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St Mark’s Basilica Named Cartier Horse Of The Year

St Mark's Basilica has been announced as the Cartier Horse Of The Year at the 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards during a glittering ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday evening.

The Siyouni colt, who races for Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, becomes the sixth horse owned by a member of a Coolmore partnership to be crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year following Giant's Causeway (2000), Rock Of Gibraltar (2002), Hurricane Run (2005), Dylan Thomas (2007) and Minding (2016).

The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards – the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.

European horseracing's top awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races (30%), combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph (35%).

In addition to the equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 16-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.

Highlights of the prestigious evening will be shown on Sky Sports Racing on the evening of Friday, Nov. 12.

Winner of the G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes as a two-year-old, St Mark's Basilica has sparkled this season with four G1 victories across France, Britain and Ireland during an unbeaten campaign.

He annexed the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains, the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club, the Coral-Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes. The other nominees for the Cartier Horse of the Year were Baaeed, Mishriff and Torquator Tasso.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien, St Mark's Basilica also takes the honors in the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt category ahead of Adayar, Baaeed and Hurricane Lane.

Palace Pier, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and trained by John and Thady Gosden, takes the Cartier Older Horse award following a superb season that included G1 wins in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois. The other nominees were Lady Bowthorpe, Mishriff and Torquator Tasso. Palace Pier was previously crowned the Cartier 3-Year-Old Colt at the 2020 Cartier Racing Awards.

Snowfall recorded the largest winning margin in the history of the G1 Cazoo Oaks when capturing the Epsom Downs Classic by 16 lengths and the daughter of Deep Impact is named the Cartier 3-Year-Old Filly.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien for a Coolmore syndicate, Snowfall also recorded dominant wins in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora Stakes, G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks and G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks. Also nominated for Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly were Alcohol Free, Mother Earth and Saffron Beach.

Starman takes the Cartier Sprinter honors for trainer Ed Walker and owner David Ward following an admirable season headlined by success in the G1 Darley July Cup. The Dutch Art colt also placed in the G1 Larc Prix Maurice de Gheest and was narrowly denied in the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup. Fellow G1 winners Creative Force, Emaraaty Ana and Winter Power were also nominated.

One of the most popular horses in training, Trueshan, is named the Cartier Stayer. Trained by Alan King for the Singula Partnership, the five-year-old is unbeaten in his last three starts having won the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup, the G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran and the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup. Also nominated for Cartier Stayer were Hurricane Lane, Stradivarius and Subjectivist.

Native Trail is the Cartier 2-Year-Old Colt. Owned by the Maktoum family's Godolphin operation and trained by Charlie Appleby, the Oasis Dream colt is unbeaten in four starts and recorded a brace of G1 successes in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes and the Darley Dewhurst Stakes. Native Trail saw off competition from Angel Bleu, Luxembourg and Perfect Power to win the award.

Inspiral takes the honours in the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly category. Trained by John and Thady Gosden for Cheveley Park Stud, the Frankel filly has won all four of her starts and finished her campaign with victory in the G1 bet365 Fillies' Mile. Also nominated were Discoveries, Tenebrism and Zellie.

The recipient of the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in 2021 is David Elsworth, one of the most successful dual-purpose trainers Britain has produced. In a racing career spanning 67 years, Elsworth has scaled the pinnacles of both Flat and Jump racing, combining Classic success with victories in the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Equally adept at saddling winners at Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival, the trainer also oversaw the careers of two of the most popular horses in racing history – Desert Orchid and Persian Punch.

Harry Herbert, Cartier's Racing Consultant commented: “The 2021 European Flat season has once again highlighted all that is wonderful in this great sport.

“With capacity crowds back at racecourses and some brilliant equine performances, we were ultimately rewarded with a season to savour.

“Racing cannot continue without the ongoing support of owners and I would like to extend my congratulations to tonight's winners – Coolmore, Godolphin, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Cheveley Park Stud, David Ward and the Singula Partnership.

“David Elsworth has truly reached the summit of his profession and is the perfect recipient for the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in 2021. A man whose life has been steeped in racing, Elsworth's career spans 67 years and has scaled the heights of both Jump and Flat racing. One of the most successful dual-purpose trainers Britain has produced, the sport is lucky to call him one of our own.

“I would like to end by extending special thanks to Cartier, Sky Sports Racing, The Daily Telegraph and Racing Post.

“Cartier's support of these prestigious awards stretches right back to 1991 and is ongoing as we once again enjoy all coming together at the Dorchester Hotel for such a wonderful event. We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy such tremendous support.”

