'It was almost too much to dream about - the newspapers were going mad'

Celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee were in full swing in June 1977 with street parties across Britain – and there were also legitimate hopes of a royal Classic success at Epsom with the Pretty Polly Stakes winner Dunfermline in the Oaks. Running in an era when aristocratic owner-breeders held more sway than nowadays, the homebred daughter of 1967 Derby winner Royal Palace was trained by the legendary Dick Hern and ridden by his new stable jockey Willie Carson.

The build-up

The Queen had won the Oaks in 1957 with Carrozza but the potential significance of a royal victory in the year of the Silver Jubilee was lost on nobody – not least jockey Willie Carson, who also had personal reasons for dreaming of Epsom success in his first season at West Ilsley following the unexpected removal of the popular Joe Mercer.

Willie Carson My career went slowly in the early days – I’d been no boy wonder. It was my first year with Dick Hern and it was a big step up for me, riding for all the great owner-breeders. I was under the impression certain people didn’t think I was good enough for the job. Don’t forget I was a lightweight and, although I had been champion jockey twice, I rode mainly in the north. I wasn’t really regarded as top class then and this was among the best three jobs in the country.

Brian Procter, senior work-rider (speaking in 2012) The Major and Mrs Hern were always absolutely first class with me – you couldn’t ask for a better man to work for. He always knew his Classic horses and he was probably thinking about the Oaks for Dunfermline early in her two-year-old days. He always knew where he was going – nobody else could get a horse to a Classic spot-on like him and when he had a Classic horse he always followed the same path, so it was the traditional route in the Pretty Polly and the Oaks. He kept to a system that worked for him.

Carson She was obviously a filly of ability but you didn’t get excited when you rode her as she wasn’t a brilliant worker by any means. She was a stayer, that was the thing about her, and she wasn’t guaranteed to catch everybody’s eye, but Dick was very happy with her in the Pretty Polly. I must admit I was over the moon just to ride a Pretty Polly winner for the Queen at that stage.

Procter What we saw of her we liked before the Pretty Polly and after that we were pretty sure she was an Oaks filly. She just kept on improving, that was the thing about her. There was a definite buzz, what with it being Jubilee year and everything.

Carson It was almost too much to dream about – the newspapers were going mad about the Silver Jubilee that week and as it was my first year in the job there was a degree of pressure there. You just try to put it out of your mind but it was there and I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, it might happen. The way she was working you’d say we were hopeful without feeling she was nailed on.

The race

Although Dunfermline held solid enough credentials, she faced a well-backed favourite in Robert Sangster’s Durtal, due to be ridden by Lester Piggott. Trainer Barry Hills was dubious about her chances after Piggott reportedly revved her up in a pre-race gallop, but any such concern was to be rendered academic when Durtal was withdrawn after a dramatic pre-race incident. Also heavily involved in the 1977 Oaks was a stylish young Italian trainer named Luca Cumani, who saddled a pair of classy fillies.

Lester Piggott, Durtal’s jockey (from his autobiography) Cantering back past the stands after the parade she was pulling very hard which caused her saddle to slip and I came off. Terrified, she bolted, dragging me behind her with my foot stuck in the stirrup and headed for a fence with concrete uprights. When we hit the upright the impact broke the aluminium stirrup iron, freeing my foot, but Durtal impaled herself on the splintered wood, narrowly missing a main artery. She was eventually caught and calmed down and lived to race again. I was taken back to the ambulance room, where I recovered well enough to ride the winner of the last race – Elland Road, for my brother-in-law Robert Armstrong.

Carson I saw the whole Durtal incident and fortunately I saw Lester get up. I did feel sorry for Barry Hills because he was a pal, but deep down inside I was also thinking there was one fewer for us to beat, the favourite ain’t there anymore.

Luca Cumani, trainer of Freeze The Secret and Vaguely Deb I was in my second year training and we were very lucky to have two good fillies in the yard. Vaguely Deb won the Wood Ditton and was second in the Musidora, while Freeze The Secret had won the Nell Gwyn and was second in the Guineas. Vaguely Deb was a strong stayer and she kicked on early in the straight and got a lead – two, three, four lengths. But if I have one regret it is that Frankie’s father Gianfranco Dettori on Freeze The Secret chased after her too early and Dunfermline caught her in the final furlong. There is no doubt the strongest stayer won.

Carson I didn’t really get into a panic during the race. I don’t remember it being especially difficult but then again, you probably recall only the good stuff. But we did come three wide down Tattenham Hill and I was thinking if we get beat they’d all say I’d gone too wide. There was nothing flash about Dunfermline but she was honest and eventually she stayed on. She hung left all the way – she hung like a bloody barn door! I was slightly concerned we’d lean into something and bump them and might lose the race, because in those days touch anything and you were out.

Cumani I admit it was galling to finish second and third – hats off to the Queen, I suppose. But, to be brutally honest, I wasn’t as excited as everybody else at the time – when you’re sitting first and second with two furlongs to go at Epsom you have every right to be hopeful. Maybe if it had been the Pope owning the winner I might have been as excited as everybody else!

Procter There was a big buzz before the race and it was even bigger after. Everyone involved with her was over the moon. It couldn’t have happened in a better year.

Carson It was something you dream about – it was unbelievable, a fairytale. The Oaks crowd was pretty sparse in those days and I remember riding up and down the track trying to find a flag but nobody had one. Unfortunately the Queen couldn’t be there but the Queen Mum was very excited: the grin on my face was matched only by the grin on the Queen Mum’s face.

Dunfermline and Willie Carson are led in after a famous Oaks victoryCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

The aftermath

As if winning one Classic in Silver Jubilee year wasn’t enough, Dunfermline repeated the dose in the St Leger, when she inflicted the only career defeat on the subsequent dual Arc winner Alleged. The Hern/Carson partnership went from strength to strength, winning a hatful of Classics. Hern died in 2002; Carson won four Derbys and four Oaks altogether before retiring in 1996 at the age of 54. Brian Procter, who died in 2017, stayed with Hern for the rest of the trainer’s career before taking up a similar role with Godolphin.

Carson There was a hiccup in the Yorkshire Oaks but she was even better in the Leger. What she needed was a strong gallop and plenty of distance – she is the sort of horse who in another year could have won the Gold Cup. Dunfermline was very important for me and made a big difference to my career. The Oaks put any negative thoughts from my mind and from the minds of other people and gave me the confidence I needed for riding all those good horses in the future. The Queen is extremely interested in the breeding side of things so she was highly delighted to breed the best three-year-old filly in her Jubilee year. She was very proud of the fact and if you think about it, it was quite an accomplishment.

This article was originally published in 2012