St Mark’s Basilica is Horse Of The Year at the 31st annual Cartier Racing Awards

The Siyouni colt, who races for Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, becomes the sixth horse owned by a member of a Coolmore partnership to be crowned Cartier Horse Of The Year following Giant’s Causeway (2000), Rock Of Gibraltar (2002), Hurricane Run (2005), Dylan Thomas (2007) and Minding (2016).

The Cartier Racing Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. There are eight equine awards - the Cartier Horse Of The Year, the Cartier Older Horse, the Cartier Sprinter, the Cartier Stayer, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly, the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly.

European horseracing's top awards are delivered through a tried and tested combination of points earned by horses in Pattern races (30%), combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph (35%).

In addition to the equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 16-strong Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.

Winner of the G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes as a two-year-old, St Mark’s Basilica has sparkled this season with four G1 victories across France, Britain and Ireland during an unbeaten campaign. He annexed the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains, the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club, the Coral-Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes. The other nominees for the Cartier Horse of the Year were Baaeed, Mishriff and Torquator Tasso.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, St Mark’s Basilica also takes the honours in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category ahead of Adayar, Baaeed and Hurricane Lane.

Palace Pier, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and trained by John and Thady Gosden, took the Cartier Older Horse award following a superb season that included G1 wins in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois. The other nominees were Lady Bowthorpe, Mishriff and Torquator Tasso. Palace Pier was previously crowned the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt at the 2020 Cartier Racing Awards.

Snowfall recorded the largest winning margin in the history of the G1 Cazoo Oaks when capturing the Epsom Downs Classic by 16 lengths and the daughter of Deep Impact was named the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien for a Coolmore syndicate, Snowfall also recorded dominant wins in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora Stakes, G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks and G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks. Also nominated for Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly were Alcohol Free, Mother Earth and Saffron Beach.

Starman took the Cartier Sprinter honours for trainer Ed Walker and owner David Ward following an admirable season headlined by success in the G1 Darley July Cup. The Dutch Art colt also placed in the G1 Larc Prix Maurice de Gheest and was narrowly denied in the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup. Fellow G1 winners Creative Force, Emaraaty Ana and Winter Power were also nominated.

One of the most popular horses in training, Trueshan, was named the Cartier Stayer. Trained by Alan King for the Singula Partnership, the five-year-old is unbeaten in his last three starts having won the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup, the G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran and the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup. Also nominated for Cartier Stayer were Hurricane Lane, Stradivarius and Subjectivist.

Native Trail is the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt. Owned by the Maktoum family’s Godolphin operation and trained by Charlie Appleby, the Oasis Dream colt is unbeaten in four starts and recorded a brace of G1 successes in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and the Darley Dewhurst Stakes. Native Trail saw off competition from Angel Bleu, Luxembourg and Perfect Power to win the award.

Inspiral grabbed the honours in the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly category. Trained by John and Thady Gosden for Cheveley Park Stud, the Frankel filly has won all four of her starts and finished her campaign with victory in the G1 bet365 Fillies’ Mile. Also nominated were Discoveries, Tenebrism and Zellie.

The recipient of the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in 2021 was David Elsworth, one of the most successful dual-purpose trainers Britain has produced. In a racing career spanning 67 years, Elsworth has scaled the pinnacles of both Flat and Jump racing, combining Classic success with victories in the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Equally adept at saddling winners at Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival, the trainer also oversaw the careers of two of the most popular horses in racing history – Desert Orchid and Persian Punch.

Harry Herbert, Cartier’s Racing Consultant, commented: “The 2021 European Flat season has once again highlighted all that is wonderful in this great sport. With capacity crowds back at racecourses and some brilliant equine performances, 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 – Coolmore, Godolphin, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Cheveley Park Stud, David Ward and the Singula Partnership.

“David Elsworth has truly reached the summit of his profession and is the perfect recipient for the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit in 2021. A man whose life has been steeped in racing, Elsworth’s career spans 67 years and has scaled the heights of both Jump and Flat racing. One of the most successful dual-purpose trainers Britain has produced, the sport is lucky to call him one of our own.

“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 as we once again enjoy all coming together at the Dorchester Hotel for such a wonderful event. We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy such tremendous support.”

Laurent Feniou, Managing Director of Cartier UK, commented: “The 2021 European Flat season has lived up to its billing as horseracing once again highlighted the magic and brilliance of the sport following a challenging 2020.

“I am delighted for the Cartier Racing Awards to be taking place once again at the Dorchester Hotel celebrating another wonderful year of sport. It is an honour to celebrate the very best of horseracing and it is a privilege for Cartier to be celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Cartier Racing Awards. My heartfelt congratulations go out to this year’s exceptional winners.

“I would like to thank our long-standing media partners, the Racing Post and Daily Telegraph, as well as Sky Sports Racing for their involvement in the awards again.”

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