'I felt the connection to my grandparents, the past and all those memorable racedays - I've never felt happier'

While Frankel has come out on top, the process of finding the People’s Champion saw thousands of readers nominate hundreds of different horses . . .

Rainbow Quest: 'I was bursting with pride'

Picture the scene: a warm afternoon in late August 1983 and a taxi drives from Newmarket train station to the July course.

As a young boy, I was already hooked on racing, knew the form book and was having the third trip of my life to the races, having already seen Teenoso make an undistinguished debut at the same meeting a year earlier.

With my grandparents, who fuelled my passion for racing, conversation in the taxi turned to the day's action. "Who's going to win?" asked the driver.

My excitement was focused on seeing Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery ride for the first time, with Pat in the famous Khalid Abdullah silks in the first. I'd loved those iconic silks (and still do) since Known Fact had carried them to win the 1980 2,000 Guineas and QEII, so my fascination in the opening race was drawn to Rainbow Quest, an unraced son of Blushing Groom trained by Jeremy Tree.

That was the name I offered to the taxi driver and I think his odds were 8-1 in a big field of juveniles. Lester rode the hot favourite, but Rainbow Quest came through smoothly to win in the style of a smart horse.

It was a special summer. Horses of the calibre of Chief Singer, Elegant Air, Vacarme, Superlative, Trojan Fen, Lear Fan and Rousillon were already causing excitement. When Elegant Air was beaten by El Gran Senor, Vincent O'Brien's latest superstar, it added further intrigue.

El Gran Senor would beat Rainbow Quest in the Dewhurst and it had the feel of a significant race for the future, so during that long winter I waited to see Rainbow Quest back in action while dreaming of Guineas glory. For the first time I understood how long Classic hopes and dreams ferment and the spring could not come soon enough. 

In the end Rainbow Quest was a fine fourth to El Gran Senor in the Guineas, and 1984 would prove frustrating, but I followed Rainbow Quest's career and he danced every dance, save for the Derby, which I swear he would have won had he not gone to Chantilly for the Prix du Jockey Club, when a close third to Darshaan and Sadler's Wells.

He stayed in training in 1985, locking horns with two brilliant fillies in Pebbles and Oh So Sharp. His Coronation Cup success under Eddery is one of the easiest Group 1 victories you will ever see, but he saved the best until last. 

Rainbow Quest (near) was awarded the 1985 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the stewards' roomCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

The 1985 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was controversial as Sagace passed the post narrowly ahead of Rainbow Quest, who had been bumped on the home turn and in the straight and was then awarded the race. I was bursting with pride at Rainbow Quest's run, and to now win was almost too much for me! The first Arc winner I had seen – and in a race which had seemed impossible to win for British horses. Yet my boy had been the horse to end that run.

Rainbow Quest was retired to stud and became the first stallion to stand at Banstead Manor for Prince Khalid. From his first crop, Quest For Fame won the Derby, Knight's Baroness captured the Irish Oaks and Saumarez landed the Arc, like his father. Again, I was just left bursting with pride.

Rainbow Quest became the gift that kept giving. He had educated me on big races, and later bloodstock. He continued to excel.

In 2005 I wrote to Banstead Manor and, unbelievably, I was invited to visit Rainbow Quest, then aged 24. I got to pet him and feed him Polos and I felt the connection to my grandparents, to the past and all those memorable racedays. I don't think I have ever felt happier in my life.
Andrew Pelis

Flyingbolt: 'There's a mystique with him'

Flyingbolt was the greatest, most versatile and toughest steeplechaser of all time. He beat the same horses as Arkle, giving more weight and by further: Scottish Memories, Height O'Fashion, Flying Wild . . .

His form dropped off after contracting brucellosis, but at his best he was quicker and (marginally) classier than Arkle. Opinion in the Tom Dreaper stable was divided, but several who rode both horses said Flyingbolt was superior.

Flyingbolt: a brute of a horseCredit: Getty Images

He was a giant, a brute of a horse, according to those who looked after him. Only a hard nut could win a Queen Mother Champion Chase and then compete in another championship race, in a different code the next day. Experts said with a better ride he would have won the 1966 Champion Hurdle.

There's a mystique with Flyingbolt. What if he hadn't got sick? What if he'd received a better ride in the Champion Hurdle? What if he and Arkle had met in a Gold Cup?

Due to his status as underdog to 'Himself' on ratings and reputation he'll never get the fame he deserves, but he’s my number one.
Jon Bentley

Crisp: 'We love a loser'

Crisp wasn’t the greatest racehorse in the world, but surely the most magnificent loser. And we racing fans dearly love a loser. What else can we do?

Crisp and Richard Pitman clear Becher's Brook on the second circuit of the 1973 Grand NationalCredit: Gerry Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Whenever I watch the replay of the 1973 Grand National (which is not often as it makes me too sad), I invariably hope the winning post will arrive before Red Rum does.

It's like always expecting the priest in Romeo and Juliet to get there in time. Never happens.  

But if Crisp had won, it would not have been such an unforgettable moment in racing history.
Patrick O’Gara

Rami: 'I couldn't have been more chuffed'

This choice isn’t difficult, although the reasoning behind it is.

