Monet's Garden: 'There's only one thing you'll see of him - his backend!'

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: Monet's Garden

It takes a special horse to win a Graded race but a truly great one to win ten. For seven years British jump racing was graced with a stalwart grey named Monet's Garden, who danced over fences and made Aintree his stage.

He proved his brilliance not just as a racehorse, but earned his way into the heart of racing fans with his courageous spirit, a force of will which saw him defy a life-threatening injury and carve a legacy in retirement to enshrine his place in racing history.

While the quality of some horses is only revealed on the track, Monet's Garden lit the imagination of trainer Nicky Richards and owner David Wesley Yates at first sight, nestled away in the corner of a barn in the 2001 Tattersalls Derby sale.

Richards said: "Monet's Garden was right down in the bottom corner of the sales barn and when they brought him out he walked straight up to us and I thought 'wow'. It just hit me straight away. I said to David: 'He'll do the job'."

Bought for £35,000, he moved to Richards' operation at Greystoke Stables in Penrith, where he was backed and taken into the care of Richards' daughter Jo.

He made his race debut as a five-year-old at Ayr and translated a comfortable bumper win into a smooth first hurdling campaign, striking at Kelso and Carlisle before finishing second in the Mersey Novices' Hurdle – the beginning of a love affair with Aintree that would serve him for the rest of his life.

"He was a horse that always had a bit about him, right from the start," Richards said. "The first time he ran in that bumper, I just got the feeling when I was saddling him up that he was as big a certainty as I've ever had.

"It still puts a lump in my throat. We all knew what he was. He was a future top-class horse and he went on to prove it."

Monet's Garden and Tony Dobbin win the 2004 Grade 2 Ascot HurdleCredit: George Selwyn

Monet's Garden stayed over hurdles for one more season, opening his account with victory in the Ascot Hurdle – run that year at Windsor – and concluding with a winning return to Aintree in the Long Distance Hurdle, snatching victory by a length over the Peter Bowen-trained Mr Ed.

Chasing had long been the aim for the son of Roselier and Richards set his earnest grey out over fences for the first time at Ayr in November 2005. He was sent off odds-on favourite and satisfied punters' expectations with a nine-length romp under Tony Dobbin, the Grand National winning jockey who was the regular partner for Richards' mounts.

Monet's Garden made his Cheltenham Festival debut as an eight-year-old in the Arkle, where he ran home a gallant second to Voy Por Ustedes. He would come back to the festival two more times in the Ryanair but would never better that runner-up finish in 2006.

"He ran a tremendous race in the Arkle and gave 5lbs to Voy Por Ustedes, then about two weeks later they changed the allowance to 3lbs," Richards said. "I was doing a bit of swearing and shouting, I'll tell you. In theory he probably would have won it, but they were two great horses and it was a great race.

"It wasn't to be at Cheltenham but we soon learned Aintree was his track, there was no doubt about it. It was a flat, galloping track that just suited him so well and he loved it."

Richards later discovered that for all Monet's Garden's professionalism, he still had his quirks. His sole bid for the King George – a first start in open company – was doomed before it even began due to the gelding's dislike of being away from home.

"We got away with it the first time he travelled overnight to Windsor," Jo Richards said. "After that he hated being away from home overnight and at Kempton he just didn't eat or drink. You could see it, his coat was dull and the sparkle had gone and you knew your fate already.

"We learnt very quickly that we had a few early starts ahead of us. We would leave at 2am sometimes just to give him enough time to settle before he ran."

Monet's Garden: hated travelling away from his home at Greystoke StablesCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Monet's Garden claimed his first Grade 1 success in February 2007 with a resounding eight-length victory in the Ascot Chase. "We're back to normal service, thank God," Richards said after the win.

Normality for Monet's Garden became extraordinary to others. He claimed the Melling Chase that April, one month after finishing fourth in the Ryanair. While Kauto Star had taken the honours that ill-fated day at Kempton, Monet's Garden got his revenge at the start of the 2007-08 campaign when he held off the challenge of Nicholls' stable star to land the Old Roan Chase.

"I'll never forget when they went past the stands and I saw Ruby [Walsh] was working quietly on Kauto," Richards said. "I just thought to myself: 'There's no way in the world you'll beat my boy now'. Kauto showed what a great horse he was to even get within striking distance."

The win marked Monet's Garden's first success in the Grade 2 contest that soon became synonymous with the gallant chaser. It was also the last Graded win with Dobbin on board, who had partnered Monet's Garden for all 20 of his starts. The pair placed in the Tingle Creek and Ascot Chase that season before finishing fourth in the totesport Bowl. Dobbin retired seven days later.

"Dobbs knew exactly how to ride him and was so underrated. He was brilliant with Monet's Garden, and knew that if you let him have a breather then no one would ever catch him," Richards said.

"Tony had so much to do with him early on, even before he ran. The horse was a wonderful jumper, every lad who ever schooled him always had a smile on their face afterwards, but he was also lucky he had brilliant jockeys riding him too."