Laurent Feniou, Managing Director of Cartier UK, commented: “The 2021 European Flat season has lived up to its billing as horseracing once again highlighted the magic and brilliance of the sport following a challenging 2020.

“I am delighted for the Cartier Racing Awards to be taking place once again at the Dorchester Hotel celebrating another wonderful year of sport.

“It is an honour to celebrate the very best of horseracing and it is a privilege for Cartier to be celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Cartier Racing Awards. My heartfelt congratulations go out to this year's exceptional winners.

“I would like to thank our long-standing media partners, the Racing Post and Daily Telegraph, as well as Sky Sports Racing for their involvement in the awards again.”

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Stradivarius To Stay In Training

Champion stayer and seven-time Group 1 winner Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will race on next year at eight with a three-race campaign in mind.

Bjorn Nielsen's popular chestnut homebred won the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Those first two wins were part of a 10-race win streak that also encompassed two of his four victories in the G1 Goodwood Cup. Stradivarius has also won the 2018 G2 Long Distance Cup in British Champions Day, three editions of the G2 Lonsdale Cup and two runnings of the G2 Yorkshire Cup. He finished second in the Oct. 2 G1 Prix du Cadran for John and Thady Gosden, and was last seen finishing third in the latest edition of the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Oct. 16.

“He still loves his training and racing, and it's exciting for everyone to have him for another year,” said Thady Gosden.

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Gosden: Contamination From Employee Caused Drug Positive

Trainer John Gosden has said that it was contamination “through an employee” that led to the ketamine positive returned by Juddmonte filly Franconia (GB) (Frankel {GB}) after her win in last June's Listed Abingdon Fillies' S. at Newbury. Gosden told a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel on Thursday that Franconia had been handled at the races that day by a stable worker who subsequently admitted to using ketamine recreationally. Franconia was disqualified from the win and Gosden was fined £500.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Friday morning, Gosden explained that the employee came forward when he realised he could have been responsible for the contamination.

“He was a rather vulnerable person who came to me–his life had somewhat imploded, and he'd been thrown out of a job as a very young chap,” the trainer said. “He came in, was working with us, and during the lockdown he probably got in the habit of messing around with this ketamine, which is obviously used as a drug that sends you into a trance state or something. Consequently, when he took this filly racing–although he cleaned himself properly, showered and his clothes were clean–he used to keep the stuff in his wallet in a little packet. There was none in there, but there was residual in there. Obviously, that little deposit in the wallet–he'd used his credit card, then he puts the bridle on the filly–can get very quickly into the system, from the [horse's] tongue and gums. This tiny trace, which is microscopic–like half-a-trillionth of a gram, measured in picograms with very sensitive equipment–was picked up in her urine. It didn't affect her performance, because obviously if you used a lot of ketamine it would send the horse into a trance state, and you can imagine what kind of terrible thing could happen. Ketamine is for anaesthetics in clinics. It's never in a racing stable, only in clinics.”

Gosden said the groom remains in his employ.

“He said it was his fault, and he explained the whole situation,” Gosden said. “He actually broke down in tears, as one would–not an easy thing to tell your employer. Because he was so honest, it solved the whole problem as to where this came from, because it was a complete mystery to us. He's still employed here, and to that extent he's getting on with life. His life hadn't been going too well before that, and it was difficult for him. But we're doing fine now.”

Franconia, meanwhile, remains a listed winner, having taken the Listed Lyric Fillies' S. in her next start.

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Mishriff To Miss Breeders’ Cup

Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}), the globetrotting winner of this year's G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and Saudi Cup, will put a pause on his travels and miss the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar. Trainer John Gosden told Daily Racing Form that the world's joint highest-rated horse needed “a little bit of a rest” after finishing fourth in last weekend's G1 Champion S. at Ascot.

“You need to be 100% happy that you're doing the right thing,” Gosden told that publication. “He's been a pretty busy boy.”

The 4-year-old Mishriff races as a homebred for Prince Faisal. He also won last year's G1 Prix du Jockey Club. Ted Voute, Prince Faisal's racing manager, said that Mishriff is likely to stay in training for a 5-year-old campaign, with a repeat in the Saudi Cup the first key target.

“The Prince has said that unless a huge offer comes in for him to go to stud–and I think the likelihood of that is pretty slim at this stage of the year with all the marketing that's required–then he will be back next year. In fairness to John, up until he won the Juddmonte, he was always of the opinion that Del Mar might be a bit sharp for a big horse like him. He thinks we should follow the same route as last year by freshening him up after the Champion before heading back to the Saudi Cup; that's the target. Although he's had a bit of time between his races this season, he has been on the go since February. John said we'll aim for the same races in Europe again, although whether he ends up in the Champion S. or the Arc, we'll have to see.”

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