Following the end of the British season at Doncaster this weekend, the stars of the 27th Cartier Racing Awards were unveiled before an invited audience, which included many top owners, trainers and jockeys at the Dorchester Hotel, London on Tuesday evening.
The Cartier Racing Awards are European horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars.
The outstanding three-year-old filly Enable was named the Cartier Horse of the Year.
From the first crop of Nathaniel, Enable recorded five consecutive Gr1 victories in 2017. Owned by Khalid Abdullah, trained by John Gosden in Newmarket and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Enable was very impressive against her own sex in two Classics, the Investec Oaks at Epsom Downs and the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh, winning by five lengths each time, before easily defeating all-aged, all-sex opposition in Ascot’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Enable – champion
After capturing a third Oaks at York in August, the Gr1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks, Enable created history by becoming the first British-trained filly to win Europe’s most valuable race, the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly. Her comfortable two and a half-length victory against a high-class field was an outstanding performance and the prospect of Enable staying in training in 2018 whets the appetite of all racing enthusiasts. The three other Cartier Horse of the Year nominees were Cracksman, Ribchester and Ulysses.
Enable also easily took the honours in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award from Winter, Lady Aurelia and Roly Poly, while her stable companion Cracksman, owned by Anthony Oppenheimer, becomes the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt following his impressive seven-length success in the Gr1 QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. Cracksman saw off challenges from Harry Angel, Churchill and Barney Roy.
Even by his own incredibly high standards, Ireland’s champion trainer Aidan O’Brien enjoyed an outstanding 2017 as he sent out a worldwide record of 27 Gr1 winners. O’Brien is responsible for both the 2017 Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt, U S Navy Flag, and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly, Happily, while Order Of St George scoops the Cartier Stayer Award for the second year in succession.
U S Navy Flag became the first horse since Diesis in 1982 to win both the G1 Shadwell Middle Park Stakes and the G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes. He took the honour ahead of stable companions Saxon Warrior and Mendelssohn, plus Roaring Lion.
Aidan O’Brien – dominant force
Happily was also a dual winner at Gr1 level and she captured the Cartier Award from the other three nominees Clemmie, Laurens and Heartache.
Sir Michael Stoute has been a master of his profession for over 40 years and was awarded the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. His handling of Ulysses in 2017 was outstanding and saw colt named as Cartier Older Horse.
Sir Michael Stoute (far right) seen with fellow legends William Haggas and Joey Ramsden
The winners:
Cartier Horse Of The Year
Enable
Cartier Older Horse
Ulysses
Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt
Cracksman
Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly
Enable
Cartier Sprinter
Harry Angel
Cartier Stayer
Order Of St George
Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt
US Navy Flag
Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly
Happily
Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award Of Merit
Sir Michael Stoute
