Bollin Eric: 'He just had natural ability - he could do anything'

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: Bollin Eric

"It's a wonderful story really," begins Tim Easterby. He's not wrong.

The tale of Bollin Eric's stunning St Leger triumph is one that traverses generations, having began in earnest with a yearling by the name of Bollin Charlotte in the 1960s, and reached its electrifying climax with a stunning first Classic victory for Easterby and longstanding owners Sir Neil and Lady Westbrook in 2002.

The most special horse to all those connected with him, Bollin Eric ensured Easterby forever earned the title of 'Classic-winning trainer' when becoming the first Yorkshire-based horse to triumph in the north's marquee race for 29 years, and not one has followed in his hoofprints since.

The Westbrooks' association with the Easterby family went back to Tim's great uncle Walter and for more than four decades there wasn't a more familiar sight on a northern track than a runner named Bollin hailing from an Easterby yard. The colts would run in the colours of Sir Neil while his wife would represent the fillies, and each came with that Bollin prefix, inspired by the Cheshire river running through their estate.

The association continued through Tim's father Peter before eventually concluding with the now 59-year-old, for whom Bollin Eric provided a pivotal moment in his fledgling training career.

Recounting the family history and his own role in the discovery of Bollin Eric, Easterby says: "The Westbrooks were wonderful people to train for and Lady Westbrook really loved her horses. My dad's uncle Walter started them off with a horse called Bollin Charlie and then they had a mare called Bollin Charlotte, that Walter also trained. When he retired she came to my father, and she bred a lot of the Bollins that followed.

Kevin Darley celebrates on Bollin Eric as they cross the line in the 2002 St LegerCredit: Mark Cranham

"That wasn't Bollin Eric's family, though. He came about after I went to the sales with the Westbooks at Goffs in Ireland and we bought his dam as a yearling called Bollin Zola, who was from the first crop of Alzao.

"They never used to buy yearlings for years, they only bred them, but Sir Neil really fancied Alzao for some reason so we went over and bought her. She was a very good filly as a racehorse, but she could be a bit of a bitch. She won a few nice races and she could really step on the gas, but she'd have no trouble chasing you out the box.

"The first one Bollin Zola bred was a filly by Chillibang called Bollin Mary, and she was the same – an absolute bitch. As soon as she was born, she stood up and went for the stud groom and we thought she's going to cause us some trouble as a broodmare."

It turned out there was little need to worry, as Bollin Eric inherited none of the aggressive traits of his mother and seemed destined for great things from the beginning.

"Bollin Eric came along, he was by Shaamit, and he was the most gorgeous foal," Easterby continues. "He was an absolutely outstanding yearling, just a lovely, lovely horse.

"I always remember him as a two-year-old and he could lead the string even then. He was a superstar. Straight away we knew how good he was. He showed us a nice bit of ability as a juvenile but he just took his time to win."

Bollin Eric: a first and only Classic winner for owners Sir Neil and Lady Westbrook

After starting his career with a third over six furlongs at where else but Doncaster, Bollin Eric gave a sign of things to come as he steadily improved upped in trip and struck twice over a mile towards the back end of the season, including when kicking off St Leger week in 2001 with victory in the valuable Ralph Raper Memorial Prince of Wales Cup.

Easterby and the Westbrooks had their eye on a Classic, but it was the Derby rather than the St Leger that initially piqued their interest and Bollin Eric was a more than creditable runner-up in the Dante on his second start as a three-year-old.

As is horseracing's wont, plans are always subject to change.

"He came out as a three-year-old and he really did tremendously well. The Derby was the first plan but we skipped it as we didn't think he was ready, which was a big decision to make," Easterby says.

"We trained him hard for the Leger after that but we made sure we kept a bit under the locker. He wasn't very difficult to work out because he galloped and he could stay, but he was fast too. I remember we worked him with Somnus on a six-furlong uphill gallop and he worked better than him, and Somnus was champion sprinter. He had it all, he was a really, really top horse."

"Eventually we got to the Great Voltigeur. Kieren Fallon rode him that day and he ran a hell of a race. He wanted to ride him in the St Leger and he really fancied him but he had other commitments."

It was all steam ahead to Doncaster and confidence was high. Bollin Eric may not have won yet as a three-year-old – and was a beaten odds-on favourite in Haydock's Listed July Trophy – but a trio of top efforts in Group 2 company had left him ideally prepared on his quest to become the first Yorkshire Leger winner since Peleid in 1973.

Kevin Darley and Tim Easterby gleefully confer after winning the St Leger

Fallon's misfortune was to the benefit of 2000 champion jockey Kevin Darley, who regained the ride having previously steered Bollin Eric in his first two efforts and to second in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. For all his achievements, Darley had yet to ride a Classic winner. Another first for Bollin Eric to tick off on what Easterby refers to as "D-Day".

