White Christmas: when Desert Orchid made the King George his own

Back in the late 1980s, there was no need to dream of a White Christmas. Racing fans were guaranteed a glorious one every year courtesy of Desert Orchid.

It seems like only yesterday that he was gaining a then record fourth King George VI Chase triumph at Kempton Park but time flies and this week will mark the 34th anniversary.

Races come, races go. There have probably been more than 50,000 in Britain since that dank afternoon in Sunbury On Thames but for those lucky enough to be there, or glued to the TV, it remains an indelible image.

Has there has ever been a more popular steeplechaser?

If you were to poll fans of the game aged 50 and above, like me, I’m pretty sure the answer would be an unequivocal “no”. Kauto Star, Denman, Sprinter Sacre, Altior and the like have all since illuminated the sport but Dessie, as we all knew him, was simply on a different plane to everything before, then, or after.

A beautiful grey creature blessed with bottomless courage and durability, he stole the hearts of everybody who saw him.

Every contest he took part in was an epic, or at the very least a mini-epic, because the first opponent he had to beat was himself. He would zoom off in front as if fearful someone was going to set light to his tail and the fences in his way were not to be merely negotiated, but attacked.

As a consequence, it didn’t matter if the opposition was limited or inferior. There were never any lengths or extravagant leaps saved for another day with the ultimate showman, one who it seemed had a sense of duty to his adoring fan club.

Naturally, it didn’t always end happily, especially at left-handed Cheltenham, which never played to his strengths, but that only endeared us to him more and is why his heroic 1989 Gold Cup triumph is treasured above all.

In an age where our stars are increasingly pampered and can pick easy paths to the Cheltenham Festival, it is worth reminding ourselves of his astonishing career details.

He ran on 70 occasions, winning 34 times and being placed on a further 19 occasions. There was rarely a month during the winter which would pass by without him being in action, from the age of 4 to 12, and his connections entertained anything and everything from between 2m and 3m4f in the best company. The ground was an irrelevance, with 13 of his runs being on going that had the word “firm” in it and six more on heavy.

Never mind all the top graded action, he would also regularly run in handicaps – conceding lumps of weight to smart opposition. For example, en-route to Gold Cup glory in 1989 he was exposed to two such assignments – memorably conceding 22lb to Panto Prince in the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot in January before giving 18lb and 15lb, respectively, to Pegwell Bay and Kildimo, over a mile further at Sandown three weeks later.

He was flash and extravagant but a streetfighter rolled into one. Time and time again he would stretch every sinew. He created the kind of memories that never dim: equine granite.

Dessie ran on Kempton’s Boxing Day card seven times (the first time in the 1984 Christmas Hurdle behind See You Then) and lined up in six renewals of the King George. And yet, one wonders whether he would have ever run in the showpiece at all had he not been trained by David Elsworth, who was just about the only person in racing who gave him a chance of staying 3m.

Even Colin Brown, his regular jockey, rejected him for stablemate Combs Ditch for his first King George run in 1986, allowing Simon Sherwood to step in. Sent off at 16-1, Desert Orchid produced a glorious exhibition of jumping and galloping. He won by 15 lengths with Sherwood little more than a giddy passenger.

Twelve months later, reunited with Brown, Desert Orchid went off at Evens to retain his crown but got sucked into an extraordinary battle for the lead with Beau Ranger (Peter Scudamore) and Cybrandian (Ronnie Beggan).

Brown, Scudamore and Beggan resembled boy racers exchanging glances at the traffic lights, revving up their engines. The early fractions they set were ludicrous and predictably took their toll in the latter stages with the patiently-ridden Nupsula, from France, and Forgive N' Forget pouncing in the closing stages.

The latter's fall at the final fence allowed Desert Orchid to reclaim second, but I doubt it is a day Brown recalls with any relish.

In 1988, Dessie regained his title under Sherwood (Brown had retired in the interim) and then, in 1989, with that rider having hung up his boots, made it a third win in the race under Richard Dunwoody.

With his 12th birthday just days away, the Dessie doubters were out in force before the 1990 renewal. He had been beaten in his two “prep” races, chasing home Sabin Du Loir in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter before finishing a below-par fourth, beaten 20 lengths, in a 2m handicap at Ascot.

Elsworth said the races were needed and that 2m had become too short but many believed he was kidding himself and that the great horse's time at the top had come to a natural end.

Celtic Shot, three years his junior and winner of his previous four starts, was a well-backed 11-4 on the day, but sentimental money for Dessie flowed into the bookmakers' satchels and he went off the 9-4 favourite, with Toby Tobias 4-1 and Sabin Du Loir (who had finished ahead of Desert Orchid in his two races that season but was a doubtful stayer) next in the market at 7-1.

Sabin Du Loir led at a good gallop but passing halfway two esteemed judges on commentary duty for Channel 4 were taken by the way Dessie was powering along behind him. “He looks much happier than I’ve seen him in his past three runs,” John Francome said, while the late John Oaksey observed: “This is a completely different Desert Orchid, he’s jumping as if he’s loving it. I think in a moment Sabin Du Loir will know he’s been in a fight.”

That fight never materialised. Sabin Du Loir clipped the top of the 13th fence, seven out, and sprawled uninjured to the floor. His departure left Dessie, who was tracking him, at the head of affairs. That was all the encouragement the Kempton crowd needed to start shouting encouragement to their hero, even though he was out of earshot.

The decibel level increased with every obstacle cleared and when he flew three out, with all his remaining rivals flagging, the roar was like few had heard at the track ever before. “The crowd's going absolutely wild,” commentator Graham Goode said as Dessie approached the final fence. And he was right, they were.

On the run-in, Dunwoody was almost able to coast home. Desert Orchid won by 12 lengths and had made history by securing a fourth King George.

He would run six more times, winning once more (at Sandown when carrying 12st 10lb in a handicap) and also finishing third in another Gold Cup. His final run came when seeking a fifth King George triumph in 1991 but, close to 13 with masses of miles on his clock, he was struggling to keep up when falling three out.

Everyone held their breath but Dessie bounced back to his feet, none the worse. When he ran past the post, riderless and grass-stained with ears pricked, he got a bigger ovation than the winner. It was a tremendously emotional moment.

After being retired soon after, he paraded and galloped at various meetings. Even in old age, his heart was willing to try and go at 100mph even if his feet were not.

He died at the age of 27, in 2006, with his ashes scattered by Kempton's winning post and a statue in the paddock erected in his memory. The Grade Two Desert Orchid Chase, run every Christmas, also remembers him.

For many, he was and always will be that "horse of a lifetime". He will always be mine. There will never be another quite like him.