Pentire provided Michael Hills with perfect King George payback

‘He was tough, he loved his racing…He wasn’t very big, but he had a very big engine’.

Redemption. That was Michael Hills’ overriding emotion when Pentire won the 1996 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

It is fair to say the diminutive Geoff Wragg-trained colt was a slow burner. In fact, his two-year-old season was nothing out of the ordinary – with third-place finishes in the Richmond Stakes and the Acomb, which at the time was not even a Pattern race, the pick of his form.

As a result, he was not considered for the 1995 Derby. But that soon began to look like a mistake.

On his return to action, Pentire won Sandown’s Classic Trial, beating none other than Singspiel, who would go on to win Group Ones all over the world. Next it was Chester, where he won the Dee Stakes, and then Goodwood for the Predominate. Both of those were won under a penalty.

Michael Hills celebrating a winner at Royal Ascot
Michael Hills celebrating a winner at Royal Ascot (Steve Parsons/PA)

“I rode him when he won the Sandown Classic Trial, where he beat Singspiel,” said Hills.

“He then went to Chester to win the Dee and Goodwood for the Predominate, so three Derby trials is very unusual.

“Then he went to Royal Ascot and won the King Edward VII (beating Classic Cliche), was beaten in the King George, went to York and won the Great Voltigeur and then we won in Ireland in the Champion Stakes. You don’t get many seasons like that now.

“He was tough, he loved his racing. He had foot problems at two, which is why he wasn’t able to show his best. When I started riding him in the spring, he was something else. He wasn’t very big, but he had a very big engine.”

That sole defeat at Ascot came at the hands of Lammtarra, who retired unbeaten after four races, three of them being the Derby, the King George and the Arc. It remains one of the quirks of bloodstock how he in essence failed as a sire.

Had in-running betting been around in 1995, however, Pentire would have been a long odds-on favourite with a furlong to run, travelling much better than Frankie Dettori and Lammtarra.

But Lammtarra was a horse who did not know the meaning of defeat, and he gradually wore Pentire down to win by a neck

“I think Pentire was a better horse at a mile and a quarter. Lammtarra outstayed me. He went on and won the Arc,” said Hills.

“It was horrible. He saw too much daylight, got a nudge which sent us wide in the straight, but I still thought I’d whizz by Lammtarra – but he just kept going. I went by him easy, but he just kept coming at me.

“I mean, there was no disgrace, he went and won the Arc and retired unbeaten, along with Mill Reef I think he’s the only horse to win the Derby, King George and Arc in the same season. If I could ride the race again, I’d do it differently.

“We got there the next year, though, which was nice.”

Michael Hills won the Derby on Shaamit but got off him to ride Pentire at Ascot
Michael Hills won the Derby on Shaamit but got off him to ride Pentire at Ascot (David Cheskin/PA)

Hills was faced with a conundrum that following year, as he won the Derby on William Haggas’ Shaamit, who was also heading for Ascot.

Not many jockeys would hold their nerve and jump off a horse who had just provided them with their biggest day in racing, but Hills did.

“It wasn’t easy getting off the Derby winner, it was tough. But after we got beaten by Lammtarra and won the Irish Champion Stakes, we said there and then the whole of his four-year-old season would be about the King George,” he said.

“So he was always in mind for the race, but then Shaamit came along and won the Derby. I was always committed to Pentire, but it was a horrible choice. I had to stay loyal and luckily for me, we got the right result.”

After his busy three-year-old campaign, Pentire ran in the first ever Dubai World Cup before taking in the Eclipse on his way to Ascot.

“We were fourth to Cigar in the World Cup. He ran a hell of a race; it was on dirt, we had a very wide draw and he wasn’t really ready for the race, so to finish fourth was a big effort, and obviously we know what Cigar did,” said Hills.

“He took a long time to come back from Dubai and then finished third in the Eclipse on soft ground to Halling, when we ended up coming up the stands side, but Pentire loved top of the ground, he was a different horse on fast ground.

“He actually got left quite badly at the start of the King George, which was a problem, he walked out of the gates, yet he set a track record that day. They went so fast, yet he came there hard on the bridge and after Swinley Bottom I was thinking ‘whoa’.

“Turning into the straight, I was absolutely swinging off him and followed Shaamit through and it was a case of counting to 10 before pressing the button – and away he went.”

That was Pentire done in the UK, and what a way to sign off. After a break, he was beaten by Swain in the Prix Foy before disappointing in the Arc on soft ground. He ended his career with a creditable effort in the Japan Cup.

Hills said: “We aimed him at the Arc after that, but it was soft ground and he didn’t enjoy it and then he had his last race in the Japan Cup, which ironically Singspiel won.

“He’d been bought by Teruya Yoshida to stand out there. He was a really good stallion and sired Michelle Payne’s Melbourne Cup winner (Prince Of Penzance).

“Pentire was the best I rode over a mile and a half. Shaamit on Derby day was unbelievable, but Pentire beat older horses, the younger horses and did it so many times.

“He’d have to be the best middle-distance horse I rode. I only have one favourite horse though, Further Flight!”

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