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Golden Horn has been named the Cartier Horse of the Year at the 25th annual Cartier Racing Awards in London.
Owned and bred by Anthony Oppenheimer, the John Gosden-trained Golden Horn recorded four G1 wins - the Investec Derby at Epsom, the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park, the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and Europe's richest race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp – during 2015.
His final start came in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland on October 31 when he went down by half a length to Found. He now retires to Dalham Hall Stud in the UK to start his breeding career.Golden Horn saw off competition from Solow, Muhaarar and Legatissimo[ - al category winers at the Cartier Awrds - to be named Horse of the Year. He also was named Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt ahead of Muhaarar, Gleneagles and Jack Hobbs.
Solow took out the Cartier Older Horse Award.The remarkable five-year-old grey gelding was a revelation when dropped in distance in 2015, with an unbeaten campaign yielding five G1 victories in England (three), France and Dubai for French trainer Freddy Head and owners the Wertheimer Brothers.
The other nominees in the Cartier Older Horse category were Treve, Esoterique and Amazing Maria.Muhaarar won the Cartier Sprinter Award.
The three-year-old, trained by Charlie Hills for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, proved an outstanding sprinter wioth wins in the inaugural running of the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket, Deauville's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and the G1 QIPCO British Champion Sprint at Ascot.The other nominees in the Cartier Sprinter category were Goldream, Mecca's Angel and Twilight Son
Legatissimo's tremendous efforts throughout 2015 resulted in her gaining the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award.The filly ran in six G1 races winning three and finishing second in the other three, losing by only a short head in two of them.
Trained by David Wachman for a Coolmore syndicate, her G1 victories came in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown.Her rivals in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly division were Simple Verse, Found and Covert Love.
Simple Verse became only the second three-year-old to win the Cartier Stayer Award.Trained by Ralph Beckett for Qatar Racing Limited, she was the first filly since 1992 to land the G1 St Leger at Doncaster.
She was demoted to second on the day by the stewards for causing interference to the runner-up Bondi Beach but laterbecame the first horse to be awarded a classic on appeal by her owners.The other candidates for Cartier Stayer honours were Trip To Paris, Order Of St George and Vazirabad.
Both juvenile awards went to horses trained by Aidan O'Brien for Coolmore partnerships.The Cartier 2YO Colt winner was Air Force Blue, who secured three G1 victories in the Phoenix Stakes, National Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes, while Minding won the Cartier 2YO Filly Award.
Minding is a dual G1 winner of the Moyglare Stud Stakes and the Fillies' Mile.The Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit was presented to 78-year-old Jack Berry, a former jockey and trainer as well as a tireless fundraiser and campaigner for injured jockeys.
This year saw the culmination of his fundraising activities with the opening of the £3 million Jack Berry House in Yorkshire which offers top-quality facilities for jockeys recovering from injury.The Cartier Awards are decided by points earned by horses in Pattern races throughout the year (30%), combined at the end of season with the votes of a panel of racing journalists (35%) and votes from readers of the Racing Post, Daily Telegraph and Channel 4 Racing viewers (35%).
2015 - CARTIER RACING AWARDSCartier Two-Year-Old Colt: Air Force Blue
Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly: MindingCartier Three-Year-Old Colt: Golden Horn
Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly: LegatissimoCartier Sprinter: Muhaarar
Cartier Stayer: Simple VerseCartier Older Horse: Solow
Cartier Horse of the Year: Golden Horn owned by Anthony OppenheimerCartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit: Jack Berry