Monet's Garden was lightly raced in later years but never showed a decline in ability. He got the better of Betfair Chase winner Snoopy Loopy in the 2008 Peterborough Chase before routing his opposition from the front for a second Old Roan success aged 11 under Barry Geraghty.

"Barry came to me after the win and said he was like poetry in motion," Richards recalls.

His striking colour, decisive race style and faultless jumping garnered him public acclaim and an active following. He became a loved figure at courses and was always ready to welcome a host of visitors to the yard.

"He was the betting shop's favourite horse because you knew you were going to get the run," Richards said. "He was super honest and consistent, and people came from far and wide just to give him a carrot."

"They came from all walks of life to meet him," Jo added. "He'd get cards and Polos sent in the post, it was so sweet. He became a bit of a celebrity but was such a poser. Any time he could show off he lapped it up."

Monet's Garden was at his imperious best once more to land his second Ascot Chase in 2010 and delivered a brave performance in defeat when third in the Melling Chase. Now aged 12, he was still raring to perform on the biggest stage and came back to defend his Old Roan title six months later.

Richards said: "Barry's winning ride on Monet's Garden in the Ascot Chase was brilliant, so when we went back to the Old Roan I phoned him about ten days before the race. I said: 'Are you going to ride the old boy, Barry?' He went quiet and told me he was going to go with the younger horse Poquelin. I said: 'I'll tell you now, Mr Geraghty, there's only one thing you'll see of Monet's Garden and that's his backend,' and I was right."

Monet's Garden made the race his own from the start, a white silhouette set apart in a herd of bays. In 32 starts he never once fell, and while Poquelin, five years his younger, loomed alongside before the last it was Monet's Garden's exceptional jumping that served him once more, edging to a half-length victory that sealed his place in Aintree history with a third Old Roan success.

Monet's Garden proves a class apart from his rivals to land his third Old Roan ChaseCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"Fair play to Barry, straight after the race, before he'd even weighed in, he came over and shook my hand," Richards said.

Unbeknownst at the time, the win was to be the last race of Monet's Garden's career, when a foot infection cut short hopes of another season chasing. What started as a setback quickly morphed into something decisively more serious, and concerns over his race career rapidly spiralled into a battle for his life.

"We thought we were all set for another good year with him but he was just not 100 per cent the day after his race," Richards said. "He started just a little lame and fairly quickly it went downhill. He went to the vets and they couldn't get to the bottom of it, they tried everything.

"He was just getting worse all the time. He was at the vets for 17 weeks, and eventually they called to say that the old boy wasn't getting better, they were going to give him about another ten days, and then we'd have to do the right thing by him.

"I told Joey we better go and say our goodbyes to him, because he might not be here much longer. I remember seeing him stood in the back of the stable with his head on the floor. He wasn't happy at all, it was heart-breaking, so we said our goodbyes and left.

"I had people ringing me up every night telling me they knew how to fix him. I would write everything down, every single suggestion, and tell the vets the next day.

"One was a guy from Stoke-on-Trent, who gave me the number of the Queen Mother's homeopathic doctor. It was bizarre but I rang him up anyway and told him my story and he organised with some stuff to send.

"The medicine arrived and the vet Caroline Blackiston said we might as well try it too because we've nothing to lose. After about three days she called and said: 'I don't know but this horse may be starting to pick up here'. After five days he was over his stable door shouting for food and looking to get out. It was unreal.

"I don't know if it was Caroline's medicine or the homeopathic medicine but he got it three times a day just in case. I promise you, it was a miracle."

With a second chance at life, Monet's Garden took on a new career in showing under the longstanding attention of Jo. He took part in Retraining of Racehorses classes and paraded at Aintree before the Old Roan Chase, which in 2011 was named in his honour.

"In the bad days at the vets you'd never imagine he could go on and do what he did afterwards, but that was him all over," Jo said. "He was one of those top-class horses who knew they were good. That presence came across in his temperament as well, he was beautiful inside and out.

"He loved having a job to do. Showing was his forte because everyone was looking at him. He knew he was a star and loved every minute of it. Every time we paraded at Aintree we went down the chute I could feel him thinking 'here we go again'. He used to love going back there but to his disappointment he'd have to turn back to the stables and away from the track."

Monet's Garden and Jo Richards parade at Aintree in his retirementCredit: Edward Whitaker

In 2016, the 18-year-old was named the Retraining of Racehorses' Horse of the Year. Fittingly, the final was held at Aintree.

Monet's Garden passed away two years later at the fine age of 20. He was celebrated as one of the best jumpers of his generation and tributes poured in from all those connected to him throughout his illustrious career.

"He did a lot of high-class winning at Aintree everyone who went there got a real feeling for the old boy. He always got a great reception," Richards said.

"You need a genuine horse in racing and Monet's Garden was rock solid that way. Even when he got beaten you never had any complaints. The highs and lows with him, you just couldn't write it."

Read more from our Fans' Favourites series:

Martha's Son: 'Put him on a racetrack and he'd find three more gears'

Desert Orchid: 'People thought it was an act of lunacy to run over three miles'

Denman: 'He could pick you up and chuck you out the box or take your arm off'

Looks Like Trouble: 'When he started to deliver he was damn-near invincible'

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