Over the last few weeks, I have been looking back at some of the racehorses that I enjoyed watching back in the 70s and 80s. Last week it was El Gran Senor. Well I’m staying with the flat and the 80s for this week’s trip down memory lane.
Guy Harwood’s Pulborough yard was one of the most modern and successful in Britain in the 1980s. From his Sussex base he saddled numerous Group 1 winners including the likes of Rousillon, To-Agori-Mou. Polish Patriot, Kalaglow and Warning. However, his best horse has to be Dancing Brave.
Harwood's Gain Is Tree's Loss
The son of Lyphard was bred by the Glen Oak Farm in Kentucky. As a yearling he was bought by Prince Khalid Abdullah for $200,000. Which was fairly cheap given the amounts of money horses were going for at the time. Jeremy Tree who usually had the first pick of the Abdullah horses evidently wasn’t keen on the colt who was sent into training with Guy Harwood.
Never one to over race his juveniles or have them out early in the season. Harwood introduced the colt for the first time in the Dorking Stakes at Sandown. A win there was followed by further success in the Soham Stakes at Newmarket.
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Despite not winning a Group race. The unbeaten Dancing Brave was sent into the winter break the 10/1 ante post favourite for the 1986 2000 Guineas.
Guineas Success
The rather unimpressive yearling blossomed physically over the winter and his first run as 3-year-old saw produced another win in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket.
Sent off the 15/8 favourite for the first English Colts Classic. Despite a slow early pace, he was always in a good position.
Subsequent July Cup winner Green Desert led coming into the dip and for a few strides it looked like he would go onto win. But he couldn’t match the turn of foot Dancing Brave produced for jockey Greville Starkey inside the final furlong.
You can watch the race here.
Epsom Hearbreak
After his 2000 Guineas win, he was allowed to take his chance at Epsom and was sent off the 2/1 for flat racing's blue riband race.
Not a guaranteed stayer at 1m 4f jockey, Greville Starkey had the colt in the rear coming into the descent at Tattenham Corner, as Nomrood led the 16 strong field with Dancing Brave’s nearest market rival Shahrastani nicely placed in 5th.
Three furlongs out Dancing Brave was still at the back of the field and Starkey had to pull him out wide in the straight. A furlong and half from home Shahrastani finally hit the front. Meanwhile Dancing Brave was as commentator Graham Goode famously uttered “starting to motor on the outside.. but with oh so much to do”.
Sadly, his finishing effort was just too late and he finished ½ length behind Shahrastani at the line.
Many judges felt that Starkey had ridden a poorly timed race. I think that’s a tad harsh. With a stronger gallop he would probably have got up.
You can relive the Derby here
Eclipse & King George Glory
Despite the criticism levelled at Starkey, his strongest defender was Harwood and he kept the ride for the Coral Eclipse.
Racing for the first time out of his own age group. Dancing Brave destroyed a top-class field to win in the Eclipse from the mare Triptych and tough gelding Teleprompter
Just prior to the colts next race in the King George VI at Ascot Starkey suffered an injury and lost the ride to Pat Eddery for a rematch with Shahrastani, who had gone on to land the Irish Derby after Epsom.
Sent off the 6/4 second favourite Eddery produced Dancing Brave with a winning run a furlong from home and held off Shahrastani’s stablemate Shardari, with the Derby winner only fourth.
You can see his King George win here.
The Arc Beckons
Dancing Brave’s prep for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was the Select Stakes at Goodwood which he won easily.
At Longchamp he lined up against some of Europe’s top middle-distance horses. Not only old rivals Shahrastani, Shardari and Triptych but the unbeaten French Derby winner Bering; the Prix Vermeille winner Darara and German Derby winner Acatenango.
Dancing Brave produced one of the best performances by a British middle-distance horse in winning the Arc.
Eddery had felt he had got to the front too soon in the King George and was determined to produce his mount as late as possible. And so he did. With Dancing Brave coming from almost last in the straight, to produce a scintillating turn of foot to cut down his rivals inside the final furlong. In the process producing one of the fastest final furlongs in the race’s history.
You can watch his Arc win here
There was to be one final run for the great horse but he ran below par in finishing only 4th in the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita.
We never got to see Dancing Brave race again as he was retired to stud at Newmarket before moving to take up stallion duties in Japan.
It’s not often you see a 1m 4f horse produce the electrifying acceleration that Dancing Brave could produce at the end of his races.
He remains the best ever horse not to win a Derby. However, to win the 2,000 Guineas, the King George VI, the Eclipse and the Arc in the same season remains some achievement.
Dancing Brave sadly died of a heart attack in 1999. But his performances will live long in the memory.
Until next week.
John Burke is the tipster behind the long standing Victor Value service you can join himhere – https://victorvalue.uk
My favourite ever flat horse by a distance John, and I’m no spring chicken by any stretch of the imagination
His defeat in The Derby still pains me to this day!
Cheers – Roger
I echo every word you said, he was the only horse I watched as they thundered up the Epsom straight, i think my lungs were burning as much as Grevilles and Dancing brave in that last 3 furlongs, what a sight that was.
I was so moved by Dancing Braves performance that I went out and bought those famous colours with his name embroidered on them. I still have it to this day.
I was lucky to have been given the nod on his 2-Y-Old debut at Sandown given that Harwoods travelling head lad lived two doors from at the time. I went to Sandown that day and was impressed that I backed him at 33/1 for the guineas. What impressed about his debut was that he was slowly away and lost 5-6 lengths at the start. He travelled smoothly and took up the running inside the final furlong and won going away in a reasonable time.
After having won at Newmarket in the Soham he impressed even more quickening on the rising ground from the dip.
On is not often mentioned about his run in the Derby is the fact he covered the last three furlongs, having already raced 1m1f in a quicker time than a five furlong horse runs the final 3f of a 5f race at Epsom. That is some feet. Just a shame that the horse struggled come down the hill from Tattenham corner and was shuffled back to last place entering the straight.
And as for the Arc, it was the strongest arc field for 20 years with (if I remember correctly) 9 group one winners in the field and that day he gave all the principles a start and swooped on the outside that the camera man failed to pick him up at one point.
One of the best horses to ever grace the turf and still holds one of Timeforms highest ratings for middle distances.
Fantastic memories
One of my top 3 all time great flat horses