Readers of a certain age will surely remember the prolific two-year-old Provideo who, in 1984, won 16 of his 23 starts and, in so doing, equalled the British juvenile record set by The Bard, against retricted, modest opposition, in 1885. A January foal by Godswalk, the winner of the King’s Stand Stakes in 1977, Provideo opened his account, at the first attempt, in the Brocklesby Stakes – traditionally the first two-year-old race of the season – over five furlongs at Doncaster in March, 1984. He won comfortably, by four lengths, on that occasion and again, by seven lengths, at Catterick the following week.
However, at Catterick he had reportedly looked ‘a little less than straightfoward’ and, following two subsequent defeats, at Lingfield and Thirsk, he was fitted with blinkers, which proved to be the making of him. Eight months or so, and another 13 wins – which included the Ripon Champion Two-Year-Old Trophy in August – later, on November 1, 1984, Provideo was sent off 1/8 favourite to beat five modest rivals in the Dinsdale Spa Stakes at Redcar. He duly obliged, winning as easily as his odds suggested he might, by seven lengths, to equal the record.
A habitual front-runner, Provideo evidently impressed the learned scribes at Timeform, who named him ‘Horse of the Year’ despite his annual rating being only a ‘smart’ 112, compared with ‘top class’ 136 achieved El Gran Senor, whose only defeat of the season came when controversially beaten, by a short head, in the Derby. Anyway, to answer the question, Provideo was bred and owned by Ahmed Foustok, a wealthy British-based Saudi Arabian, in whose red-and-green checked colours he ran, trained by William ‘Bill’ O’Gorman, at Seven Springs, on the Hamilton Road in Newmarket, and ridden in all bar one of his races by stable jockey Tony Ives. Ives, who eventually rode 1,064 winners, described him as ‘the toughest horse I ever rode’.