Royal Ascot Memories: Canford Cliffs

There are many ways to spend money in the hope of tasting some form of Royal Ascot success, but for a priceless moment in one of the prestige events for three years in a row, it cost just £50,000 to buy Canford Cliffs (Ire) (Tagula {Ire) at Doncaster's St Leger sale as a yearling.

Canford Cliffs, bought by Peter Doyle for trainer Richard Hannon and a family syndicate headed by food processing multimillionaire Robin Heffer, hit the Royal meeting first as a juvenile in 2009 with an apparently colossal reputation from the Hannon gallops allied with an impressive maiden win at Newbury that saw him sent off the 7-4 favourite for the G2 Coventry S. On a day which had seen Hannon and jockey Richard Hughes already clinch the G1 Queen Anne S. with Paco Boy (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}), it was the six-length demolition of Xtension (Ire) (Xaar {GB}) by the younger stablemate which was to live even longer in the memory.

“I'd ridden him most days and the lads at home had all backed him for the Coventry before he had even run, that's how good they thought he was,” recalled Hughes.

“I thought he was a certainty that day. He was so keen and was actually running away with me at halfway and he still won easily, it was an amazing performance. I actually thought he was the best horse I had ridden even then.”

Hannon added, “He could run fast, that's for sure. He did a bit of work one morning early on and Hughesie said to me 'this is something different.' I listened to Hughesie and we were pretty confident going into that Coventry.”

Hannon's son Richard jnr, who took over the reigns at the family's Wiltshire headquarters in 2014, was assistant in the Canford Cliffs days.

“I think the Coventry was my favourite of his races,” he said. “It was just 'bang' out the stalls and he never saw another horse.”

It took Canford Cliffs the best part of a year to register another win. He had lost his unbeaten record in the G1 Prix Morny and was beaten in both the G3 Greenham S. and the G1 2000 Guineas. Ample consolation was provided by a handsome victory in the Irish equivalent and he was back to his strong-travelling best back at Ascot in the 2010 St James's Palace S., running down stablemate Dick Turpin (Ire) (Arakan) just before the line.

“He'd been to The Curragh and duly won but I suppose he still had to go and do it again against the likes of Makfi after the Guineas,” said Hughes. “I knew it wasn't going to be that easy going on the round course as you need to try to get some cover. It was a pretty good performance beating Dick Turpin, especially as he had lost a shoe on the home bend. He was just full of speed, he'd have won a July Cup if he'd run there. There was nothing that could go with him at the yard.”

Two more Group 1s had been added in as many races, the 2010 Sussex S. at Goodwood and the Lockinge S. at Newbury in the spring of 2011 before Canford Cliffs was back at Ascot. By the time of the Queen Anne, Coolmore partners had also bought into the colt.

He was to deliver perhaps his best effort on the form book to open the Royal meeting with Hughes oozing confidence through the first three-quarters of a mile. This time, though, the record-breaking Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) was the obstacle in his path. Hughes sat on the shoulder of the French mare and Canford Cliffs had to dig deep to get past her entering the final furlong.

The winning margin was a length but the talking point afterwards was that Goldikova's jockey Olivier Peslier had weighed in 2lb overweight, having put up extra on the scales and also changed his riding boots in error.

“When we beat Goldikova, people were talking about Olivier putting up overweight, but I still think I'd have won,” said Hughes. “The problem with Canford Cliffs was he was very, very brilliant but you wouldn't have wanted to get into a slog with him. You just had to get him in the position you needed, follow the right horse and he'd just go. You just had to beat what was in front of him.”

Hannon sent out quicksilver sprinting champions such as Lyric Fantasy (Ire) and Mr Brooks (GB) and two dual Classic winners Tirol (GB) and Don't Forget Me (Ire) in a career stretching over 40 years. Canford Cliffs clearly ranks high in his personal standings.

“That Queen Anne was really special, it was a hell of a race, and Goldikova was a very good filly,” he said.

“We've had a lot of good horses here over the years that won the Guineas and all that sort of thing. You couldn't necessarily strike him out as the best, but he was definitely one of them. He was just a very, very good horse.”

His son, who has overseen the likes of Queen Anne winner Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Guineas and Lockinge hero Night Of Thunder (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and will have similar hopes for Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}), also knows his milers.

“We were very lucky to have him in training at four and get to run in the Queen Anne,” he said. “We've had some great fillies and colts here so it's hard to compare them. When Canford Cliffs was at his best and he had his ground, he was unbeatable over a mile.”

Canford Cliffs ran only once more, suffering defeat to Frankel (GB) in the Sussex and also returning with an injury which signaled the end of his career. Into his third season as a stallion, he was standing at Coolmore in 2017 for €10,000.

“I do have one, he'll be a mile-and-a-half horse,” said Hughes, who is now training in Lambourn. “They all seem to be needing a trip, which is a bit strange given what he was.”