Rami was trained at Seven Barrows by Peter Walwyn. His two-year-old season in 1989 consisted of two late appearances at Newmarket. A promising third was followed by a maiden success in a field of 28. On a visit to the Lambourn Open Day I made a beeline for him and wasn’t disappointed as he was a gorgeous colt. My favourite trainer was so welcoming and willing to chat away about his inmates.

Rami began 1990 with high hopes and was a short-priced favourite for the Greenham, finishing third before he was midfield in the 2,000 Guineas. For his next outing I popped to Lingfield to watch him oblige at 1-10, and I couldn’t have been more chuffed.

He won five races, including a Group 3 when transferred to Dermot Weld, finished second (unluckily, according to Walwyn) to Sikeston in the 1991 Queen Anne and generally performed consistently. He was no superstar, but undoubtedly had ability and did follow up by going to stud.

It is very difficult to explain how I latched on to him. Seeing him in person helped, but he was my People’s Champion and always will be.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to bring him back to me.
Dale Cockroft

Nashwan: 'I took the plunge and got £60 together'

I was told in January 1989 that Dick Hern believed Nashwan to be the best he had ever trained.

At the time I was not earning a great deal, but I took the plunge and got £60 together and had £30 each-way at 33-1 for the Derby.

Nashwan and Willie Carson winning the Derby June 1989 at Epsom

A few months later Nashwan won the 2,000 Guineas, and by the time the Derby came around he was clear favourite.

From two furlongs out there was only one winner as Nashwan under Willie Carson burst through a gap and drew clear to win by five lengths. Happy days!
David Bolsom

Mister Benedictine: 'The wedding had been paid for'

I stayed with Curragh trainer Brendan Duke for Punchestown in May 2012 and accompanied him to the gallops.

On that day he took some of his horses to Walsh's Hill to work with another trainer's string. It was a filthy morning, pouring hard, and as the horses came towards us you could see one had gone clear at the bottom of the hill, leading the other handler to remark: "I think he's been run away with."

When they went past us at the top of the hill that horse was still clear of the rest and Brendan marched off to his car without saying anything, presumably to get out of the rain.

That horse was Mister Benedictine.

When I got into the car, Brendan turned to me and said: "I don't bet, but that horse will pay for my wedding!"

I was travelling on the day of Mister Benedictine's appointed race at Ballinrobe at the end of the month and, not wishing to spoil the price for connections as the horse was owned by Brendan's brother Joseph, I left the train at Birmingham to go around a few betting shops having £20 here and there. The first was at 33-1 in a shop near New Street. I watched the race in the course betting shop at Huntingdon that evening – and they didn't escape either!

He won by six lengths. The wedding had duly been paid for and it's probably not stretching the truth to say just how important to the yard that victory was at the time.

Unfortunately, like a lot of smaller trainers, Brendan is not really fashionable, but let me assure you that given the ammunition he can deliver.

After Mister Benedictine's gallop that morning on Walsh's Hill, Brendan worked a two-year-old called I'm Sheikra and she also went well and he said she would win first time out. A few days later I watched her in my local betting shop and I thought she'd been done on the line by an Aidan O'Brien-trained favourite but, amazingly, she prevailed by a nose.

If only every gallops morning was that good!
Paul Binfield

Spanish Steps: 'I doubt I shall love as strongly again'

I had to go for a walk on Sunday; I had a tough decision to make and not much time to make it. I was being asked to choose which of ‘my children’ is my favourite. Or at least in my heart and mind it felt as momentous.

Halfway around my walk, as I tackled the steep hill out of Southcott Mill, I took the firm decision I would have to choose between my first love and my last. I am 69 years old; I doubt I shall love as strongly again.

My first love was Spanish Steps. I was in the throes of learning the nuances of the sport when he was in his pomp. Strangely, I have no other memory of his Hennessy Gold Cup win in 1969 apart from a short extract of film found on YouTube. I have a failing memory that needs nudging to recall everything of importance from early life, so forgive my use of reference books for details and dates.

Yet I know with absolute certainty that if there was a major Saturday race over fences between 1969 and 1976, Spanish Steps not only featured but won or was placed. He ran in Cheltenham Gold Cups and Grand Nationals, being placed three times, including playing his part in the greatest race ever when fourth to Red Rum in 1973, giving him 22Ib, when the first four beat the previous fastest time for the race.

I will nominate Spanish Steps but that does not mean I love Frodon any less. Bryony Frost’s champion is the last horse I will allow into my heart, but Spanish Steps was the first.
Keith Knight

Unowhatimeanharry: 'It cemented that moment in our memories'

I doubt the mention of any other horse will ever bring the grins Unowhatimeanharry does to a tight group of punting friends.

The brave horse had been downed by Nichols Canyon in the 2017 Stayers’ Hurdle when a short-priced favourite, a dagger in the heart a day after sustaining ante-post and on-the-day losses on Neon Wolf and Douvan.

An annual lads’ trip to the Punchestown festival saw a rematch between Harry and his conqueror and affection for Harry amplified the belief that at four times the odds of Cheltenham he was the bet of the meeting; we decided to pool our money for one large payout.