Asked for his memories of the day, Easterby says: "I remember walking across the track with my wife, Sarah, and her heels were going in nicely on the track. She said 'this is good ground' because I think it had been a dry year with fast ground everywhere, and he liked to have just that little bit of juice in it. We were ticking all the boxes."

Bollin Eric was sent off at odds of 7-1 behind the more fancied Bandari, owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and Balakheri, trained by Sir Michael Stoute. With plenty of speed in the tank, the plan was to wait as long as possible, but Easterby's nerves became shredded as Darley struck the front two furlongs out.

"I remember he kicked a long way out and I wasn't very happy with that," the trainer admits. "I was very worried about how far he'd kicked as that wasn't the plan. But he did it and put the race to bed and what a wonderful feeling it was. It was very important for me – it's what every trainer wants to do.

"It's pretty special the fact he was bred in Yorkshire as well and the reception he got was incredible."

The joy Easterby was feeling was nothing compared to the pride of the Westbrooks, who until then had never even had a Classic runner, let alone a winner, and particularly for Lady Westbrook who was in ill health at the time and would pass away two years later.

"He was the pinnacle for them," says Easterby. "It was the stuff of dreams for them to have bred him. Lady Westbrook had a heart condition by that point and was quite ill, but she made it to the Leger. It was difficult for her and she was quite out of breath, but she was there. What a fantastic day it was for them.

"There was a lot of relief. The scenes around us were fantastic. We had a few drinks somewhere but just the usual thing – it was up early the next morning and back to the normal grind."

The story was not over yet though, and Bollin Eric returned as a four-year-old with Cup races in his sights. However, the Yorkshire Cup came and went without success and such was the pace he possessed he went back down to a mile and a half for his next three outings to test himself against the best middle-distancers.

A neck second in the Hardwicke and two fourths in the Princess of Wales's and King George gave scant reward for some excellent efforts, and it was not until he was back in the north for York's Lonsdale Stakes (now Lonsdale Cup) that he would triumph for the only the second time since his juvenile days.

The 1s in the column may not have been as frequent as some of his contemporaries, but he sure knew how to pick his moments to bring the house down as he quickened away nicely from Cover Up at his first and only attempt at two miles.

"I'd been keen to try him over that trip and what another wonderful day that was," says Easterby. "He just had natural ability – he could do anything."

After failing to back up in the Irish St Leger in September, after which it was announced he would be retiring to stud after one last hurrah in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

"I was a bit disappointed when they retired him to be honest," says Easterby. "He could have raced on until he was seven or eight. He was a very healthy horse too. I can't recall him ever having a sore shin or a snotty nose or anything.

"He just had that constitution and it was something that was built in him, like Mo Farah. But Lady Westbrook retired him to stud as she wanted to see his foals, and I think she did actually manage that before she passed away. She enjoyed racing them, but she liked the breeding side best and it was her dream to see these foals. The Arc was a last hurrah."

On bottomless ground, Bollin Eric could only manage eighth at Longchamp – the first time he had finished outside the first four in his 18-race career – and that was that.

His stud career produced a decent collection of winners on the Flat and over jumps – including 15 more Bollins – but none with the star power or ability of their sire, who passed away at the age of 21 last January.

Reflecting on his overriding memories of Bollin Eric, Easterby finishes by saying: "He was just a blooming good horse who could really gallop, he was a dream at home and a wonderful horse to train. There was not a quirk at all, not even a hint of one. He was good in the stalls, he could travel, he ate fine.

"He was sound, classy and had a fantastic temperament. He's one of the best, definitely."

Read more from our Fans' Favourites series:

Quiet Reflection: 'It poured down but we didn't care as she destroyed them'

Celerity: 'I heard the crowd and I just couldn't watch, so I turned around'

Alpha Delphini: 'I asked them to stick me 50 quid each-way on that morning

Euchen Glen: adrenaline junkie whose trainer thinks is Group 1 class

Canford Cliffs: 'He was one of the best racehorses in the last 50 years'

Taghrooda: 'She turned towards the stands and everyone was going absolutely mad'

Kingman: 'There are some in the camp who think he'd have beaten Frankel'

Brando: 'Kevin always maintained he was going to turn into a right beast'

Tropics: 'I saw something that day I hadn't seen much – he worked like a train'

Sole Power: 'He wasn't your normal horse – he was more box office than that'

Lord Glitters: the 'phenomenal' horse who likes to get into a bit of trouble

Cockney Rebel: the dual Guineas winner who proved a life-changer

The Weekender is out every Wednesday and is available at all good stores. You can also download the edition from 9pm on Tuesday evening