Prior to Constitution Hill's stunning win in the Sky Bet Supreme, Golden Cygnet had been the highest-rated novice hurdler in Timeform's experience. We revisit Golden Cygnet's essay from Chasers & Hurdlers 1977-78
As soon as Golden Cygnet passed the post the easy winner of the Waterford Crystal Supreme Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham he was being hailed as the 1979 Champion Hurdler.
Tragically, a bad fall at the last flight in the Scottish Champion Hurdle in April left him fatally injured and robbed hurdling of its most exciting recruit for years. Without doubt Golden Cygnet was a tremendous prospect and, with another year on him, there was no telling how good he might have proved himself to be. By the time of his death he had achieved much more in his first season as a hurdler than either of the most recent winners of the Champion Hurdle, Monksfield and Night Nurse, at the same stage of their careers.
The connections of Sea Pigeon did not dispute the general feeling afterwards that Golden Cygnet would have beaten Sea Pigeon in the Scottish Champion Hurdle if he had not come to grief at the last. And for a novice to have defeated a seasoned campaigner of Sea Pigeon's calibre at a difference of only 1 lb would have been a staggering achievement.
Golden Cygnet was challenging the leader Night Nurse, looking all over the winner, when he fell; the handicapper had paid Golden Cygnet the enormous compliment of allotting him 11-13, 5 lb more than the Champion Hurdle third Night Nurse, 7 lb more than Beacon Light, who had finished fourth in the Champion Hurdle, and 12 lb more than Decent Fellow, winner of the Sweeps Handicap Hurdle under 11-4.
Such was the impression created by Golden Cygnet's victory at Cheltenham that he started 7/4 joint favourite at Ayr with Champion Hurdle runner-up Sea Pigeon.
Golden Cygnet went to Cheltenham undefeated in four races over hurdles in Ireland. His run of victories began in a common or garden maiden event at Clonmel early on in December for which he started a short-priced favourite. Golden Cygnet then proceeded to take the Sean Graham Roundwood Hurdle at Leopardstown in December, the Slaney Hurdle at Naas in January and the Fournoughts Hurdle at Punchestown in February, on each occasion justifying favouritism and twice winning impressively; at Naas he had to survive a stewards' inquiry into possible interference after his hard-fought two-length victory over Oisin Dubh.
The Irish would not hear of defeat for Golden Cygnet at Cheltenham and, with odds of 5/4 laid on him, he toyed with his seventeen rivals in the Waterford Crystal Supreme Novice Hurdle. Golden Cygnet was pulling over the field coming to the second last and as soon as his rider let him go he shot clear, jumped the last superbly and strode majestically up the final hill to win running away by fifteen lengths. The others might as well have stayed in their boxes.
Western Rose, Bootlaces, Honegger, Double Bluff and Prousto, who followed Golden Cygnet home in that order, were among the best of the English-trained novices and only a really good horse could have slammed them as Golden Cygnet did. The speed and ease with which Golden Cygnet went away from the rest after the second last was most impressive. Golden Cygnet's final victory, achieved as effortlessly as most of his others, came in the Fingal Hurdle at Fairyhouse at the end of March.
Golden Cygnet was not much to look at, being rather a sparely-made individual. His sire Deep Run was the best of a poor set of Irish two-year-olds in 1968 and he disappointed as a three-year-old until tried over a mile and a half; he later finished second in the Irish St Leger and won a two-mile hurdle in England for Fred Rimell.
His most notable representatives on the racecourse before Golden Cygnet were Kas and Kilcoleman. Golden Cygnet is the first foal of the unraced Golden Cygneture, who is herself out of an unraced mare. My Cygneture is the dam of Mr Crinkles, a winner three times over hurdles and fences, but, more interestingly, she is a half-sister to the Eclipse Stakes winner Wolver Hollow, one of many winners bred by Cygnet.
Golden Cygnet was bought by his trainer for 980 guineas as an unbroken three-year-old at Goffs November Sales. He was disqualified after passing the post first in a maiden race on his debut on the Flat as a four-year-old but gained a legitimate victory in an amateur riders' maiden race on the last of his three outings that season. He ran three times without distinction on the Flat in the autumn of 1977 before being sent hurdling, on the last occasion being backed from 20/1 to 7/2 for the Leopardstown November Handicap.
There was no doubt that he was still improving when we last saw him as a hurdler and it is as certain as anything can be in racing that he would have had a very bright future in the top class had he survived. His death was a sad blow to followers of jumping. Edward O'Grady, Ireland
Timeform's highest-rated hurdlers of all time
182 Night Nurse
180 Istabraq, Monksfield
179 Persian War
178 Comedy of Errors, Le Sauvignon
177 Lanzarote, Limestone Lad, Constitution Hill
176 Bird's Nest, Bula, Faugheen, Golden Cygnet
