Sir Ivor

Sir Ivor was the perfect racehorse. His ideal distance was 10furlongs but ridden by the maestro Lester he could last 12 with the right going.His performances in the Guineas and derby were truly remarkable.I agree his win in the washington International seemed to be his only other great race,however his run behind Royal Palace was pretty special as he was worse at weight for age at that time of year to a Great Derby winner.his race in the arc having been held up in training was also special only losing to the great Vaguely Noble. Lester was confident he could swoop on the day but in a testing arc could not make up the ground.A horse with remarkable acceleration is still exciting to watch. At Newmarket last saturday I saw the next superstar Frankel

Sir Ivor's overall form figures would not appear to suggest that this horse was anything special. However he is a dual classic winner having won the English 2000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby. Later in the season Sir Ivor was second to Vaguely Noble in the Prix de l'arc de Triomphe in Paris and then won the Champion Stakes at Newmarket and travelled over to the United States where he defeated the home contingent in the Washington DC International at Laurel Park.

I could not envisage Sir Ivor ever being beaten after he had swept past Connaught in the 1968 Epsom Derby,but he seemed to lose his form and I don't believe we saw the real Sir Ivor again until  he contested the Washington DC  International at Laurel Park where he produced his devastating turn of foot to thrash the best America had to offer. At his best Sir Ivor wasn't far short of top class.

Sir Ivor was a truly great racehorse who won top class races at 2 and 3 in four countries and two continents. He was trained in Ireland by the greatest trainer of all time, Vincent O'Brien.

Vincent O'Brien said that the two best colts he ever trained were Nijinsky and Sir Ivor. Like Lester Piggott, he said Sir Ivor was the toughest of the two, but for sheer natural racing ability and brilliance, he said Nijinsky was the one. Sir Ivor, like Nijinsky, was ridden by O'Brien's stable jockey, Liam Ward, when raced in Ireland and by Piggott elsewhere. Ironically, after winning both the 2,000gns and Derby on the Raymond Guest owned American bred horse, Piggott rode Ribero to beat Sir Ivor in the Irish Derby. Piggott once again took the reins when contesting the mile and a quarter Eclipse stakes at Sandown, but was beaten into third place by the previous year's Derby winner, Royal Palace. His next target was the Prix De L'Arc De Triomphe in Paris, where he would meet the might Vaguely Noble. Beforehand, he was given a prep race in France, in which he was again defeated. Vaguley Noble proved too classy for Sir Ivor in the 'Arc' and was soundly beaten - admittedly by one of the be... Read more

i couldnt understand half the words yous asayin!!gohl dont be such a redneck!!!im mean a blueneck!!no,no, a redneck!!how bout yellow or better yet the colors of gain!! bye p.s.you aint fresh azimiz!!!!craka

The most underrated racehorse of the post war years.This star had devastating finishing speed combined with toughness as he displayed in the 1968 Wasington Internatinal after a very hard season,when he became the only horse ever to win the 2000 Guineas,Epsom Derby and Washington International.He had to face some of finest horses of his day like Vaguely Noble, Petingo,Fort Marcy,Royal Palace etc.He always showed an amazing finishing burst winning races coming off the pace like in the 20000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby but was not a true stayer.Lester Piggott rates him the best horse he ever rode,even ahead of Nijinsky who in his opinion did not have Sir Ivor's character.His best distance was at 10 furlongs where he would have given the greatest champions a run for their money.The timeform rating of 135 awarded to him was an insult to his true greatness.To me he was just one notch below the Mill Reefs Sea Bird's and Nijinskys!

He had excellent finishing speed but would not hold a candle to the speed of Dancing Brave.