The Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit for 2021 goes to David Elsworth, one of the most successful dual-purpose trainers Britain has produced.
After watching a video tribute to his career, Elsworth said: “Well, what can I say? I've never heard so much bullshit in all my life! Having said that, I'd like to thank Cartier and those misguided people who've got me up here. I am very flattered to be considered for this award when I look at my predecessors. And here I am, a 20/1 shot. It happens, doesn't it? I'm very flattered. I feel like a bit of an imposter, in fact. But it is a great honour and when I think of those predecessors…. it is something I shall treasure and appreciate those people who have supported me.
“It's a well-known cliche that the success one has as a figurehead, the trainer or whoever he may be, we all need the support of the staff and everybody. And I've been very lucky in that department. In fact, I've been very lucky everywhere. Thank you very much, I'm very honored and privileged. Thank you.”
During a career spanning 67 years, Elsworth has scaled the heights of both Jump and Flat racing, enjoying Classic success alongside victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National. A self-made man with a brilliant affinity for training, he has been responsible for two of the most popular horses in racing history, Desert Orchid and Persian Punch.
David Raymond Cecil Elsworth was born into inauspicious surroundings at Salisbury Infirmary on Dec. 12, 1939. An illegitimate child, Elsworth was raised by his grandparents in a council house just a few miles from the village of Whitsbury, where he would later enjoy some of his greatest training successes.
His schooling at Tidworth Down Secondary Modern was far from prodigious – “the only subjects I did well at were cross-country running, religious knowledge and history” – although a girl who sat next to him in class brought about his introduction into racing. Her father worked for Alec Kilpatrick, who trained at the Herridge stables now occupied by Richard Hannon. Elsworth rode his bike over to the yard and enquired about a job, securing an apprenticeship that would start on January 3, 1955.
After overcoming initial second thoughts – “for the first couple of months, I only stayed because I didn't have the guts to tell the guv'nor that I wanted to go home” – Elsworth ended up completing his three-year apprenticeship with Kilpatrick. He enjoyed his first winner as a jockey on Rathrowan in a 35-runner novices' hurdle at Cheltenham on November 15, 1957.
Elsworth's career in the saddle failed to hit the heights of some of his contemporaries with 31 wins in total, although he claimed he had to ride “a lot of bad buggers” against the likes of Tim Moloney, Dick Francis, Michael Scudamore and Fred Winter. A bad fall saw him briefly quit the saddle until he fell back in love with racing under the guidance of Toby Balding, a trainer who, like Elsworth, excelled in both Flat and Jump racing.
By 1971, Elsworth had set his sights on becoming a trainer but having no money or facilities proved problematic. A solution presented itself when he joined up with Lieutenant-Colonel Ricky Vallance, who trained in the village of Bishop Cannings near Devizes. Vallance would hold the licence but Elsworth would help in the yard, as well as bringing in two horses – Willoblige and Indulgent – that he already looked after for bookmaker John Duffy.
The arrangement paid immediate dividends as Elsworth rode Willoblige and Indulgent to win both divisions of a maiden hurdle at Newton Abbot on Easter Monday, 1971. Further significant success soon arrived for the yard with Red Candle winning the 1972 Mackeson Gold Cup and 1973 Hennessy Gold Cup, although the partnership hit an abrupt end following the victory of Well Briefed at Exeter in 1974. The stewards refused to accept the explanation of Well Briefed's improvement following his previous lacklustre run at Fontwell and Vallance promptly lost his licence. “I think our professionalism with that particular horse was misinterpreted as dishonesty,” Elsworth would later say about the first of several brushes with authority.
Denied the opportunity to take over the licence by the Jockey Club and told to reapply in a year's time, Elsworth undertook a variety of jobs outside of racing, including selling fabrics at the local markets as well as working as a security guard at Stonehenge.
Elsworth continued to ride out for Jim Old and spent a winter working as an assistant to Richmond Sturdy before striking out on his own again in 1977, setting up a pre-training establishment in a cattle yard in the village of Figheldean on the outskirts of an army firing range.
After successfully applying for a licence in June, 1978, Elsworth returned from Newmarket sales that November with three horses – Raffia Set, Skyline Drive and Cumberland Reel. All three ensured that the trainer would hit the ground running as they notched eight victories between them in 1979. Raffia Set, purchased for 1,650gns, would become Elsworth's first Flat winner when scoring at Salisbury on April 8, 1979. 2,500gns buy Skyline Drive captured five races, including the Great Metropolitan Handicap at Epsom Downs.
Elsworth moved to surroundings more conducive to training horses, Luckham Park Stables, near Calne in late 1979 and continued to burnish his reputation as an astute handler over both codes with the exploits of Heighlin.
Bought for 14,000gns with the express aim of winning the Triumph Hurdle, Heighlin duly provided Elsworth with the first of nine winners at the Cheltenham Festival in the 1980 renewal of the juvenile contest. The son of High Line would also provide his trainer with a first success at Royal Ascot in the same year's Ascot Stakes – one of eight handicap wins on the Flat for the horse that season – before going on to win the 1982 Goodwood Cup.
Relocating to Whitsbury Manor Stables in 1981 heralded the start of a golden period for Elsworth. Mighty Fly became the first horse to complete the Lincoln/Royal Hunt Cup double in 1983. Melindra, who cost 400gns, captured another of Royal Ascot's most fiendish handicaps, the Wokingham, the same year.
Mighty Flutter finished third behind Secreto and El Gran Senor in the 1984 Derby, while Miss Silca Key, purchased for just 8,000gns, won the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month.
