Cormorant Wood

Cormorant Wood (foaled 4 March 1980) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She showed useful form in the early part of her career but developed into a top-class runner in the second half of her three-year-old season, winning the Sun Chariot Stakes and Champion Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse in October 1983. Her four-year-old season was curtailed by injury, but she became the first filly to win the Lockinge Stakes and produced her best performance in her final race when she won the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup at York Racecourse. At the end of the year she was the highest-rated female racehorse trained in Europe. Cormorant Wood was retired to stud where she had some success as a producer of winners.

Background

Cormorant Wood was a big, rangy, dark bay mare with a white star and snip bred by her owner Robert McAlpine. She was sired by Home Guard, a horse who showed his best form over sprint distances, winning the Hungerford Stakes and the Diadem Stakes in 1972. Her dam, Quarry Wood was a long-distance handicapper who won four races and finished fifth in the Chester Cup. Her previous foals had made no impact, but she went on to produce River Ceiriog, who won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the 1986 Cheltenham Festival. The filly was trained by Barry Hills at his South Bank stable at Lambourn in Berkshire and was ridden to her biggest wins by the American jockey Steve Cauthen.

Racing career

1982: two-year-old season

Cormorent Wood ran twice as a two-year-old, finishing unplaced in a six furlong maiden race and then winning a similar event over a furlong further.

1983: three-year-old season

In the early part of 1983, Cormorant Wood was campaigned over one and a half miles with the Oaks Stakes as her main target. She prepared for the race with a run in the Group Three Oaks Trial Stakes at Lingfield Park Racecourse in May and showed promise in finishing second, five lengths behind the leading Irish filly Give Thanks. At Epsom Downs Racecourse on 4 June Cormorant Wood was ridden by Lester Piggott and started at odds of 11/1 in the Oaks. She raced in second place for most of the distance, but weakened in the last quarter mile to finish sixth of the fifteen runners behind Sun Princess. In July she was matched against colts and older horses for the first time in the Group Two Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse. As at Epsom, she raced prominently before tiring in the closing stages and finishing seventh behind the Irish colt Quilted.

For her next three races, Cormorant Wood was brought back in distance to ten furlongs and showed improved form. In the Virginia Stakes, a new race run at Newcastle Racecourse in August she recorded her first success of the year when beating Air Distingue, a filly who had finished third in the Prix de Diane. In early October at Newmarket she was ridden by Steve Cauthen in the Sun Chariot Stakes and won her first Group race, beating Sedra by a length at odds of 7/2. Two weeks later, over the same course and distance she started at odds of 18/1 in a field of nineteen runners for the Champion Stakes. Her opponents included the Group One winners Wassl (Irish 2,000 Guineas), Tolomeo (Arlington Million) and Be My Native (Coronation Cup). In a race run in a gale force side wind, Cauthen restrained the filly in the early stages and she was still in last place with three furlongs to run. She then produced a burst of acceleration which, according to Timeform, "had to be seen to be believed", overtaking the entire field and winning by a head from Tolomeo, with Flame of Tara a short head away in third. Many of the jockeys struggled to keep their mounts running straight in the conditions and Tolomeo was subsequently disqualified for causing interference. Cauthen's performance was highly praised, with the BBC
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