Papineau (GB) (Singspiel {GB}), the winner of the 2004 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot for Godolphin and Saeed Bin Suroor, has died at the age of 24.
The half-brother to Derby runner-up Silver Patriarch (GB) was bred by the late Peter Winfield and bought at the Tattersalls December Sale as a foal in 2000. An accomplished stayer and winner of five of his nine races, Papineau's work in his long retirement was arguably even more important.
A Godolphin Lifetime Care Ambassador, he was initially rehomed and retrained as a dressage horse, competing in both affiliated dressage and Racehorse to Riding Horse show classes. In 2016, Papineau joined Godolphin's pre-training facility at Hamilton Hill as a hack and was exemplary in his behaviour when leading out the yearlings each morning.
He won the Newmarket Hacks' Class during the Sir Henry Cecil Open Weekend and twice travelled to Deauville for the Au-Dela des Pistes G1 Champions' Parade.
He also supported the launch of the Godolphin Beacon Project, a joint venture between Godolphin, Newmarket Academy and the education charity Racing to School, meeting many of the school's pupils.
In his full retirement from hack duties he retired to Woodditton Stud, just outside Newmarket, where he was looked after by stud groom Geraldine Jones and her daughter Megan. In his later role in equine-assisted therapy he visited Newmarket Hospital and East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) several times.
Saeed bin Suroor said, “Papineau was a pleasure to train, and his Gold Cup win at Ascot was a very special day indeed. His achievements after his racing career are something that the whole team should be incredibly proud of.”
Liam O'Rourke, Director of Stud, Stallions and Breeding added, “Papineau was a horse who did even more for others, both within and outside of our industry, in his retirement as he did throughout his career. He was much loved and will be much missed.”
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