Big Orange: the Ascot Gold Cup winner who was almost sent over hurdles

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender 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: Big Orange

As Stradivarius strengthened his spot in racing immortality by becoming the winningmost horse of Group races trained in Europe in last Friday’s Yorkshire Cup, it seems prudent to remember another star stayer who captured the public’s imagination with his consistent and brave performances at the marathon trips. That horse was Big Orange.

Owned and bred by the Gredley family, by a five-time Ballydoyle Group 1 winner Duke Of Marmalade and out of the Gredley’s one-time race-winning mare Miss Brown To You, Big Orange’s highly successful four-and-a-half-year career took him and his trainer Michael Bell to three different continents and included two Listed and six wins at Group level, with the pinnacle coming in 2017 in the Ascot Gold Cup.

However, the highlight of the royal meeting was far from the forefront of Bell’s mind when visiting Ed Peate’s pre-training yard at Penny Farm just outside of Newmarket a decade ago.

“He was at a pre-training yard and wasn’t even on the list to look at, this great, big backward type,” the Classic-winning trainer begins. “They thought at that stage he wasn’t going to come into training.

“He was an enormous foal and just kept growing. He was very well named by the Gredleys because of his sire and his size because he was massive. He cantered by and I remember saying to Bill [Gredley] ‘my god that’s a good mover’, so the decision was made to put him into training.”

Michael Bell: enjoyed several memorable days with Big OrangeCredit: Edward Whitaker

Like his sire Duke Of Marmalade, who peaked as a four-year-old when rattling off a Group 1 five-timer with wins in the Prix Ganay, Tattersalls Gold Cup, Prince of Wales’s Stakes, King George and Juddmonte International, Big Orange’s best was to come as an older horse.

Big Orange, who was gelded just over a year before his racecourse debut at Goodwood, ran twice in his juvenile season at the end of 2013 with respectable performances in maidens.

Bell recalls: “He came into training with us in the autumn of his two-year-old career. He had a couple of runs as a juvenile and he always showed a bit of something but obviously because of his size he couldn’t really get it together.

“He was beaten in a maiden at Kempton by a good horse who went on to be a Pattern performer on his first start as a three-year-old. Then he went to Lingfield and won. We had a bit of a scare in the horsebox on the way down as he lost a hind shoe. He was kicking out and managed to dislodge the plate so it was all quite stressful.”

Stressful or not, Big Orange had got the job done and was off the mark at the fourth attempt and, with the form of his Kempton reappearance franked when the winner Romsdal finished third behind Australia in that season’s Derby, the Gredleys made the decision to pitch their strapping gelding up in grade and trip at Royal Ascot, a meeting which would be the scene of his most significant triumph three years later.

Despite being sent off as one of the 33-1 outsiders for the Queen’s Vase on that occasion, Big Orange outran his odds to finish fourth, demonstrating his affinity for Ascot for the first time.

After a breakthrough Listed handicap success against older horses at Chester on his next start, Big Orange returned to the Berkshire track for the Noel Murless Stakes in October 2014.

Big Orange, not for the last time in his career, stuck his neck out in a thrilling three-way finish to secure back-to-back Listed wins under Tom Queally.

Big Orange: was a popular stayer with the publicCredit: Charlie Crowhurst

“He broke the track record that day at Ascot,” says Bell. “I remember they were giving watches out to the winning trainer and that got grabbed by my eldest son! That was a very good ride by Tom Queally, he gave him a peach.”

It was Ascot again for Big Orange’s final start as a three-year-old, where he finished fifth in the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day in his first tilt at a Group race.

His four-year-old career did not get off to the smoothest of starts, below-par showings at Chester and York resulting in the bookies sending Big Orange off at 25-1 for the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket in July 2015.

Bell says: “He had slightly lost his way going into that race. He’d been to York and didn’t run well so we were slightly scratching our heads. He never liked York, I don’t know what it was about the Knavesmire, but he just didn’t take to it for some reason.

“We actually schooled him over hurdles to freshen him up going into the July meeting and he loved jumping, he jumped like a buck. We just wanted to do something different and obviously he thought I’d better pull my finger out otherwise I’ll be going over hurdles.”

Allmankind, who was trained by Bell on the Flat before switching to Dan Skelton, has had success over jumps in the yellow and black Gredley silks in recent years, suggesting that the winter code may have been a feasible option for Big Orange. It was perhaps just as well he emphatically bounced back to form on the July course.

“He won really well that day,” says Bell. “Given his size, you really hoped he’d improve from three to four and obviously he did, and he kept getting better and better.”

Fresh from the Newmarket revival and a first win at Group level, Big Orange lined up in the Goodwood Cup for the first time and was involved in another three-way tussle at the finish, getting the better of 9-2 favourite Quest For More and Trip To Paris, the previous season’s Ascot Gold Cup winner.

Bell says: “There were three of them in line and Trip To Paris obviously comes out of that contest very well because he had a penalty. That race really launched Big Orange because of his character and how he stuck his head out – it was also a great commentary by Richard Hoiles.”

Big Orange ended the year in style with his first globe-trotting adventure when finishing fifth in the 2015 Melbourne Cup won by Michelle Payne aboard 100-1 shot Prince Of Penzance, with the winning rider the first and only female jockey to win the ‘race that stops a nation’.

Bell recalls: “That was a huge run and that whole experience, to be part of that race, is just such a thrill. The Australians do it really, really well. They look after you and make everyone extremely welcome. He ran his heart out, so that was great.”

