Horse racing greats - Mill Reef
The winner of the Derby and the Prix de lArc de Triomphe, Mill Reef was an exceptional middle-distance racehorse, though his illustrious career was ended prematurely by injury after registering a record six successive Group One wins.
American philanthropist Paul Mellon bred and owned Mill Reef, who was sent to England to be trained by the young trainer Ian Balding at Kingsclere in 1970. By the stallion Never Bend out of the Princequillo mare Milan Mill, Mill Reef was judged to be too long in the pastern to race effectively on dirt in America.
A natural talent, Mill Reef showed his class on the gallops and he duly won on his racecourse debut in the Salisbury Stakes, a race in which Balding had had success before. Ridden by his regular jockey Geoff Lewis, Mill Reef romped home to win by an unextended four lengths.
At Royal Ascot, Mill Reef duly delivered in the Coventry Stakes, making all and stretching clear to an eight length win. He was never put under pressure by his jockey, yet his time was only a fraction outside the track record.
A trip to Deauville for the Prix Robert Papin was next on the agenda, but a wide draw and a rough journey saw Mill Reef beaten. He soon bounced back and the Gimcrack Stakes at Yorks Ebor meeting in August was selected as his next target. Heavy ovenight rain saw the ground come up heavy, and trainer and jockey were reluctant to run, but were overruled by Mellon, who had come to see Mill Reef in action for the first time.
Mill Reef proved his owner right, quickening clear in the final two furlongs to win by ten lengths in one of the most memorable performances of his career. His glorious fluid action saw him forge further and further clear of his rivals, who included the subsequent champion sprinter Green God and Classic winner Kings Company.
Mill Reef was only a narrow winner of the Imperial Stakes at Kempton, before a busy juvenile season concluded with a step up to six furlongs in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. Lewis adopted different tactics here, settling Mill Reef behind the leaders before quickening sharply out of the dip to win going away by four lengths.
The crop of 1968 also included the remarkable Brigadier Gerard and My Swallow, and the three met in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket with Mill Reef sent off favourite after a comfortable warm-up win in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury. My Swallow had been equally impressive in his trail at Kempton, and Brigadier Gerard had sparkled on the gallops at West Ilsey.
In the event the brilliant miler Brigadier Gerard made full use of his finishing speed, scorching clear on the rail to beat Mill Reef, who had raced with My Swallow in the centre of the track, by three lengths.
Mill Reef was the only one of the Guineas principals to hold an entry in the Derby. A question mark remained over his stamina, but Mill Reef showed he was a middle distance horse par excellence, quickening clear from fourth place to beat Linden Tree and the subsequent Irish Derby winner Irish Ball.
Balding elected to bypass the Irish Derby in favour of allowing Mill Reef to take on his elders for the first time in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
In the Eclipse Mill Reef demonstrated the superiority of the Classic generation with a dominant victory over the four-year-old French raider Caro. The pair went well clear of their rival, but Mill Reef found the most under pressure, quickening up the Esher hill to win by four lengths in a course record time.
Mill Reef went on to win in the King George later that month with an even more dominant display, scorching up the short Ascot straight to win by six lengths and prompting jockey Geoff Lewis to say: Daylight was second at Ascot.
The Prix de lArc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October had not fallen to an English-trained horse for 23 years and this was selected as Mill Reefs autumn target. Mill Reef settled in fifth spot under Geoff Lewis before darting through a gap on the rail as the leaders tired in the straight. Mill Reef was soon clear, passing the post three lengths to the good setting yet another new track record in the process.
At the end of the three-year-old season both the official handicapper and Timeform gave Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard equal top. Unfortunately, the two rivals were destined never to meet again.
Mill Reef made his debut at four back at Longchamp in the Prix Ganay, where he proved utterly superior to his rivals, galloping effortlessly clear in the straight to a 10 length victory. The Coronation Cup at Epsom was his next race and Mill Reef failed to quicken in his usual style and had to fight hard in the latter stages to hold on by a neck from Homeric.
A virus was later identified as the cause of the poor run, and the Coronation Cup was to prove his last race ” though his record of six successive Group One wins was to stand until Rock Of Gibraltar won seven in 2001-2002. Two setbacks in training saw a planned return at York abandoned. Brigadier Gerard, who had won the Eclipse in Mill Reefs absence, suffered his only defeat that day, beaten by Roberto.
At the end of August, disaster struck when Mill Reef broke his near foreleg in a routine canter whilst being prepared for the Arc. Fortunately he was saved, proving a model patient and going on have a successful career at stud. He proved a successful sire, and in 1978 his sons won two Classics, with Shirley Heights winning the Derby and Acamas the Prix du Jockey Club. Mill Reef also sired the 1987 Derby winner Reference Point, the 1981 Derby runner-up and Italian Derby winner Glint Of Gold and the 1000 Guineas winner Fairy Footsteps.
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