Past Cartier Winners

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Breeders’ Cup Looks Sure to Shake Up Cartier Standings
01/11/12

The 29th Breeders’ Cup takes place this Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3, at Santa Anita Park, USA, and, with a strong European-trained contingent over the two days, there could well be significant changes in the points standings for the 2012 Cartier Racing Awards.

Excelebration
© Racehorse Photos

Frankel may well have the Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier Older Horse Awards in the bag but a strong showing from either Moonlight Cloud or Excelebration in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Mile could well have an impact on the final standings in both categories. Good performances from St Nicholas Abbey, Treasure Beach or Shareta in the Breeders’ Cup Turf could also change the order in the Cartier Older Horse category.

The Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award looks settled with none of the leading contenders lining up at the Breeders’ Cup, but it is very different in the race for the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award with the current category leader, The Fugue, set to contest Friday’s Grade One Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on . The John Gosden-trained filly is set to be joined by fellow three-year-olds Up, trained by Aidan O’Brien, and Ridasiyna, who hails from the French yard of Mikel Delzangles in the 10-furlong contest.

Fame And Glory
© Caroline Norris

Fame And Glory took the Cartier Stayer Award in 2011 and although he has failed to shine on the track this year, he has a chance of redemption in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon on Friday. Similarly Starspangledbanner, who scooped the 2010 Cartier Sprinter Award, has not shown his old sparkle since going back into training with Aidan O’Brien but has one final chance in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday.

Some good performance from two-year-olds on Friday and Saturday  could shake up the standing in the race for the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly categories. For the fillies Ceiling Kitty (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint) plus Sky Lantern, Flotilla, Waterway Run and The Gold Cheongsam (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf) go to post, while the colts are represented by Artigiano, George Vancouver, Fantastic Moon and Lines Of Battle (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf).

In addition to the Breeders’ Cup, the Emirates Melbourne Cup place at Flemington, Australia, on Tuesday, November 6. There are currently 13 European-trained contenders still engaged in “the race that stops a nation” headed by the previous two winners Americain and Dunaden, who are both based in France and last year’s runner-up Red Cadeaux, who is trained by Ed Dunlop.

The Cartier Awards were established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing. They are determined by points earned by horses in Pattern races throughout 2012, combined at the end of season with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists and votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph.

In addition to eight equine awards, the Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit goes to the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special Cartier Jury, has/have done the most for European racing and/or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months.

European horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars will be presented during a glittering ceremony before an invited audience at London’s Dorchester Hotel on Tuesday, November 13.

Past winners at the Cartier Racing Awards