The nominations for the 28th annual Cartier Racing Awards were unveiled on Sunday and the winners will be announced on Tuesday.
John Gosden (photo: Investec)
Horses trained by John Gosden in Newmarket have gained the Cartier Horse of the Year Award three times in the last four years – Kingman (2014), Golden Horn (2015) and Enable (2017).
Britain’s champion Flat trainer holds a very strong hand again, being responsible for four of the five nominations for the 2018 Cartier Horse of the Year – Cracksman, Enable, Roaring Lion and Stradivarius.
Thus brilliant four-year-old filly Enable, winner of the Gr1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second year and the Gr1 Longines Breeders’ Cup, could become the third horse to win the Cartier Horse Of The Year Award twice, following on from Frankel (2011 & 2012) and Ouija Board (2004 & 2006).
Enable won it last year
She faces very stiff competition for her stable companions.
Superb four-year-old Frankel colt Cracksman, the 2017 Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, was the runaway victor of the G1 QIPCO British Champion Stakes for the second consecutive year last month, while sensational three-year-old colt Roaring Lion captured four Gr1s, the Coral-Eclipse, the Juddmonte International, the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO).
Cracksman leads the pack
Tremendous four-year-old Sea The Stars colt Stradivarius dominated the stayers’ races, winning on all five of his starts this year. His tally include three G2 victories and two Gr1s, the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Qatar Goodwood Cup.
The 2018 Cartier Horse of the Year nominations are completed by the wonderful Mastercraftsman filly Alpha Centauri, who collected four Gr1 prizes – the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas, the Coronation Stakes, the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes and the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois – for trainer Jessica Harrington before injury ended her racing career.
The nominations for each of the equine awards, in alphabetical order, are as follows:
Cartier Horse Of The Year
Alpha Centauri
Cracksman
Enable
Roaring Lion
Stradivarius
Cartier Older Horse
Cracksman
Enable
Lightning Spear
Poet’s Word
Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt
Masar
Roaring Lion
Sands Of Mali
Saxon Warrior
Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly
Alpha Centauri
Laurens
Sea Of Class
Wild Illusion
Cartier Sprinter
Battaash
Mabs Cross
Merchant Navy
Sands Of Mali
Cartier Stayer
Holdthasigreen
Kew Gardens
Stradivarius
Vazirabad
Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt
Advertise
Quorto
Ten Sovereigns
Too Darn Hot
Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly
Fairyland
Hermosa
Pretty Pollyanna
Skitter Scatter
In addition to the eight equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 15-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months. The 10 latest recipients have been Sir Michael Stoute, Aidan O’Brien, Jack Berry, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Jim Bolger, Team Frankel, Barry Hills, Richard Hannon, John Oxx and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
