Charismatic Gold Cup hero Celeric dies aged 31 on the farm where he was born

Celeric, one of the most popular and charismatic members of a golden generation of stayers, has died peacefully at the age of 31. 

Trained initially by David Morley and later John Dunlop, Celeric became renowned for his turn of foot, which had to be deployed daringly late. 

His finest hour came when he defeated Classic Cliche in the 1997 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot under a nerveless ride from Pat Eddery. He also won a Yorkshire Cup and two Lonsdale Cups at York, where his six career victories also included a head defeat of future Champion Hurdle hero Istabraq. 

Morley's nephew Tom, a successful trainer in the US, said: "This is the horse that started it all for me. He was bred by my uncle Christopher Spence, trained by another uncle in David Morley, and raced by my father [Jake] and Christopher. He was born at Sue and Christopher Spence's stud, and he died there. 

"I was taken out of school on Gold Cup day by my mother and father, who promptly lost me when he won. I had to be taken to the royal box by a member of Prince Khalid Abdullah's security team. But I couldn't have cared less."

Morley added: "I think it was a seriously good generation of stayers, with Classic Cliche, the brothers Double Eclipse and Double Trigger, as well as Persian Punch. For Pat to track Classic Cliche through as the horse to beat and then basically take a pull with a furlong to run, that was something else.

"Willie Carson rode him until he retired and there were many discussions as to who should take over because he was very difficult to get it right on. When Willie was asked his opinion, he just said, 'Pat'. And that was that. 

"John Dunlop took over the training when my uncle died. I'm now sitting in my office at Belmont Park looking at Celeric's Cartier Stayers' Award, which was on my father's desk until he died earlier this year."

Christopher Spence's son Johnno paid tribute to the work of Mandy Simms, who helped foal Celeric at his parents' Chieveley Manor Stud and looked after him right up until his death.

He said: "He came back home to where he was born and has been out with Here Comes When for the last couple of years since his retirement. Mandy brought him into this world and has been with us for 40 years. 

Celeric and Pat Eddery (green) win the 1999 Lonsdale Cup at YorkCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Dad used to love looking out and seeing him every day and often would go out to watch him. He was a bit of a monkey and he wasn't the biggest fan of other men. I used to dread being asked to lead him out if Mandy was away."

Recalling Celeric's dramatic success at Ascot in 1997, Spence said: "Both Dad and my uncle were awake at four in the morning listening to the rain pound down. David said he didn't think they should run and Dad was adamant that they'd got to the day and that class horses go on any ground. The rest is history.

"It was Dad's dream to breed a Gold Cup winner and with just two mares on the farm, it was a pretty astonishing effort. It's amazing how many people followed Celeric and I think, maybe because he was quite quirky, he was a bit of a legend."