Hurricane Run Is The 2005 Cartier Horse Of The Year

Hurricane Run, winner of five races this year including the Budweiser Irish Derby and the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe, was named Horse Of The Year at the 2005 Cartier Racing Awards, which were presented at the Four Seasons Hotel in London´s West End on the evening of Wednesday, November 16.

The three-year-old star of Montjeu´s outstanding first crop, who is trained in France by Andre Fabre, defeated the cream of Europe´s middle-distance performers with a brilliant performance in the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 2.

Earlier in the campaign he captured the Budweiser Irish Derby after just failing to catch Shamardal in the Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) at Chantilly. He remains in training for 2006 and will be a formidable force in the world´s best middle-distance races.

He took the Cartier Horse of the Year Award from Azamour, Divine Proportions, Shamardal and Westerner.

Hurricane Run also won the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt Award, coming ahead of Dubawi, Motivator, Scorpion and Shamardal.

Azamour is the Cartier Older Horse of the Year for 2005. Owned by the Aga Khan and trained by John Oxx in Ireland, the son of Night Shift put up exemplary performances to win the Prince of Wales´s Stakes at Royal Ascot at York and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Newbury before running a brave race in defeat when third in the Breeders´ Cup Turf at Belmont Park, USA. The other nominees in this category were Alcazar, Alexander Goldrun, Starcraft and Westerner.

Divine Proportions, last year´s Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly, gained the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award this time around.

The Niarchos Family´s amazing performer, trained in France by Pascal Bary, continued to thrive in 2005, landing two French Classics, the Poule d´Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) and the Prix de Diane (French Oaks), as well as the Group One Prix d´Astarte at Deauville before her career came to a premature end when she sustained a tendon injury in the Prix Jacques Le Marois. Her rivals in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly Award were Eswarah, Maids Causeway, Shawanda and Virginia Waters.

For the second year in succession, the Wildenstein Family´s Westerner gains the Cartier Stayer Award, finishing ahead of Alcazar, Distinction, Millenary and Reefscape. The highlight of his season was a magnificent victory in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot at York, while he also put up one of the greatest performances of the year when second to Hurricane Run in the Prix de l´Arc de Triomphe.

Avonbridge saw off strong competition from Cape Of Good Hope, Goodricke, La Cucaracha and Pastoral Pursuits to take the Cartier Sprinter Award of 2005. Roger Charlton´s charge finished the season and his career with a magnificent victory in the Group One Prix de l´Abbaye at Longchamp.

Ireland´s champion trainer Aidan O´Brien won both Cartier Awards for Two-Year-Olds categories.

George Washington, a dual Group One winner at the Curragh, beat off competition from Amadeus Wolf, stablemate Horatio Nelson, Red Clubs and Sir Percy to be named Cartier Two- Year-Old Colt while in the race for Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly, Group One Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Rumplestiltskin came out ahead of Donna Blini, Flashy Wings, Nannina and Silca´s Sister.

The eight horse awards were decided by a carefully structured combination of points achieved in Pattern races, the views of racing journalists on Cartier´s Racing Panel, and votes from readers of Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph. The Pattern races count towards 40 per cent of the total, with the Cartier Racing Panel´s deliberations also having a 40 per cent share and the votes of the newspaper readers making up the final 20 per cent.

Cartier´s Racing Panel consisted of Brough Scott (Racing Post & Sunday Telegraph), Graham Dench (Racing Post), Julian Muscat (Times), Colin Mackenzie (Daily Mail) and Richard Evans (Daily Telegraph).