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Festival Flashbacks: Watch Desert Orchid win the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Fri March 11, 2022 · 3y ago

Relive an unforgettable 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup, where the legendary Desert Orchid became a Festival hero.

Dessie. One word that means so much.

A fearless, bold jumping grey, he defied convention. As he rolled on through remarkable season after remarkable season he developed his own fan club, took racing off the back pages and onto the front ones and was a regular feature on the mainstream media.

He was unique.

Desert Orchid was always striking to look at and cut a bold sight out in front but by the autumn of 1986 we thought we knew his limitations. Good without being brilliant, the sort of horse who'd won Kingwell and Tolworth Hurdles, a Henry VIII too, but he liked going right-handed and came up short on the very big days.

He finished third in the Arkle in his novice season, for example. It seemed clear he was going to be a staple in the big races for years to come without necessarily landing one. How wrong we were.

Stepped up to three miles for the 1986 King George at Kempton and sent off a relatively unconsidered 16/1 chance, he ran his rivals ragged under Simon Sherwood. By the last he was clear, Door Latch and Forgive 'N Forget giving legless and hapless pursuit.

So he was a three miler, then.

Well, no. For two successive Cheltenham Festivals his target remained the Champion Chase, finishing third and second. Solid runs - and in 1989 he still had the speed to give lumps of weights and a beating to Panto Prince in a Victor Chandler of the ages at Ascot.

But by then he'd defied top weight to win a Whitbread over three miles and five furlongs. We're not dealing with the ordinary here.

In 1989 he finally got his shot at a Gold Cup but the weather gods didn't seem amused. Torrential rain left trainer David Elsworth sheltering in the toilets, trying to avoid owner Richard Burridge and the delicate conversation over whether they should run.

Elsworth was adamant they should and the grey's remarkable and uplifting rally after the last to beat a top-class mudlark in Yahoo raised the roof, and the spirits of the sport. The glow still exists to this day.

Sherwood, who took over the steering from Colin Brown, was replaced by Richard Dunwoody when the curtain came down on his own career but the mould-breaking Desert Orchid rolled on.

He won four King Georges in total, an Irish Grand National under a welter-burden when sent off even money despite concede nearly two stone to all of his rivals.

From Tingle Creeks and Victor Chandlers, to Whitbreads, Gold Cups and the Fairyhouse feature. Two miles to three miles five, fast ground to desperately heavy. Under high weights in handicaps or on level terms with the best around, he came, he saw and he conquered.

Just remind yourself of his brilliance and bravery by watching this again. Time moves on, yet it will never grow old.

Desert Orchid 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Timeform - the golden years

Check out Timeform's season-by-season review of the golden years of Desert Orchid's career.

1986/87 Season

This was a season during which Desert Orchid showed his versatility with victories ranging from two miles to three miles in conditions ranging from good to firm to soft. His meteoric rise began in November at Sandown when readily making all in the Holsten Lager Handicap Chase, again over two and a half miles. His jumping was then to blame when fourth in a valuable Ascot handicap, making mistakes throughout, but he produced a tremendous display dropped back in trip for the two-mile Frogmore Handicap Chase at the same course in December, helping force a strong pace and impressively keeping up the gallop to win by 12 lengths.

Connections then decided to step him up to three miles for the first time, having a tilt at the King George VI Chase. Due to his zestful nature, there was a widespread view – outside of his connections – that Desert Orchid wasn’t going to stay the extra distance. He was a 16/1 chance and ridden by Simon Sherwood, deputising for stable jockey Colin Brown who was aboard stable companion Combs Ditch, runner-up in the previous two renewals. The field also included the previous Gold Cup winner Forgive’N Forget and three-time King George victor Wayward Lad.

DESERT ORCHID'S TOP 3 KING GEORGE VI CHASE WINS AT KEMPTON PARK

Desert Orchid set off at a strong gallop in the prevailing conditions, building a sizeable lead, and he increased the tempo in the back straight on the final circuit, producing some spectacular jumps. He only needed to be ridden out with hands-and-heels to record a 15-length success.

He again showed very smart form over three miles on both starts prior to Cheltenham, firstly winning the Gainsborough Chase at Sandown in February – his performance one of the best of recent seasons in a staying chase – then completing a much easier task in the four-runner Jim Ford Challenge Cup at Wincanton.

Desert Orchid was not entered in the Cheltenham Gold Cup that season as connections believed the race wouldn’t suit, and he instead contested the Queen Mother Champion Chase, in which he finished third. His final start that season was in the Whitbread Gold Cup but he was pulled up six from home having suffered an interrupted preparation in the build-up to the race.

Major races won:

King George VI Chase, Kempton
Gainsborough Chase, Sandown

1987/88 Season

After dishing out wide-margin drubbings to small fields at around two and a half miles on his first couple of outings in the 1987/88 season, Desert Orchid dropped in trip to contest the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown. Now an established Grade 1, the race back then was a handicap and he finished a game runner-up to Long Engagement when attempting to concede two stone.

