IRISH-BRED and trained horses were to the fore at the 27th annual Cartier Racing Awards, European horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars, which were presented at a glittering ceremony before an invited audience of 300 people at the Dorchester Hotel, London on Tuesday. On a night when equine superstars were celebrated, the biggest cheer of the evening was when Sir Michael Stoute was named as the recipient of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit.

Enable was crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year and Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly following a superb 2017 that saw the daughter of Nathaniel, owned and bred by Prince Khalid Abdullah, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, win five Group 1 races - the Investec Oaks, Darley Irish Oaks, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO), Darley Yorkshire Oaks and Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Khalid Abdullah, said: “It is unbelievable. I think for John, for Frankie, the team at Clarehaven and Imran who looks after her, it is quite unbelievable. For Prince Khalid, it gives him such a glow; it’s hard to believe. Prince Khalid likes to see his horses race and that was the overriding desire in deciding to keep Enable in training next year, providing she came out of the Arc all right.”

On accepting Enable’s Cartier Three-Year Filly Award, Lord Grimthorpe said: “Prince Khalid will be absolutely chuffed to bits. He kept on asking me when the Frankel days were coming to an end - ‘what happens next’? I said ‘it’s not going to be the same, sir’ and he replied ‘why not?’ I couldn’t really give a very good answer but I am absolutely thrilled that this fourth generation Juddmonte filly has come along and proved a great answer.”

There was further success for Gosden and Dettori with Cracksman, who was named Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt for 2017 following a season that was capped by a stunning seven-length success in the Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Two years after collecting the same award for Golden Horn, Cracksman’s owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer took to the stage again. He said: “This is very exciting. I have to thank everyone who has voted for Cracksman - I am sure he will be thrilled with his wonderful award.

“I just want to say thanks to all the people who have made Cracksman so far. That is basically John Gosden and his wonderful stable, Frankie Dettori and my stud at Hascombe. All those people have worked very hard. We have been slightly short staffed at Hascombe this year, but they have done a fantastic job. I also have to remember my vet and his associates who put together the broken leg of Cracksman’s grandam. That is why Cracksman is here to today. I must also mention the blacksmith. All these people have contributed to this one horse and I am thrilled to say he will be racing next year.”

Aidan O’Brien’s incredible 2017, which has seen him rewarded with a record-breaking 27 Group or Grade 1 wins already, was further enhanced with awards for U S Navy Flag (Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt), Happily (Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly) and Order Of St George (Cartier Stayer for the second year in succession).

M V Magnier, on receiving the award for U S Navy Flag, said: “What can I say about the horse? He kept improving throughout the year and what a great testament he is to Aidan O’Brien, his family and all the team at Ballydoyle - it was an unbelievable year. I may as well try and get this pitch in somewhere but the last time a horse won both the Middle Park and the Dewhurst was Diesis, trained by another master in his profession in the late, great Henry Cecil.”

COMPETITIVE

Paul Smith, after accepting Happily’s award, said: “”This was a very competitive division and I think her win in the Lagardere against the boys probably swung it for her.” Smith also took the Cartier Stayer Award and commented: “Order Of St George has a huge, huge engine and is very versatile. He will stay in training next year and we look forward to seeing him back on the track.”

Harry Angel was crowned Cartier Sprinter following a Group 1 double in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket and 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock Park. Hugh Anderson, managing director of Godolphin, was presented with the award. He said: “Harry Angel has been absolutely brilliant and a flagbearer for Godolphin this season. On behalf of Godolphin, I want to thank Clive [Cox] and I want to thank Adam [Kirby], I want to thank Cartier for this very prestigious award and above all I would like to thank Sheikh Mohammed for his unflagging generosity and loyalty to our sport.”

Ulysses won the Coral Eclipse and Juddmonte International, in the process landing the four-year-old the Cartier Older Horse Award. Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, whose Flaxman Stables own and bred the Galileo colt, accepted the award

Ulysses was trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the 10-time champion trainer in Britain. A master of his profession for the past five decades, he was visibly pleased to join an elite roll of honour, saying: “It is very touching and I am delighted to receive this award.” He credited Pat Rohan and the trainer’s head lad Bobby O’Ryan as being early influences.

He added: “It is hard to have one favourite memory. I think the one-two in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Turf [Pilsudski beat Singspiel] at Woodbine is very close to being my top memory as we had been frustrated at the Breeders’ Cup before and it hadn’t worked well for us. We are fortunate that there have been so many good days.

“Shergar was my best middle-distance horse, Marwell was the best sprinter and I think Zilzal was the best miler.”

Stoute went on to talk about some of the great riders with whom he had associations, including Walter Swinburn (“such natural talent”), Kieren Fallon (“won races he shouldn’t have”), Ryan Moore (“the complete jockey”), Michael Kinane, Johnny Murtagh and Frankie Dettori.

He concluded: “The fire still burns for me and watching the show tonight reminds you how lucky we are to have owners that are sending us horses of that calibre. Long may it continue.”

CARTIER AWARD WINNERS

Award of Merit: Sir Michael Stoute

Horse of the Year: Enable

Two-year-old colt: U S Navy Flag

Two-year-old filly: Happily

Three-year-old filly: Enable

Three-year-old colt: Cracksman

Sprinter: Harry Angel

Stayer: Order Of St George

Older horse: Ulysses

CARTIER JURY 2017

Marcus Armytage, Simon Bazalgette, Julia Budd, Dominic Burke, Alan Byrne, Ed Chamberlin, Francesca Cumani, Sally Duckett, John Ferguson, John Gosden, Lisa Hancock, Gina Harding, Hugo Palmer, Leo Powell (The Irish Field) and Phil Smith