WHAT should have been an extra-special renewal of the Cartier Racing Awards, celebrating its 30th edition, was this year staged as a television event. It was nonetheless a glorious celebration with eight equine awards, while John Gosden OBE was a worthy, and appreciative, recipient of the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.

The evening was introduced by Laurent Feniou, the managing director of Cartier UK, who emphasised how important it was to again celebrate the best in racing. The Cartier Awards are unrivalled in terms of prestige and excellence.

Son of a trainer, 69-year-old John Gosden has won more than 3,500 races worldwide. His pace of success shows no sign of abating, and recent years have seen his Newmarket yard house such superstars as Enable, Golden Horn, Cracksman and Kingman.

An economics graduate of Cambridge, Gosden spent six months working in land development in Venezuela before the lure of the turf saw him join Sir Noel Murless as pupil assistant.

He moved to another training legend, Vincent O’Brien, before seeing out his education with Tommy Doyle in California. In October 1979 he started his own training career at Santa Anita with three horses.

Just four months later he had his first success, grew his stable slowly, and in 1983 he saddled Bates Motel to land three Grade 1 wins, including the prestigious Santa Anita Handicap. The racing world woke up to his talent and Robert Sangster sent him Royal Heroine who captured the first running of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1984.

Newmarket move

A decade into his career, and with some 500 wins under his belt, Gosden was invited by Sheikh Mohammed to move to Newmarket and Stanley House Stables. In 1991 he won the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye with Keen Hunter but had to wait until 1993 to enjoy success at the top table in Britain, Wolfhound winning the Group 1 Sprint Cup.

Frankie Dettori was in the saddle for Gosden’s first British classic win with Shantou in the 1996 St Leger, but the second for Gosden came quickly as Benny The Dip strode to Derby success the following summer. Six years spent at Manton was followed by Gosden’s final move to Clarehaven in late 2005.

This year John Gosden will win his third successive and fifth overall trainers’ championship. He has won 11 British classic races and saddled 55 Royal Ascot winners. One of just two European trainers to win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, he has trained a record five recipients of the Cartier Horse of the Year Award – Kingman, Golden Horn, dual winner Enable, and Roaring Lion.

Ghaiyyath scoops two top awards

BRED in Co Kildare by Dermot Weld, Ghaiyyath won the Cartier Older Horse Award for 2020 before being announced as the latest star to land the Cartier Horse of the Year title.

The five-year-old son of Dubawi will now start his stud career back in the county of his birth, at Kildangan Stud. He is the third winner of the top award owned by Godolphin, following Daylami and Fantastic Light.

Out of the 2006 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Nightime, Ghaiyyath sold as a foal at Goffs for €1.1 million and joined Charlie Appleby. His promising career start was interrupted by a setback in training and he spent a year off the track between the ages of three and four. Since then he has more than made up for lost time, and he goes to stud the winner of nine of his 13 lifetime starts.

Ghaiyyath lit up the summer of 2020, a year that saw crowds having to stay away from the races. He enjoyed dominant victories in three Group 1 races, the Coronation Cup, the Coral Eclipse Stakes and the Juddmonte International.

Ghaiyyath was not the only success on the night for a horse owned by members of the Maktoum family. Palace Pier, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and trained by John Gosden, won the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award following his victories against his own age group in the Group 1 St James’s Place Stakes and against seniors in the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois. He remains in training next season. The son of Kingman was bred by Highclere Stud and Floors Farming.

There are few more popular horses in training than the Irish-bred Battaash. Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s six-year-old Dark Angel gelding, bred at the McCartan’s Ballyphilip Stud, was unbeaten in 2020, landing the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, a fourth Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood, and a second Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. He was named Cartier Sprinter of 2020.

JOHN Gosden was in the limelight again when Stradivarius was named the Cartier Stayer Award winner for the third consecutive year.

It coincided with his fourth Group 1 Gold Cup win at Royal Ascot, and Stradivarius captured the Group 1 Goodwood Cup for a remarkable fourth time. Owned and bred by Bjorn Nielsen, he beat off Galileo Chrome and Princess Zoe to land the accolade.

There was plenty of success on the night for Irish runners, Van Gogh and Pretty Gorgeous winning the two juvenile awards, while Love was named the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly of 2020. Bred by Coolmore and racing for them from Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle yard, Love was undefeated in three runs, all at Group 1 level.

Having triumphed in the 1000 Guineas, Galileo’s daughter Love headed to Epsom for the Oaks and there were few more impressive winners all year as she won by a breath-taking nine lengths. She rounded off the year with a five-length victory in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Van Gogh

Bred by David and Diane Nagle, Van Gogh is a US-foaled son of American Pharoah and the excellent Imagine and this half-brother to Horatio Nelson claimed the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award following his comprehensive success in the late-season Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. Van Gogh is a leading classic fancy for Ballydoyle in 2021.

Not to be outdone by his father, Joseph O’Brien supplied his own award winner, Pretty Gorgeous being named the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly of 2020. The John Oxley-owned Lawman filly went from winning a Bellewstown maiden on her debut to ending her five-race season with victory in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.

HARRY Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, was relieved that this year’s awards could go ahead. He said: “Back in the spring, nobody knew if we would even have a European flat season in 2020, but with the hard work of everyone in the racing industry we were ultimately rewarded with a season to savour.

“Racing cannot continue without the ongoing support of owners and I would like to extend my congratulations to tonight’s winners – Godolphin, Coolmore, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, Bjorn Nielsen and John Oxley.

“John Gosden has truly reached the summit of his profession and is the perfect recipient for the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in 2020. With his supreme eloquence and communication skills, racing is very lucky to have such a fabulous ambassador.

“I would like to end by extending special thanks to Cartier, Sky Sports Racing, The Daily Telegraph and Racing Post. Cartier’s support of these prestigious awards stretches right back to 1991 and is ongoing, even in today’s troubled times. We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy such tremendous support.”

The jury for this year’s award of merit decision was made up of Leo Powell of The Irish Field, Sir Francis Brooke, Marcus Armytage of The Daily Telegraph, Gina Bryce, Aly Vance, Martin Cruddace, Matthew Imi, Alan Byrne of the Racing Post, Mike Cattermole, Hugo Palmer, Ralph Beckett, Julia Budd, Maureen Haggas, William Derby, Peter Jensen and Richard Brown.