Why Nijinsky rules supreme as greatest champion of all

After The Telegraph declared the 1970 winner the best Derby horse yesterday, our panel of Clare Balding, Marcus Armytage, Francesca Cumani and Michael Church explain their reasons

The contenders

Clare Balding So the 10 horses we have to choose from have been decided by Timeform ratings and they start with Pinza in 1953, ridden by Sir Gordon Richards, the 28th and last time he rode in it. And of course the Queen’s horse – Aureole – came second, in Coronation year.

Michael Church There were 600,000-700,000 people there that day – including me, crushed in with them all. It was magic.

CB So were you thrilled for Gordon Richards and Pinza or did you want a royal victory?

MC Oh no, I backed Pinza! It was 10-1 and he’d come down to 5-1 by the day of the race.

CB The very following year we had

Never Say Die, the first victory for Lester Piggott. Was he the greatest Derby jockey ever? MC Yes … Fred Archer was good, too, and Steve Donoghue of course. But it’s certainly very close between Lester and Fred. Marcus Armytage That year was probably the template for all his other rides. He was in what became known as the ‘Piggott position’, just in behind the leaders. I should think he based all his Derby rides on Never Say Die.

Francesca Cumani And remember he was a 33-1 shot that day, and probably would have been even longer if Lester hadn’t been riding him. It was the fast pace that day which played into his hands.

CB Now we jump on to Sea Bird in 1965, widely considered to be the greatest Flat racehorse ever.

MC The opposition and the time were not great but he stood out with his elastic stride, and he showed that in the race. It was lovely to watch but I fear the opposition was not strong enough in that race.

CB That’s interesting – I thought Sea Bird would be right up there in your list. So then in 1970, we have Nijinsky and the great Lester Piggott.

MC Nijinsky was really well put together – very sleek, and a very intelligent head. I stood by the rails when he came past in 1970 and he was sweating. He shook himself and the sweat went all over my jacket! It probably added value to the jacket.

CB Well, he won the Triple Crown of 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger, of course. No horse has done it since, and that in itself makes him pretty remarkable, doesn’t it?

MA Yes, he’s high up in my pecking order.

CB The incredible thing is that you have two great Derby winners in successive years, with Mill Reef winning in 1971. He was trained by my father [Ian], who always said that he’d never seen a horse float over the ground like Mill Reef. All that said, he did lose in the 2,000 Guineas to Brigadier Gerard, and I don’t think my father has ever got over it.

MA Yes, how unlucky can you be to bump into Brigadier Gerard at that time.

CB Four years after him, we get Grundy. I’m glad that we have a horse ridden by Pat Eddery in our top 10, because I don’t think he’s ever been as appreciated as others.

FC Grundy is most famous for his duel in the King George with Bustino, who never raced again after that day. It’s a bit of a theme that horses who win these races just give their all.

MC They’re like boxers on the ropes who just keep fighting and fighting.

CB Now into the 1980s, and the most impressive victory – distancewise – of all with Shergar. I thought this horse was such a pin-up – flashy, with that white streak down his face. Then he was ridden by Walter Swinburn who was only 19 and looked about 10. And of course the story of his kidnapping two years later. There’s an aura around him.

MA For a Flat horse, I don’t think it was the greatest field that he beat.

CB How dare you! Glint of Gold was second – he won the Italian Derby!

MC He was the only other horse in that race to have won a Group One race. It was the slowest win since Airborne and half the field shouldn’t have been in the Derby!

CB OK, we’ll come back to Shergar. Right, moving on to the last three in the list. What about Reference Point in 1987 – here we get the chance there to honour Henry Cecil, and jockey Steve Cauthen.

MA Horses who make the running as gallopers have a reputation for not having speed. But that was one of the best Derby rides by anyone, stretching every last sinew.

FC Sometimes you think those sorts of wins are about tactics, but I think he was just a very, very brave horse. To do it from the front is not easy in the Derby.

CB I think if I were to pick one jockey out of them all to ride my Derby horse I would pick Steve Cauthen, which makes me feel very disloyal to Willie Carson! Right, moving on to Generous, who won in 1991.

MA I wrote the book about Generous so I have a vested interest – long out of print, I’m sure. He was a sensational winner, but a lot of the horses behind him were milers, which slightly counts against him.

CB Our last horse of the 10 is Sea the Stars, from 2009. He had star quality, even in his field at home.

