IT SUITED SIRE AT THE FRONT

Graham Buddry looks back at the career of Sire De Grugy, one of the top two-milers of this generation

- Graham Buddry

Sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time and take that chance while it’s there. Often a big dose of luck can play a part too, but who can really say it wouldn’t have happened anyway. Such is the story of Sire De Grugy.

The 2013/14 season was nothing short of a runaway success story for Sire De Grugy who clearly stamped himself as by far the best two-mile chaser in training but did it happen by chance or was it fully deserved?

One thing beyond dispute was that Sire De Grugy was an incredibly handsome beast, a gleaming chestnut colour with a distinctive broad white blaze and muzzle.

Sired on June 21, 2006, he was intended as a 15th birthday present for Steve Preston but the 50,000 Euro price tag required even more investment from family and friends. But what a ride they got, along with their trainer, Gary Moore, and Jamie Moore, who rode him in all bar two races in which his brother Josh deputised.

Sandown on November 6, 2010 was the date chosen for a bumper race to get him fully fit and he did well enough to finish second. Sixteen days later he went to Kempton for a first spin over hurdles in a 17-runner event. Unfortunately he ran into an odds-on favourite in Bob’s Worth who won well but Sire De Grugy was well clear of third place. Sire De Grugy went on to win three of his other five races that season, never finishing worse than fourth and everyone looked forward to his progressing through the hurdling ranks.

Starting late the following season he ran five times in the first months of 2012 and while he won a modest event at Taunton his best results were a close fourth in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and third place in the Imperial Cup at Sandown. He’d had a reasonable season but his future now clearly lay over the bigger obstacles.