History records that the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by the 5/2 favourite by 1½ lengths. Nevertheless, for reasons that will, hopefully, become obvious, the race was subsequently voted the “Greatest Race of All Time” in a poll conducted by the ‘Racing Post’. The aforementioned 5/2 favourite was, of course, the ever-popular grey Desert Orchid who, despite his cramped starting price, actually defied considerable odds to achieve Cheltenham Festival immortality.
Trained by David Elsworth and ridden by Simon Sherwood, Desert Orchid faced 12 opponents, including the two previous Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, The Thinker and Charter Party, and the Irish Gold Cup winner, Carvill’s Hill. Aside from the quality of the opposition, connections were concerned about the state of the going, turned heavy by persistent rainfall, and the fact that, according to Sherwood, “He [Desert Orchid] never liked going left-handed and always lent to the right going on to a fence.”
In any event, Desert Orchid set off in the lead, as was customary, and was left in the lead again at the third-last fence when Ten Plus took a crashing, and ultimately fatal, fall. Rounding the home turn, the mud-loving handicapper Yahoo went on and jumped the second-last, in the words of Sir Peter O’Sullevan, “full of running”. Desert Orchid rallied between the final two fences, though, and was just a length behind Yahoo as the pair cleared the twenty-second and final obstacle. On the infamous climb to the line, Desert Orchid drifted across to the stands side and then, under a right-hand drive from Sherwood, back towards the far side, but continued to make headway with very stride.
“There’s a tremendous cheer from the crowd, as Desert Orchid is gonna win it,” exclaimed O’Sullevan in the closing stages, and he did just that, passing the post 1½ lengths to the good over Yahoo. Charter Party finished third, a respectful eight lengths behind the leading pair, while Bonanza Boy and West Tip were the only one other finishers, beaten a further distance and the same.