FC I love the quote from his jockey, Mick Kinane, that he was going so easily all the way it felt like riding in slow motion.

CB He was always silky smooth. It was like watching Roger Federer serving.

The decision

CB So, going around the table, I think it makes sense for everyone to name their top threes. Marcus, who are you arguing for?

MA My No1 is Sea Bird. Pat Glennon, the Australian who rode him, was only concerned about pulling him up before the rails – you have about a furlong before you go onto the road at Epsom. Glennon was apparently pulling up Sea Bird a furlong and a half before the finish. No2 is Mill Reef…

CB Oh well done, you get a pat on the neck for that.

MA Well, that season he had … he just cruised through the race under Geoff Lewis and picked off the leaders when he wanted to. And my third was Nijinsky, the only horse other than my ponies that I was interested in back when I was a five-year-old.

CB So what about our great Derby historian, Michael?

MC I’m going to throw in a curve ball. My No1 is Pinza. There were some fears about whether he would get around the corner at Epsom, so Gordon Richards had him up there on Coronation Day and took him around the corner. He said it was like riding a camel! So he took him around the course again on the morning of the Derby and that time he went round like a bird.

MA People remember that race for Aureole coming second, but actually Pinza was comfortable.

MC It’s also worth remembering that Fred Darling [his breeder] was terminally ill and couldn’t go to Epsom. He had to listen on the radio. And that was his life’s work completed – he died three days later.

CB Who do you have in second and third?

MC Second I have Nijinsky – I can’t fault him. His owner, Charles Engelhard, one of the richest men in the world, was once asked how he would like to be remembered. And he replied: ‘As the man who owned Nijinsky’. And third is Sea Bird. He was the horse of the century but I have to say that his time was slower than most and the opposition was weaker.

CB And you, Francesca?

FC My No3 is Pinza. Maybe this is the broadcaster in me, but I’m all about the story and the story of Sir Gordon Richards riding the winner at the 28th time of asking was amazing.

MC The crowd that day was astonishing too, like five or six Cup finals all in one place.

MA What racing would give for that kind of crowd now.

FC I also love all the old Pathe footage and the commentator saying, when the jockeys come into the parade ring: ‘And here come the all-important little men with the big responsibility!’ Very funny. Anyway, my No2 is Nijinsky. Vincent O’brien had gone over to Canada to have a look at a horse which he didn’t think was for him. But on that same trip he spotted Nijinsky and he persuaded the guy to sell him for $84,000, a Canadian record at the time. Supposedly they got him back to Ballydoyle and he was very difficult and it took all of Vincent’s skills to harness his ability.

CB So who’s your No1? FC Shergar. You can’t help but be blown away by the manner of his win – the way he led from the front and won by the biggest margin ever. And then the story of what happened to him afterwards…

CB I remember the front pages of all the papers: ‘Derby winner kidnapped’. When I go into schools and talk about horses, I mention the fact that Shergar was kidnapped and all the kids gasp. It was the same feeling for me – I thought my pony was going to be stolen.

FC Maybe not quite the same value! CB No, that’s what my father told me! So we have three different No1s so far – and we’re about to have another. My No3 is Shergar, for all the reasons you say, Francesca; my No2 is Mill Reef.

FC Of course!

CB Well not only because my father would be upset if I didn’t. You forget how famous he was: in 1972, he broke a leg and on Sports Personality that winter they did a live link-up to Dad with Mill Reef, his leg in plaster. My No 1 is Sea the Stars because I just feel that we must now be better at looking after horses, preparing them and understanding them. So, as the most recent one, Sea the Stars must be special.

MA So where does that leave us? CB Well, Shergar won the public popularity vote, so we’re really left with either Shergar or Nijinsky as the No1, and honourable mentions for Pinza, Mill Reef, Sea Bird and Sea the Stars. So how do we vote now? I vote Shergar.

MA Triple crown winner – Nijinsky. CB I vote Nijinsky.

FC And I vote Shergar. CB [Laughs] Two Shergar, two Nijinsky.

FC It’s a dead heat!

CB Good point – there’s only been one in the history of the Derby so this is a historic moment. If we took out third places that would bring Mill Reef into it. That’s not a bad top three, is it? 1 Nijinsky, 2 Shergar, 3 Mill Reef – would we accept that?

FC Hmm, just!

MA If we don’t we might be here until Derby Day itself.

CB Fair enough. So there we have it – Nijinsky is our greatest Derby winner.