Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was an Irish-bred, top-class

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Before he embarked on his jumping career, the horse was failed by a vet on three different examinations. On the last of these, the vet was overheard by young trainer

Vincent O'Brien Michael Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Pos ...

saying that the horse's wind infirmity would not interfere with his racing performance. O'Brien contacted wool merchant Frank Vickerman, who bought the horse to be trained by O'Brien. Cottage Rake ultimately set his trainer on the route to the top of the training ladder by becoming only the second horse to win the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlon ...

three years in a row. He achieved this hat-trick from 1948 to 1950, beating Finnure by ten lengths in the last of these races. His hardest-won triumph had come the previous year when he only got the better of Cool Customer in the final 100 yards. Such was his partnership with jockey Aubrey Brabazon that a verse was composed about their success. Cottage Rake lost his form after his third Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph. He moved over to Gerald Balding's stable in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but the change of scenery did not resurrect his success.

References

* The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing - written by Bill Mooney and George Ennor 1939 racehorse births 1961 racehorse deaths Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Cheltenham Festival winners Thoroughbred family 22-a National Hunt racehorses Racehorses trained in Ireland Racehorses bred in Ireland {{racehorse-stub

See also

References