club was named as a probable target. After discussions with Gosden however, Oppenheimer agreed to supplement the horse and Golden Horn was elevated to the position of ante-post favourite for the Derby.
Epsom Derby On 6 June, Golden Horn started the 13/8 favourite for the 236th running of the Derby over one and a half miles at Epsom Downs Racecourse. As Buick was required to ride Jack Hobbs for the Godolphin Racing team, Golden Horn was ridden again by Frankie Dettori. Elm Park was again in opposition as well as Storm The Stars and the leading French colt Epicuris. The Aidan O'Brien stable was represented by Hans Holbein (Chester Vase), Kilimanjaro (Lingfield Derby Trial) and Giovanni Canaletto (full-brother of the 2013 winner Ruler of the World). Dettori restrained the horse towards the rear of the field as Elm Park and Hans Holbein duelled for the lead in the early stages. In the straight Golden Horn made rapid progress on the outside, overtook Jack Hobbs a furlong from the finish and won by three and a half lengths from his stable companion with Storm The Stars four and a half lengths back in third place.
Dettori commented "What an unbelievable day. I was excited at the big job ahead of me, but it all went like clockwork from start to finish. When you're young, you don't really appreciate the full importance of this Derby, so it means a great deal to win it for a second time. I've had a colourful life, but I'm not finished". Before the race Dettori had requested some "lucky white tape" for his stirrup: the tape had previously been used to repair Willie Carson's saddle before his win on Nashwan and had been applied to Dettori's stirrup when he won on Authorized in 2007. Gosden, who was winning the race for the second time, after Benny the Dip's success in 1997, commented "The last thing I said to Frankie was ride a cool race and he rode a cool race—he waited and waited. He's a proper horse." On the following day Gosden indicated that the Eclipse Stakes would be the colt's most likely next target.
British and Irish bookmakers reportedly sustained heavy losses on the race, largely due to Dettori's popularity with the general public. A spokesperson for Paddy Power said "Frankie is the only jockey the whole world and his dog knows and his win means the bookies have done their absolute conkers".
Eclipse Stakes On 4 July, Golden Horn was matched against older horses for the first time when he was brought back in distance to contest the 120th running of the Eclipse Stakes over ten furlongs at Sandown Park Racecourse. He started the 4/9 favourite against four opponents headed by The Grey Gatsby, with the other runners being Cougar Mountain (third in the Queen Anne Stakes), Western Hymn (Prix Eugène Adam, Gordon Richards Stakes, Brigadier Gerard Stakes) and Tullius (Sandown Mile). With no recognised front-runner in the race, Frankie Dettori had admitted that: "There is a possibility we could make the running if no-one else wants to. Otherwise we will sit off it. Golden Horn is very versatile but what we don’t want is a messy race. He is a Derby winner not a sprinter". Gosden was not overly enthusiastic about the colt's chances saying "I have a lot of respect for The Grey Gatsby... these are top older horses we’re taking on... any horse can get beaten" and described the horse's position as odds-on favourite as "a bit unusual". As in the Derby, Dettori had a "lucky" piece of kit: the left boot he had worn at Epsom had been ripped at Royal Ascot, but the jockey insisted on having it repaired by his valet and wore it at Sandown.
Dettori sent the colt into the lead from the start with The Grey Gatsby racing in second ahead of Western Hymn, Cougar Mountain and Tullius. As the horses entered the straight, The Grey Gatsby moved up alongside the favourite and the two horses raced together in what BBC Sport described as a "gripping duel" until Golden Horn accelerated clear approaching the final furlong to win by three and a half lengths. There was a further gap of four and a half lengths back to Western Hymn in third. He became the tenth winner of the Derby to win the Eclipse in the same season following Flying Fox (1899), Diamond Jubilee (1900), Lemberg (1910), Coronach (1926), Blue Peter (1939), Tulyar (1952), Mill Reef (1971), Nashwan (1989) and Sea the Stars (2009). The Racing Post's Sam Walker rated Golden Horn's victory as the best performance in the world in 2015 up to 6 July, placing him four pounds in front of Shared Belief and five ahead of American Pharoah.
Commenting on the colt's success, Dettori said "I had an easy lead, but Jamie [Spencer, on The Grey Gatsby] was very clever. He attacked early, he eyeballed me, but the horse showed what a true champion he is. He has a lot of guts and was going away at the end." After the race Oppenheimer was reportedly keen to run the colt in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes but Gosden was cautious in outlining future plans saying "a day at a time, a week at the time, the horse’ll tell me. I watch, I listen, that's my job. It's up to the horse". He did however, suggest that the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe could be a long-term target but added that the colt would not run if the ground was "bottomless".
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Three weeks after the Eclipse, Golden Horn was the only three-year-old scheduled to contest the 55th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over one and a half miles at Ascot Racecourse. On the eve of the race, Gosden indicated that colt had made further progress, saying "Golden Horn's been fine since the Eclipse and even progressed physically – he's filled out. We always thought that he was a good, proper horse, but he just seems that much more streetwise – harder and tougher now." Heavy rain on the day before the race softened the ground and led to the withdrawal of the only French challenger Flintshire. After walking the course on the morning of the race, Gosden withdrew Golden Horn, saying "It is very frustrating... The ground in the straight would be no problem – it's just the old track. It rides deep, deep down there and holding. If it was all on the new track I wouldn't hesitate on running, but it is not. Once I got down to Swinley Bottom the stick went in 12 inches and made a pop sound as it came out... He can go on good to soft no problem. He can probably go on genuine soft, but I don't want to involve him in a sticky, holding ground". In Golden Horn's absence the race was won by Postponed.
International Stakes