Patron Saint (foaled 1923) was a British racehorse who won the 1928

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...

Background

Patron Saint was a bay gelding bred in the United Kingdom. He was sired by St Girons (a son of St Simon) who also sired the

Grand Sefton Steeplechase The Grand Sefton Handicap Chase is a National Hunt racing, National Hunt Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged six years or older. It is run at Aintree Racecourse, Aint ...

winner Inversible. Patron Saint's dam VCB was a distant descendant of Canezou, who won the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,60 ...

in 1848 and later became an influential broodmare. During his racing career Patron Saint was owned by F W Keen and was trained near

Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire (historic), F ...

in Wales by Stanley Harrison.

Racing career

The early spring of 1928 was exceptionally cold and led to fears that the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Ra ...

would be abandoned but a break in the weather allowed the meeting to take place. Patron Saint was entered in the Gold Cup as a five-year-old meaning that he carried seven pounds less than his older rivals. With the leading chaser of the season

Easter Hero Easter Hero (1920–1948) was an Irish-bred British-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and made three unsuccessful attempts to win the Grand National. He showed little early promise and was passed from owner to o ...

absent, the 1926 Gold Cup winner Koko started the 4/5 favourite ahead of Patron Saint on 7/2 whilst the most notable of the other five runners was the

1927 Grand National The 1927 Grand National was the 86th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 25 March 1927. The race was won by Sprig, the 8/1 favourite ridden by jockey Ted Leader. Leader's father, Tom, ...

winner Sprig. Ridden by Dick Rees, Patron Saint tracked Koko before being driven up on the inside to take a slight lead at the final fence. Koko still looked the more likely winner but broke a blood vessel and dropped back to third, allowing Patron Saint to draw clear and win by four

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

from the thirteen-year-old veteran Vive. On his next start Patron Saint finished third on a

flat race National Hunt flat races, informally known as bumper races, are a type of flat racing but run under National Hunt racing rules in Britain and Ireland. National Hunt flat races were created on 15 July 1891 when a conference between the stewards of ...

in which he was ridden by

Noel Murless Sir Charles Francis Noel Murless (24 March 19109 May 1987) was an English racehorse trainer who one of the most successful of the twentieth century. Murless began his career as a trainer in 1935 at Hambleton Lodge in Yorkshire before moving to H ...

, later to become a leading trainer. Patron Saint was expected to defend his Gold Cup title in 1929 but missed the race after suffering a series of injuries and training problems. He returned in 1930 and won the Plodders Chase at

Nottingham Racecourse Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre. Characteristics There are actually ...

, but had no further success.

Assessment and honours

In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by t ...

rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Patron Saint a "poor" Gold Cup winner.

Pedigree

*Patron Saint was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

2 × 4 to Common, meaning that this stallion appears in both the second and fourth generations of his pedigree.

References

{{Cheltenham Gold Cup winners 1923 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 31 Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses