Blast From The Past: Ebor

‘It is a safe bet that there was no more universally popular victory all season than Sea Pigeon’s record-breaking performance in the Tote-sponsored Ebor Handicap at York’s August meeting; the Ebor, worth £17,270 to the winner in 1979, is one of the season’s most competitive handicaps and Sea Pigeon gave probably the best performance of his career on the flat to win it with ten stone in the saddle, surpassing the previous weight-carrying record for the race this century set up by Gladness who carried 9-7 in 1958.’

So began the essay on the then nine-year-old Sea Pigeon in Racehorses of 1979. Why so popular? His essay went on to explain…

‘Sea Pigeon has been the outstanding staying handicapper in training in the two most recent seasons and many a racecourse manager and sponsor must have been gladdened to see his name among the acceptors for one of their races. Sea Pigeon is one of racing’s greatest assets; in showbusiness terms he is a star, a horse that the racing public, particularly in the North [he was trained for most of his career in Yorkshire by Peter Easterby], have taken to their hearts. Sea Pigeon has helped earn his place as one of the most popular racehorses of the decade by successfully combining a career over jumps with his arduous programme on the flat.’

Despite his veteran status by then, remarkably, Sea Pigeon’s biggest days were still ahead of him as he went on to win the Champion Hurdle twice, ensuring a unique place in racing history. ‘He leaves behind a racing record as a dual-purpose horse that may never be surpassed’ said Racehorses’ sister annual Chasers & Hurdlers on his retirement.

Sea Pigeon’s big weight in the Ebor at least meant that he could be ridden by his regular rider over hurdles Jonjo O’Neill, though he’d broken three toes in his left foot when colliding with a running rail in a race the previous week. The entry in his medical book didn’t specify which foot he’d injured, so he passed the course doctor by presenting his uninjured foot for inspection. ‘If the doctor had insisted on inspecting my left foot he would not have let me ride for weeks’ said O’Neill in his autobiography.

Talented though he was, Sea Pigeon was a tricky ride with a tendency to idle on hitting the front, and that very nearly proved costly in the Ebor – ‘undoubtedly one of the highlights of the 1979 flat-racing season’ - as Racehorses recounted:

‘Conceding weight all round to sixteen rivals whose average age was less than half his own, Sea Pigeon looked like winning comfortably when he swept into the lead a furlong out. But the race was almost thrown away in the last few strides as his rider – leading jump jockey O’Neill who is Sea Pigeon’s regular partner over hurdles – dropped his hands, an action which earned him a warning from the stewards. Sea Pigeon had only the narrowest margin to spare at the post over the three-year-old Donegal Prince, who was in receipt of 40 lb including his rider’s allowance.’