Red Rower (foaled 1934) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse who won the 1945 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He raced during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 Poet Prince (foaled 1932) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1941 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He had earlier won the Stanley Chase at Aintree and went on to contest two more Gold Cups. He was unplaced when well-fancied in 1942 and finishe ...

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 Medoc II (also known simply as Medoc, foaled 1934) was a French-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1942 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He won races at the Cheltenham Festival in 1938, 1940 and 1941 before defeating a strong field in ...

. 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.

Background

Red Rower was a bay gelding bred and owned by

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

. 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 The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. She was a granddaughter of Fair Wind, a broodmare whose other descendants included Dark Japan (

Goodwood Cup The Goodwood Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 2 miles (3,219 ...

) and West Indies ( Irish 1000 Guineas). This made Red Rower one of the few high-class racehorses to emerge from Thoroughbred family 52. Red Rower was initially sent into training with Ivor Anthony at Wroughton in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

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 as a six-year-old at Cheltenham in April 1940. 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

and lost second place by a short head to Savon in the final strides. 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

with Broken Promise a

length 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 Interna ...

away in third. Medoc's more highly regarded stablemate Savon (runner-up in the 1941 Gold Cup) fell in the race and sustained a fatal injury. 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. 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 A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

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. Red Rower, now officially trained by Lord Stalbridge, won at

Windsor Racecourse Windsor Racecourse, also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse, is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is one of only two figure-of-eight courses in the United Kingdom, the other being at Fontwell Park. Desc ...

in February 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. Red Rower, ridden the former

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 ...

jockey Davy Jones started the 11-4 favourite ahead of Paladin on 100/30 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. 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.

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. Red Rower is remembered in the name of Red Rower Close, a residential street in Cheltenham.

Pedigree

References

{{Cheltenham Gold Cup winners 1934 racehorse births Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 52 Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners National Hunt racehorses