Iconic Festival Moments: Desert Orchid digs deep to win the Gold Cup

Desert Orchid’s Gold Cup might not have been one of the best editions of the race judged purely on form but the crowd of over 50,000 who braved the elements on a foul day at Cheltenham witnessed what Chasers & Hurdlers described as ‘a Gold Cup which overflowed with emotion and drama and is sure to go down in history as one of the great moments in National Hunt racing.’

Desert Orchid’s huge popularity accounted for much of what made the 1989 Gold Cup an iconic race. By then, ‘Dessie’ had attracted a public following beyond the usual confines of racing comparable perhaps only to that enjoyed by Red Rum.

As a bold-jumping, front-running grey, he made obvious appeal to television viewers, his colour – at the age of ten he was now almost white – helping to set him apart. Having started out as something of a tearaway over hurdles at the age of four, he was well established as a household name by the time of his first attempt at the Gold Cup and was at the heights of his powers, too, having won the King George VI Chase for the second time in an unbeaten five-race campaign leading up to Cheltenham.

There was little doubt that Desert Orchid, sent off the 5/2 favourite, was the best horse in the Gold Cup field but his unsuccessful record at the Festival – he had run there every year from the age of five – was in stark contrast to tracks like Ascot and Sandown where he was a prolific winner. In fact, his two wins between the King George and Gold Cup brought his number of wins at both those courses to eight – a memorable battle with Panto Prince when successfully conceding him 22 lb in the Victor Chandler Chase and another typically game effort under 12-0 again to wear down Pegwell Bay in the Gainsborough Handicap Chase.

Low-key start at the Cheltenham Festival

Admittedly, Desert Orchid’s Festival debut was quite a demanding one for a second-season novice, despite starting second favourite, as he was pitched into the Champion Hurdle in which he finished well beaten behind Dawn Run.

He ran even worse in the same race a year later when sent off at 20/1, already tailed off when pulled up before two out. But he made more of an impact over fences, finishing third in the Arkle in 1986 and then being placed behind Pearlyman in the next two editions of the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He’d been entered for the Gold Cup in 1988 but in the end the rain-softened ground prompted connections to take on Pearlyman again when he ran a game race to finish five lengths second to the top-class two-miler.

Long regarded solely as a two-miler himself, Desert Orchid had blown that theory away with the first of his four wins in the King George in 1986 when trying three miles for the very first time. At the end of the 1987/88 season, Desert Orchid proved himself effective over further still when making virtually all to beat Kildimo in the Whitbread Gold Cup in which his stamina, as well as courage, was there for all to see. Prior to that, he’d gained a significant win over the same rival in the Chivas Regal Cup Chase at Aintree, significant because it was his belated first success on a left-handed track.

So where should he run now?

But with a Festival record that read 0-5, that wasn’t enough to convince everyone that he could win a Gold Cup going that way round. Timeform made their views on the subject clear in Desert Orchid’s essay in Chasers & Hurdlers 1987/88 and were in no doubt about which race he should be tackling at the Festival the following season:

‘Some rubbish is still talked and written about Desert Orchid’s supposed lack of effectiveness on left-handed tracks, his failure to win a major race at the Festival meeting being cited to support the theory. However, with his two fine efforts in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and his runaway victory in the Chivas Regal Cup at Liverpool, we are surely entitled to hope we have heard the last of this particular subject…He’s much better suited by three miles plus nowadays and, though still capable of high-class form at the minimum trip, he’s banging his head against a brick wall taking on a top-class two-mile specialist like Pearlyman in top form.’

In the event, Pearlyman was on the sidelines when the 1989 Champion Chase came round but, after some deliberation, the Gold Cup was announced as Desert Orchid’s firm target a week or so before the Festival when he was taken out of the Champion Chase to avoid any temptation to take that option again. But even so, his participation was in doubt for a time after hours of rain, along with some snow on the morning of the race, had turned the going heavy on Gold Cup day, with racing only given the go-ahead after a midday inspection. The decision to run was left to trainer David Elsworth – ‘the ground is horrible and conditions are all against him but he is the best horse…If the chance is there you have to take it.’

Strong field awaited Dessie in Gold Cup

Elsworth was also represented by the previous year’s runner-up Cavvies Clown, while the remainder of Desert Orchid’s dozen rivals included two previous winners, The Thinker and Charter Party. His main rivals according to the betting were the Irish Gold Cup winner Carvill’s Hill and Ten Plus who had won his last four starts, but they were among the majority of the field in failing to complete in a race where the conditions tested stamina and resolution to the full. Desert Orchid made most of the running but Ten Plus took it up at the fourteenth fence and was still travelling strongly in front from Desert Orchid when falling three out, sadly sustaining a fatal injury. Chasers & Hurdlers takes up the story of the race from then on:

‘Desert Orchid was in the lead again briefly but [25/1-shot] Yahoo took over approaching the second last, looking all over a winner; Desert Orchid gave every appearance, as he came under pressure between the last two, of having little left. But appearances proved deceptive. Desert Orchid responded gamely and refused to give up. Crossing the last almost upsides Yahoo, Desert Orchid staged a tremendous rally, edging left towards his rival before being straightened and forging ahead halfway up the run-in. With the crowd roaring him on, the firmly-ridden Desert Orchid pulled away for a length-and-a-half victory. Charter Party came third, eight lengths behind Yahoo and a distance ahead of fourth-placed Bonanza Boy; 66/1-shot West Tip completed the course some time afterwards.’

The former Grand National winner was remounted after parting company with his rider when baulked by Cavvies Clown refusing at the final fence. Carvill’s Hill and The Thinker were both casualties on the first circuit. A mud-spattered Desert Orchid returned to a jubilant reception in the winner’s enclosure where his rider Simon Sherwood paid tribute to his partner’s courage: ‘I couldn’t believe how well Yahoo was going. On any other horse you would have thought it was all over.

'But in the end it was all down to guts. I have certainly never ridden a braver horse – and never expect to either.’ Tom Morgan, rider of the runner-up, acknowledged the winner’s tenacity too as they were pulling up, reaching over to give Desert Orchid a congratulatory pat down the neck after shaking Sherwood’s hand.

The title of Sherwood’s autobiography Nine Out of Ten was a reference to his record on Desert Orchid, their unbeaten partnership ending with an uncharacteristic fall – Desert Orchid was a brilliant jumper - in the Martell Cup at Aintree on their next outing after the Gold Cup. Sherwood became Desert Orchid’s second regular jockey to retire – he’d succeeded Colin Brown in that role – so that Richard Dunwoody was in the saddle when Desert Orchid won the King George for a third, and then a fourth, time. But Dessie couldn’t win another Gold Cup. He finished third in the next two editions, sent off at odds on when Norton’s Coin pulled off his shock win in 1989 and coming home fifteen lengths behind Garrison Savannah and The Fellow when they fought out their close finish in 1990.

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