YEATS MAKES GOLD CUP HISTORY
19 June 2008
Racingbetter.co.uk

Yeats entered the record books when becoming the just the second horse to land a hat-trick of wins in the Group One Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Under a confident Johnny Murtagh, the seven-year-old made his move with more than half a mile to run before stretching clear of first third placed Coastal Path and then shrugging off the challenge of Geordieland.

Yeats

Trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “It’s unbelievable that he was able to come back and win another one. He’s an amazing horse. We made a decision last year that we’d only give him one run before it this year and I was very sure over the last year that I’d made the wrong decision because he was putting up weight hand over fist.

“He’s gone very lazy. He’s only doing what he needs to do. But Andrew and David (Hickey) are involved everyday and they were very happy that he was really well. All credit to them. Johnny and Seamie (Heffernan) rode him in his work and they were very happy. He wasn’t getting any lighter but is getting older and wiser.

“He travelled very strong through the race. In all fairness to Johnny, he said he was going to let him take his time and let his rhythm build up. When he felt he was building, he was going to let him go.

“All that was going through my mind was that he was heavy, but he didn’t look as heavy in the ring beforehand. When he started building turning in, he was between two of them I was happy enough. Into the straight he was lazy but I can’t see any horse who would be able to stay off the bridle with him. He’s a unique horse.

“I can’t put the win into words. When he came back and won one Gold Cup, I couldn’t believe it but them to come back and win another and another is hard to believe

“We always dreamed when we started off, that we would be able to get horses to compete in these races and that was always our dream. And when you get horses like we’ve been getting over the last couple of years is unbelievable. I’m just so lucky to be in a position that I’m in, working with so many special people with special horses.

“He’s moving great and has never pulled out like an old horse. He’s still very fresh and has a great personality. You can see when he pulled up he was bucking and kicking.