The following year started with a near miss in a Meydan Group 2 and, after successfully defending his Princess of Wales’s and Goodwood Cup crowns, Big Orange ended his five-year-old campaign with another global tour with races in Australia and Hong Kong.

“I’m very grateful for him to for dragging us round the world,” says Bell.

After a decent run to finish a two-length fourth to Vazirabad in the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan in March, domestic prizes were firmly back on the agenda for Big Orange’s fifth season in training.

First up was a comfortable win in the Group 3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown under Frankie Dettori.

Bell says: “Frankie rode him that day – he is good friends with the Gredleys and was going to be part of the journey.

“He won the Henry II very easily and then went into the Ascot Gold Cup as a major player. We had to miss it the year before because of rain – he was entered but we took him out on the day.

“However, despite the horse being in very good form, Frankie couldn’t ride him.”

Dettori was forced to miss the entire week due to an arm injury sustained in a paddock fall at Yarmouth in the build-up to the royal meeting, with James Doyle drafted in to pick up the plum spare ride.

Turning into the straight, Big Orange had the lead under Doyle, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained odds-on favourite Order Of St George forced to go wide for a clear run for Ryan Moore. The latter, who was later crowned champion stayer for the second year running at the Cartier awards, gained ground all the way up the straight, but Big Orange gamely held on to win by a short head.

Bell says: “That was right up there with my best days on a racecourse, if not my best because it was just such a thrilling race and the Ascot Gold Cup is a race steeped in history, the feature race of the royal fixture which is our biggest meeting.

“It doesn’t get prised away from Ballydoyle very often so to win it with such an amazing race with a horse so close to everyone’s hearts here was very special.”

ITV's Oli Bell runs out on to the track at Ascot to greet Gold Cup winner Big OrangeCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

The reaction of Oli Bell, who was working for ITV, was memorable. The winning trainer’s nephew momentarily forgot his broadcasting duties and sprinted on to the track in sheer jubilation as Big Orange crossed the line. It was a moment that summed up the popular nature of the success.

Bell adds: “James Doyle’s ride was absolutely faultless. He could not have timed it better, and I know Ryan was kicking himself because he got trapped a bit wide and had a lot of ground to make up, but when Order Of St George got to Big Orange, Big Orange found again.

“I think we may well have beaten him even in a slightly different race because Big Orange was absolutely on his A-game that day.

“We also ran Ronald R in the next race for the Gredleys. He finished second in the Britannia and you would normally be distraught about that, especially at Ascot when people only remember the winners, but I remember sort of not really caring.”

With a first Group 1 in the bag, it was on to Goodwood to attempt a record-breaking third successive win in the Goodwood Cup, with John Gosden’s emerging three-year-old Stradivarius an interesting contender in receipt of 13lb from Big Orange, who was sent off 6-4 favourite.

The task proved beyond Big Orange, who was beaten a length and three-quarters in second.

“Well that was very irritating trying to give all that weight to Stradivarius,” says Bell.

“I think it is well documented that Peter Shoemark at ten to 12 looked at the entries for the Goodwood Cup and rang John and said ‘I think we ought to put this horse in the Goodwood Cup’. That is why big operations have someone like that in the racing office, so fair play to Peter Shoemark.

“Stradivarius’s career has just gone from strength to strength so trying to give him that weight that day was, as it turned out, mission impossible.

“When Stradivarius came back into the winner’s enclosure at Goodwood John Gosden came up and apologised to us. Everyone so wanted Big Orange to win, everyone was willing him home, and he still ran a huge race.”

Bill Gredley: owner of top-class stayer Big Orange with son TimCredit: Edward Whitaker

Dettori, who rode Big Orange that day, of course went on to enjoy a plethora of Group 1 successes on board his conquerer that day in Sussex, with Stradivarius taking on the mantle of his predecessor as the public’s star stayer.

After a below-par run on ground much too soft in the Long Distance Cup in October 2017, Big Orange raced only once more when down the field in the Dubai Gold Cup Meydan the following March.

Bell says: “He got a small bit of heat in one of his legs. When you are going round and your head lad comes to us and says ‘we’ve got a problem here’ your heart sinks.

“We gave him the appropriate time off and his leg actually healed extremely well. He was 100 per cent sound and was sort of a bit restless in the paddock so they gave him another go.

“We got him back in again after a year or so after the appropriate rest and tried again. He was never lame, but the leg was just grumbling and clearly wasn’t going to take the rigours of racing at speed over two miles, so the decision was made to retire him.”

Big Orange, now 11, is enjoying his retirement with the Gredleys at their Stetchworth Park Stud in Newmarket.

Bell says: “He’s dipped in and out of the racing museum as a sort of star attraction. I was talking to Mr Gredley snr the other day and he says Big Orange is very happy in his field, he looks great and he’ll have a home for life there.”

Read more from our Fans' Favourites series:

Trueshan: 'He can quicken after a long way and just power away, it's relentless'

Sky Lantern: 'She was always a bit different - very elegant'

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'

Don't miss the Racing Post Royal Ascot Guide 2022. Only £14.99, the 192-page guide is packed with tips and information for the five-day festival of top-class Flat racing, including profiles of the leading horses and the lowdown on the top trainers and jockeys. Order your copy here or call 01933 304858. Use the code ASCOTJUBILEE to get £2 off for a limited period only.