Red Rower

Red Rower (foaled 1934) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1945 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He raced during the Second World War when opportunities for National Hunt horses were severely limited. After winning the Lilley Brook Chase in 1940 he finished third to stable companion Poet Prince in his first attempt at the Gold Cup in the following year. In 1942 he won the Grand Annual Chase and started favourite for the Gold Cup but was beaten into second place by Medoc II. On the resumption of National Hunt racing after a two-year break he finally won the Gold Cup at the age of eleven in 1945.

Red Rower
SireRameses the Second
GrandsireGainsborough
DamRed Maru
DamsireKosciusko
SexGelding
Foaled1934[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
ColourBay
BreederHugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge
OwnerLord Stalbridge
TrainerIvor Anthony
Lord Stalbridge
Major wins
Lilley Brook Chase (1940)
Grand Annual Chase (1942)
Cheltenham Gold Cup (1945)

Background

Red Rower was a bay gelding bred and owned by Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge. He was sired by Rameses the Second, a son of the wartime Triple Crown winner Gainsborough. Red Rower's dam Red Maru also produced Red April who won the County Hurdle and finished third in both the Champion Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. She was a granddaughter of Fair Wind, a broodmare whose other descendants included Dark Japan (Goodwood Cup) West Indies and (Irish 1000 Guineas). This made Red Rower one of the few high-class racehorses to emerge from Thoroughbred family 52.[2] Red Rower was initially sent into training with Ivor Anthony at Wroughton in Wiltshire.

Racing career

Red Rower showed early promise as a steeplechaser, winning three races over two miles before stepping up to three miles and winning the Lilley Brook Chase[3] as a six-year-old at Cheltenham in April 1940.[4] The gelding made his first appearance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup as a seven-year-old in 1941 in which he was ridden by Danny Morgan and started at odds of 8/1. He led the field approaching the final fence where he was overtaken by his stablemate Poet Prince and lost second place by a short head to Savon in the final strides.[5]

Wartime restrictions meant that major sporting events were confined to the weekend and the 1942 Cheltenham Festival was run over successive Saturdays rather than consecutive days. On 14 March, Red Rower contested the Grand Annual Chase a race which attracted many of the leading contenders for the Gold Cup a week later. He took the lead at the final fence and won by a head from Medoc II with Broken Promise a length away in third.[6] Medoc's more highly regarded stablemate Savon (runner-up in the 1941 Gold Cup) fell in the race and sustained a fatal injury.[5] In the Gold Cup Red Rower started 3/1 favourite and was in the leading group until the last ditch fence when he was badly hampered by the fall of the leader Solarium. He came away from the fence well adrift of the new leader Medoc, and although he steadily reduced the margin he was beaten eight lengths into second place.[5] In the following September National Hunt racing was suspended in Britain and the next two Cheltenham festivals did not take place.

National Hunt racing resumed at the end of 1944 although several leading jumpers including Medoc and Prince Regent were unable to compete owing to a decision of the National Hunt Committee not to accept entries on behalf of horses which had left the country after 1 June 1941.[7] Red Rower, now officially trained by Lord Stalbridge, won at Windsor Racecourse in February[6] 1945 before contesting the Cheltenham Gold Cup on 17 March in a record field of sixteen runners. The field included five horses who had never won over fences and five others who were aged thirteen or over.[6] Red Rower, ridden the former flat race jockey Davy Jones started the 11-4 favourite ahead of Paladin on 100/30[8] and Schubert on 11-2 whilst the other runners included the thirteen-year-old Poet Prince. Red Rower tracked the front-runners before going up to dispute the lead with Paladin and Schubert at the last fence and drew away on the run-in to win by three lengths.[5]

Red Rower's last major race was the 1946 Grand National the first edition of the race for six years. Now a twelve-year-old he carried the third highest weight of 161 pounds and was pulled up in a race won by Lovely Cottage.[9]

Assessment and honours

In their book, A Century of Champions, based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Red Rower a "poor" Gold Cup winner.[10] Red Rower is remembered in the name of Red Rower Close, a residential street in Cheltenham.[11]

Pedigree
Pedigree of Red Rower (GB), bay gelding, 1934[1]
Sire
Rameses the Second (GB)
1927		 Gainsborough (GB)
1915		 Bayardo Bay Ronald
Galicia
Rosedrop St. Frusquin
Rosaline
Grand Rapide (GB)
1921		 Hurry On Marcovil
Toute Suite
Mademoiselle Pictet Picton
Morette
Dam
Red Maru (GB)
1927		 Kosciusko
1909		 Melton Master Kildare
Violet Melrose
Simena St Simon
Flying Footsep
Red Light (GB)
1917		 Minter Minting
Dissipation
Fair Wind Succoth
Windward (Family: 52)[2]
gollark: I bet there are web factorizer tools.
gollark: Please stop.
gollark: It's coreutils or something, yes.
gollark: Don't.
gollark: It has an antivirus actually.

References
  1. "Red Rower pedigree". Pedigree Online. 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  2. "Sir John Sebright's Arabian Mare - Family 52". Thoroughbred Bloodlines.
  3. "White and Gold" (10 April 1940). "Fourth win in a row?". Glasgow Herald.
  4. "Home Front: Fine Lepper". Townsville Bulletin. 1 May 1940.
  5. Harman, Bob (2000). The Ultimate Dream: The History of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-381-0.
  6. John Saville (2009). "Insane and Unseemly: British Racing in World War II". Matador.
  7. "English Racing Expands". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 Nov 1944.
  8. Abelson, Edward; Tyrrel, John (1993). The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 978-1-873626-15-3.
  9. Green, Reg (1993). The History of the Grand National: A Race Apart. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-58515-3.
  10. Morris, Tony; Randall, John (1999). A Century of Champions. Portway Press. ISBN 9781901570151.
  11. "Cheltenham Areas: History of Swindon Village and Wyman's Brook". cheltenham4u.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18.
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