Big Races

Which jockey has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe most often?

by

Run over one mile and four furlongs at Longchamp Racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne, west of Paris, traditionally on the first Sunday in October, the Prix de l’Arc Triomphe has the distinction of being the most valuable horse race in Europe. With a prize fund of €5,000,000, of which €2,857,000 goes to the winner, the prestigious race regularly attracts the crème de la crème of middle distance talent from around the world.

The jockey who has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe most often is soon to be retired Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, who has already announced that he will hang up his boots at the end of the 2023 season, probably on November 4, after the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Born in Milan, Italy on December 15, 1970, Dettori was sent to Britain by his father, Gianfranco, in 1985 to become apprenticed to fellow Italian Luca Cumani at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket.

In 1994, Dettori became retained jockey for Goldolphin, the powerful stable founded by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai, and it was for his nephew, Sheikh Saeed Maktoum Al Maktoum, that he first won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Lammtarra in 1995. Further success in the royal blue silks of his new employer followed on Sakhee in 2001 and Marienbard in 2002, but Dettori would not win the ‘Arc’ again for another 13 years, by which time he had involved in anacrimonious split with Godolphin and served a six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine.

However, with the backing of Newmarket trainer John Gosden, with whom he had enjoyed a successful partnership in the nineties, his career recovered from the doldrums. Dettori has since won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe another three times, on Golden Horn in 2015 and Enable in 2017 and 2018; both horses were trained by Gosden.

How many times did Joe Mercer win the Derby?

by

The late Joe Mercer will always be best remembered for his association with Brigadier Gerard, who remains the joint third highest rated Flat horse in the history of Timeform. Ridden exclusively by Mercer, ‘The Brigadier’ won 17 of his 18 races between 1970 and 1972, including a famous victory over Mill Reef in the 2,000 Guineas in 1971.

Of course, ‘Smokin’ Joe’, as Mercer was known, rode many more winners in Britain – a total of 2,810 in all – including eight British Classics. Indeed, he rode his first Classic winner, Ambiguity, in the Oaks in 1953 while still a 19-year-old apprentice. Later in his career, Mercer also won the 1,000 Guineas twice, on Highclere in 1974 and One In a Million in 1979, and the St. Leger four times, on Provoke in 1965, Bustino in 1974, Light Cavalry in 1980 and Cut Above in 1981.

However, for all his success elsewhere, in the most important Classic, the Derby, Mercer drew a blank. In fact, the closest he came to winning was on Relkino, trained by Dick Hern, in 1976. Indeed, Relkino led inside the final quarter of a mile, but proved no match for Empery, ridden by Lester Piggott, in the closing stages and had to settle for second, beaten 3 lengths.

How many horses have won the Grand National more than once?

by

Of course, the most successful horse in the recent history of the Grand National was Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back renewals of the world famous steeplechase in 2018 and 2019, but was denied the chance of a third win by the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020, and by his owner, Michael O’Leary, in 2021 and 2022. Readers of a certain age may also remember – and everyone will almost certainly have heard of – Red Rum, who won the Grand National an unprecedented three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977.

However, the names of the other multiple winners of the Grand National – of which there are six, seven or eight, depending on the ground rules applied – are probably less familiar. To clarify, The Duke won the first two runnings of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, in 1836 and 1837, but the races were subsequently stricken, some historians say erroneously, from the ‘official’ Grand National records. Likewise, Poethyln won the so-called ‘War National’, staged at Gatwick in 1918, and won again when the Grand National returned to Aintree in 1919.

As far as ‘official’ renewals of the Grand National at Aintree are concerned, the first dual winner was Abd-El-Kader, in 1850 and 1851. He was followed by Peter Simple, who had won the Grand National for the first time in 1849, but returned four years later, as a doughty 15-year-old, to do so again. Thereafter, The Lamb (1868 and 1871) and The Colonel (1869 and 1870) won four renewals between them in as many years and, towards the end of the century, the indefatigable Manifesto – who ran in the Grand National a record eight times between 1895 and 1904 – prevailed twice, in 1897 and 1899. Before Red Rum, the last horse to win the Grand National more than once was Reynoldstown, who recorded back-to-back victories in 1935 and 1936; the legendary Golden Miller failed to complete the course on both occasions.