Unowhatimeanharry claimed revenge over Nichols Canyon in 2017 - to the joy of one group of puntersCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Hearts were in mouths when Noel Fehily turned his mount into the home straight already cajoling Harry while a typically cool, confident Ruby Walsh stalked our boy. What proceeded was one of the gutsiest performances we have seen in the flesh by horse and jockey, and the epitome of the will to win. That bobbing head not only paid for a lively night out in Dublin (less said the better), but cemented the horse and that moment in our memories; in fact one of our party had a table at his wedding reception emblazoned with his name.

The old boy would prove hit and miss in his latter years, but no defeat or victory would make a scratch or better the nostalgia of that day at ‘Punchy’.
Robert McKinlay

Night Nurse: 'He was like lightning'

In bygone days, when health and safety, all-weather racing and the Gambling Commission were alien to this teenage racegoer, my go-to position from the silver ring at Market Rasen was to wander across the course for every race, hurdle or chase, and watch from the final jump.

In August 1974, a three-year-old debutant ran away with division two of the maiden hurdle with a bolt-upright Paddy Broderick in the saddle. They were like lightning over that flight both times around – not what one usually associates with a green newcomer.

The horse was Night Nurse, and the following season he won every top hurdle race under the sun, with a visit to Leopardstown included, to rack up an unbeaten eight out of eight. A year on he landed his second Champion Hurdle, followed by that fantastic Aintree dead-heat with Monksfield. He would eventually shine a light on the jumps scene for the best part of a decade.

A couple of years ago I was on a Racegoers Club visit to the Tim Easterby yard and took the racecard along with me. When I mentioned it, I was told the guv’nor would love to see it and then spent the best part of 15 minutes listening to the great Peter Easterby with his recollection of his wonderful stable star.
David Marshall

Night Nurse won the Champion Hurdle the season after a special debut at Market RasenCredit: Sport and General

Petite Etoile: 'Her defeat still rankles me to this day'

My longstanding interest in racing started as a boy in 1959 and was sparked by the exploits of one horse, Petite Etoile.

In an unbeaten season of six races, she won five which are now Group 1s: the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks, Sussex Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and Champion Stakes. No horse before or since has won all those races in one season. She topped what was then the Free Handicap for three-year-olds above all the colts, and was the first horse to be voted by journalists as Horse of the Year.

Her controversial defeat in the following year’s King George to an inferior in Aggressor still rankles with me to this day, brought about by a combination of circumstances, including dubious tactics by the opposing riders. Still, that cannot take away her status as one of the great mares of all time.

As well as being a champion, there was something truly magical about the way her devastating turn of foot was utilised to maximum effect by the peerless Lester Piggott. They were a match made in heaven.
Graham Walcroft

Shotavodka: 'He really was a good little one'

Asked for my favourite ever racehorse, I did not hesitate for even a millisecond. The answer is Shotavodka. Even his name is appealing.

He was the first racehorse I owned, and I met him in the parade ring at Doncaster. My friend Helen turned to David Pipe and asked why he had bought me such a small horse. David replied: "Jane’s budget stretched to a good little one, but not a good big one!” And he really was a good little one.

Shotavodka brought joy to his owner and her friendsCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Everyone who came across Shotavodka loved him. When his groom Sue Lower won stable person of the year at the McCoys in 2019, she named him as one of the reasons she jumped out of bed in the morning to go to work.

Talking of McCoy, Sir Anthony won twice on Shotavodka and the horse allowed me to meet the champ on many occasions. It’s always fun for anyone to get to know a legend of their sport.

Shotavodka took us to Aintree as owners on Grand National day, another joyful experience, and as he got older and went hunter chasing and point-to-pointing with Heidi Brookshaw, he even ran in the hunter chase at the Cheltenham Festival, when his bravery meant he completed in arduous conditions. We celebrated that day as though we had won the Gold Cup. A brave horse who loved his racing had taken us all to the Cheltenham Festival on Gold Cup day.

When he retired he came home for me to ride. I was nearly 60 years old and my siblings thought I was going to kill myself taking on a feisty ex-racehorse. How wrong they were. Shotavodka again proved what an absolute star he was, and began to love his dressage. Not a day went by that he didn’t make us laugh with his antics. I even won dressage rosettes with him, and three of my middle-aged girlfriends, who had come racing with me many times to see him, were all able to have the thrill of riding him.

He has now crossed over the rainbow bridge to horsey heaven and I bet he is galloping around with a smile on his face, causing havoc and spreading joy wherever he goes.
Jane Gerard-Pearse

Read our features on the five People's Champion finalists here:

'Henry was fighting cancer but that wasn't a detriment to his training of Frankel - it may even have been a positive' 

Denman: they called him The Tank for good reason - and he pushed the boundaries of what we thought possible 

Desert Orchid: so much more than just an astonishing racehorse - he became part of the family too 

Frankel: greatness not in question - but doing it for Sir Henry made it so much more poignant 

Kauto Star: the rock 'n' roll chaser who kept bouncing back to remind the doubters who was king 

Red Rum: the working-class hero who never knew when to quit 

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