Elsworth's reputation of being a superb judge of a horse was further enhanced by 16,000gns buy Naheez, who would place in both the Prix du Jockey Club and the Irish Derby in 1987. Princess Athena, who would go on to produce leading stallion Acclamation, would also more than repay her 25,000gns outlay with victory in the Queen Mary Stakes the same year.
His third Group winner at Royal Ascot would continue the theme. Indian Ridge cost just 22,000 Irish punts but the son of Ahonoora captured the 1988 Jersey Stakes before establishing himself as a top-class sprinter with further Royal Ascot success in the 1989 King's Stand Stakes. Indian Ridge would go on to more fame as a stallion, siring several G1 winners including Ridgewood Pearl and Indian Ink.
But it was over the jumps that Elsworth really excelled during the 1980s. Lesley Ann, Combs Ditch, Ghofar, Cavvies Clown and dual Queen Mother Champion Chase scorer Barnbrook Again plundered major prizes over fences, while Robin Wonder, Sir Blake and Floyd all enjoyed significant success over hurdles.
Rhyme 'N' Reason's victory in the Grand National helped Elsworth clinch a first Champion Trainer title in 1987/1988, although one horse – Desert Orchid – would enter the public consciousness like no other since Red Rum.
With his bold front-running style, “Dessie” became a national treasure thanks to a host of victories, including four wins in the King George VI Chase and an emotional success in the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup. The brilliant grey found his way into the nation's heart with his durability as he tackled every race with exuberance, winning 34 times over distances from two miles to three and a half miles.
On the Flat, speedy filly Dead Certain became Elsworth's first G1 winner in October, 1989, when scoring in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.
Six weeks in the spring of 1990 epitomised Elsworth's talent as a trainer over both codes. Desert Orchid defied top-weight to take the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday, while In The Groove also headed across the Irish Sea the following month to provide her trainer with a first Classic success in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.
In The Groove, who cost 20,000gns, would establish herself as an outstanding filly with further G1 victories that season against colts in the Juddmonte International and the Champion Stakes, before adding a fourth success at the highest level in the following year's Coronation Cup.
Seattle Rhyme also earmarked himself as a Classic contender as he ended the 1991 season as favourite for the Derby after winning the G1 Racing Post Trophy, only for injury to rule him out of the early part of his three-year-old campaign.
Having enjoyed success over both jumps and on the Flat, some were keen to compare Elsworth's achievements with those of the great Vincent O'Brien.
“I'm flattered by it but I wouldn't think it's accurate,” he commented in 1993. “Perhaps some of my achievements compare with his, but he has won a lot more than I have. What I will say, and I'm not trying to knock him in any way, is that racing, like all sports, is much more competitive these days. By the time I jumped into the sea, the current was moving faster.”
Elsworth relocated to Dorset in 1993, taking over half of Whitcombe Manor Stables, but the move coincided with a relatively quiet spell for the trainer, and he headed back to Whitsbury in 1996. The same year he returned from Kentucky having spent $25,000 on a son of Lear Fan. Lear Spear would go on to win the 1998 Cambridgeshire before beating Fantastic Light in a thrilling climax to the 1999 Prince Of Wales's Stakes.
Persian Punch proved another astute acquisition. Costing just 14,000gns as a yearling, the giant son of Persian Heights endeared himself to the racing public with his stirring performances throughout a career that spanned nine seasons.
The winner of 13 Group races, Persian Punch forged a reputation as a stayer with a never-say-die attitude in both victory and defeat. Owned by Jeff Smith, his roll of honour included two Goodwood Cups and a Doncaster Cup, together with three wins apiece in the Henry II Stakes and the Jockey Club Cup.
The near-misses included a head defeat by Royal Rebel in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, as well as two battling third places in the Melbourne Cup. A life-sized statue at Newmarket, funded by many of his fans, honours the great horse, who tragically collapsed and died during the 2004 Sagaro Stakes.
Victory in a British Classic continued to elude Elsworth, although The Geezer finished a length behind Scorpion in the 2005 St Leger and both Norse Dancer and Stubbs Art finished third in the 2,000 Guineas. He did part-own and train a subsequent Classic winner in Island Sands, the 1999 2,000 Guineas winner who was sold to Godolphin following an unbeaten juvenile campaign.
After deciding to focus almost exclusively on Flat racing in 2000, Elsworth moved to the historic Egerton House Stables in Newmarket in 2006. He continued to enjoy significant success with his long-standing ally Jeff Smith, including his homebred filly Barshiba, who would win back-to-back renewals of the G2 Lancashire Oaks in 2009 & 2010.
Barshiba's first foal Arabian Queen would progress to greater heights, becoming the most recent of Elsworth's seven G1 wins on the Flat when gamely defeating Derby and Eclipse winner Golden Horn in the 2015 Juddmonte International, 25 years on from In The Groove's victory in the same race.
The number of winners may have lessened, but Elsworth continues to be a trainer who warrants plenty of respect, with Desert Skyline, Master The World, Sir Dancealot and Dash Of Spice, the latest of 16 Royal Ascot wins, capturing significant prizes over the past few seasons.
As he approaches his 83rd birthday, talk has inevitably turned towards Elsworth's retirement. “You don't realise it but when you are young, you do things in a hurry and you are more aggressive. I'm still pretty aggressive but, when you get old, you slow down a bit. You've been there, you've done it before,” he told Sky Sports Racing earlier this year.
“It's still fun. I've had a wonderful time and really enjoyed it but I think a lot of the romance goes with increasing years. I don't know if that's just me – we are all made differently – but personally I still enjoy it. Staffing is a problem and the fixtures and the travelling. I wouldn't say I fell out of love with it but I'm happy to slow down a bit.”
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