He was sent off an even-money favourite to retain the King George VI Chase on his next start, but was ridden too aggressively. He lasted better than those who helped force the scorching pace, but soon after three out the writing was on the wall as the French-trained Nupsala and ForgiveN’ Forget went on, only for the latter to fall at the last. Desert Orchid eventually finished runner-up, 15 lengths behind the winner.

Desert Orchid had to concede 17 lb to Charter Party, a subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, in the Gainsborough Chase and was beaten eight lengths, only just losing out on second close home as he tired in the heavy ground. After a surprising length-and-a-half defeat at level weights to Kildimo in the three-runner Jim Ford Challenge Cup, Desert Orchid’s chosen Cheltenham target was again the Champion Chase due to the rain-softened ground, although this season he had also been entered in the Gold Cup. He finished a very game five-length second to Pearlyman but it was a performance that suggested he was now best suited to trips around three miles.

A month later, over an extended three miles in the Chevas Regal Cup at Aintree, Desert Orchid exacted revenge on Kildimo, jumping spectacularly to record an eight-length success and record a first victory going left-handed. The pair met again in the Whitbread Gold Cup and Desert Orchid again jumped superbly, making virtually all and rallying on the run-in to win going away by two and a half lengths.

Major races won:

Chevas Regal Cup, Aintree
Whitbread Gold Cup, Sandown

1988/89 Season

Desert Orchid was successful on six of his seven starts during a campaign that was his most memorable. After winning at Wincanton he shouldered 12st in the Tingle Creek and made specialist two-milers look ordinary, scooting clear up the Sandown hill. He was sent off an odds-on favourite to regain his King George crown and merely needed to be pushed out to fend off Kildimo.

Dropped back to the minimum for the Victor Chandler Handicap Chase, Desert Orchid showed his class and guts to concede 22 lb to Panto Prince, just prevailing after the pair engaged in a terrific duel up the straight. After producing another brilliant weight-carrying performance in the Gainsborough Chase – he dug deep to deny Pegwell Bay – he would finally be tasked with winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Continued snow and rain caused the Cheltenham ground to turn heavy on Gold Cup day, but Desert Orchid was allowed to take his chance and was sent off the 5/2 favourite. The race a memorable one to all racing fans, as Desert Orchid and the mudlark Yahoo battled it out up the Cheltenham hill, Desert Orchid’s adoring fanbase roaring the ten-year old home as he got on top in the final 100 yards to win by a length and a half.

Major races won:

Tingle Creek Handicap Chase, Sandown
King George VI Chase, Kempton
Victor Chandler Handicap Chase, Ascot
Gainsborough Chase, Sandown
Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cheltenham

1989/90 Season

Desert Orchid endured mixed fortunes during this campaign, running to the highest Timeform rating of his career when winning the Racing Post Chase but then suffering a shock defeat in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

He was trained with the King George very much in mind in the first half of the season and, after beating one rival in the Silver Buck Chase at Wincanton and finishing runner-up in the Tingle Creek, he equalled Wayward Lad’s record of three wins in the King George, winning by eight lengths from stablemate Barnbrook Again.

A fortnight after winning a minor event at Wincanton in February, Desert Orchid faced a stern test in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton, but he produced a phenomenal performance that would see his Timeform rating rise to 187, a figure bettered since by only Kauto Star (191) and Sprinter Sacre (192p) since. Carrying 12st 3lb and conceding two stone to Delius, he jumped exceptionally well and ran on strongly to score by eight lengths, with future Grand National winner Seagram back in third. Unfortunately, Desert Orchid ran below his best when only third to shock winner Norton’s Coin in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but he emphatically bounced back on Easter Monday in the Irish Grand National, justifying his even-money starting price when conceding between 26 lb and 28 lb to 13 rivals, surviving a scare at the last to run out a comfortable winner.

Major races won:

King George VI Chase,Kempton
Racing Post Chase, Kempton
Irish Grand National, Fairyhouse

1990/91 Season

There was to be one major, last hurrah in the career of Desert Orchid. Defeated on his first two starts over two miles in the 1990/91 season, he may have been 11, rising 12, but he was sent off 9/4 favourite to record a historic fourth King George success.

He was left in the lead from the 13th after the fall of Sabin Du Loir and he galloped on remorselessly under Richard Dunwoody to triumph, receiving a rapturous reception from the crowd.

Defeat then followed in the Victor Chandler, but he did defeat three rivals in the Gainsborough Chase when conceding at least a stone to each. His final start that season came in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and he finished an honourable third, beaten 15 lengths by Garrison Savannah and The Fellow.

Major races won:

King George VI Chase, Kempton
Gainsborough Chase, Sandown

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Festival Flashbacks: Watch Desert Orchid win the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup