Ben Pauling pays tribute to retiring Cheltenham Festival winner Global Citizen, 'a horse you wanted to get up for in the mornings'

Ben Pauling, successful with a promising youngster at Doncaster on Wednesday, took time out to hail the impact the retiring Global Citizen has had on his career.

Now 12, the gelding was a £275,000 recruit from the point-to-point sphere and was initially trained by Jonjo O'Neill, but Andrew and Jane Megson later switched him to Pauling, a move that resulted in notable hurdle wins in the Dovecote, Gerry Feilden and Haydock's Champion Hurdle Trial.

Global Citizen was then sent over fences and won the Wayward Lad at Kempton before finishing fourth to Put The Kettle On in the Arkle at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.

It was at that meeting two years later he provided connections with another memorable moment by winning the Grand Annual under Kielan Woods at 28-1.

"His enthusiasm for day-to-day life made him so special," said Pauling, whose Personal Ambition impressed at Doncaster.

"He was a horse you wanted to get up for in the mornings; he was bright, intelligent and always looked like he loved his job. He was a joy to train in every way.

Ben Pauling: "It was lovely he had that day in the spotlight at Cheltenham"Credit: Edward Whitaker

"The Grand Annual was the absolute high because when he ran in the Arkle, it left a mark for a while. A lot of owners might have given up and said he wouldn't get back, but I felt we campaigned him in a way that restored his confidence the season he won at the festival.

"He probably wasn't an out-and-out Grade 1 performer, but might have won one if everything had fallen right on a particular day, and he was a prolific winner. It was lovely he had that day in the spotlight at Cheltenham."

Barters Hill and Willoughby Court helped make Pauling's name and the Gloucestershire trainer added: "Global Citizen came along after those two had been retired early through injury and he flew the flag for us for a number of years. 

"He was exciting to watch and had an enthusiastic way of racing, and always thought he was quicker than he was. He was very brave and bold, and left everything on the track.

"He meant a lot to us and to Andrew and Jane, who are huge supporters, so it's brilliant he's retired in one piece. He's at one of our pre-training yards now and hopefully he will go on to do plenty of RoR [Retraining of Racehorses] shows, and hopefully feature at a high level as he's always been the most beautiful horse."

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