Tribute to a Legend of these pages
Denman, the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, died on Tuesday at the
age of 18, trainer Paul Nicholls announced.
Nicholls said the brilliant chaser "had begun to go
downhill in the past few days", and was "put to sleep painlessly".
The Ditcheat handler said: "The decision was taken by
his devoted owner Paul Barber with the full support of myself, our head lad
Clifford Baker and our vet Buffy Shirley-Beavan.
"We all agreed it was the right thing to do because
he had begun to go downhill in the past few days and we did not want to see him
suffer."
Denman was renowned for his iron will on a racecourse and
won 14 races from 24 starts.
His finest hour came in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, when
he defeated stablemate Kauto Star by seven lengths in a race for the ages.
Denman claimed four Grade One races and was also twice
successful in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in 2007 and 2009. He retired in
2011 and earned over £1million in prize-money.
Nicholls said on the Betfair website: "Denman was
known affectionately to punters and racegoers as 'The Tank', which I always
felt was a fitting description.
"He was a magic horse who had a tremendous following
because of the wholehearted way he went about his racing.
"He was tough, hardy and willing, wasn't the easiest
to train, and would bite your hand off in his box given half a chance.
"He came along at the right time and was one of our
superstars during a golden era for Team Ditcheat."
Denman initially took up team chasing with Charlotte
Alexander following his retirement. before returning to Ditcheat where he was
cared for by owner Paul Barber's daughter-in-law Emma.
Nicholls described
Barber as "immensely proud of Denman's achievements on the
racecourse" and recounted how the gelding came to join his team.
He said: "I
remember seeing Denman for the first time at Adrian Maguire's yard near Cork
while Paul and I were on a shopping trip in Ireland. It was a few weeks after
he had won his maiden point-to-point in March 2005. I was bowled over by
Denman's presence and raw power as he was led into view.
"He had only
taken a few steps when I told Adrian I'd have him. The words were hardly out of
my mouth when Paul Barber countered, 'No you won't. I'm having him'. Neither of
us had any cause to regret the deal that took Denman home to Ditcheat."
Denman was
diagnosed with a fibrillating heart in the autumn following his Gold Cup win
and Nicholls felt he lost a little of his brilliance after that problem.
He added:
"Denman took a long time to recover his condition and full strength once
back in training and in my view was never quite as good again.
"But he showed
that he still retained his competitive edge and plenty of ability by winning a
second Hennessy Gold Cup with an astonishing performance under top weight and
also finishing runner up in three more Gold Cups.
"When he
retired in 2011 he had earned in excess of £1million with 14 victories from 24
starts under rules, but mere statistics cannot possibly do him justice."
The John Torpey Memorial Trophy
June Total
Cliff 122.5 479.4
Tony 51.1 233.9
Neil
00 221.4
Bob
63 178.2
Steve 51.1 164.4
Cod
00
148.9
Martin 11.3 112.8
Peej
12 60.6
News
Dean Ivory hopes
Librisa Breeze
can give him another day to remember at
Royal Ascot a week on Saturday in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
Ivory told the Punter r "We are going to the Diamond Jubilee and we will see where we go
from there. It is not long until Ascot now and everything seems good at home.
He is a very serious horse. Winning the Champions Sprint was one of best days
I've ever had.
Charlie
Appleby hopes to get a run into one-time Derby contender Ghaiyyath ahead of an
outing in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes at York in August.
The
Newmarket handler is weighing up two options for the three-year-old, who has
not been sighted this season after sustaining an injury in the build-up to an
intended outing in the Dante Stakes.
After
tasting defeat on his debut at Doncaster the son of Dubawi subsequently posted
two wins at over a mile at Newmarket, the latest in a Group Three contest in
October.
Appleby told
the punter: "He will be working back from the Great Voltigeur and we will
try and get a run into him before that.
"He is
back in work now. Ideally I would like to get one run in before the Voltigeur
but that will be his main aim.
"Would
we get him ready in time for the Bahrain Trophy or would we go to Goodwood for
the Gordon Stakes? I'm not sure yet but those are the sort races we could look
at before.
"Potentially
he could be a St Leger horse along with the likes of Brundtland
Plans for Elarqam remain
fluid following his disappointing effort in the Irish 2,000 Guineas a fortnight
ago.
Mark
Johnston's charge was a hot favourite for the Curragh Classic after his fourth
placed finish in the Guineas at Newmarket, but the son of Frankel out of the
brilliant mare Attraction finished a well-beaten sixth.
Subsequent
tests have failed to reveal any significant abnormalities and connections are
now in a quandary over whether to continue down the Group One path or lower his
sights.
Taking centre stage at Royal Ascot is nothing
new for Frankie Dettori and he has high hopes of continuing that trend by
lighting up this year's meeting aboard Cracksman in the Prince of Wales's Stakes.
Speaking with Frankie this week he told me, He won the
Champion Stakes at Ascot last year meeting the rising ground, and it is very
exciting going back to there. If he goes there in his normal form, he is
entitled to be favourite.
"He won
the Champion Stakes over a mile and a quarter and he has won a Ganay on good
ground, so I think the trip is fine. It is a stiff mile and a quarter at Ascot
and that is pretty much what he wants.
"These
races are never easy to win, but I'm going in there excited, so let's bring it
on. I can't wait.
"It's a
very exciting time."
David
Simcock is looking at running Algometer in Saturday’s Sky Bet Grand Cup at York, with stablemate
Curbyourenthusiasm also entered.
The
five-year-old is expected to strip fitter for his reappearance at Goodwood
where he finished sixth of seven in a ten-furlong Listed race.
Simcock
said: “I’d like to think Algometer will definitely run "Algometer lacked
sharpness, pace at Goodwood. Now he is another year older he is probably a
touch slower. He will have been rusty – he’d been a long time off. And he had a
health issue at the end of April which cost us a couple of weeks."
Charlie
Hills and his team are working on a strategy to try to keep the lid on Battaash before the
stalls open in next week's King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The
four-year-old was an impressive four-length winner of the Prix de l'Abbaye at
Chantilly at the end of last season and his clash with last year's King's Stand
winner, the Wes Ward-trained Lady Aurelia, is set to be one of the highlights
of the week.
Lady Aurelia finished in
front of Battaash in the Nunthorpe at York last August, but Hills' speedster
blew his chance by getting worked up before the race.
"We're
trying to find the right strategy to put the saddle on and bring him out late -
there are things we've thought through. We'll try to go down nice and quiet and
go down last, like he did at Chantilly and Haydock," said Hills.
"He's
had a few niggly problems with the stalls so Craig and Gary Witheford will be
with him as well. He'll go in late with a blindfold, too."
