Cottage Rake

Cottage Rake
Sire Cottage
Grandsire Tracery
Dam Hartingo
Damsire Hartford
Sex Gelding
Foaled 1939
Country Ireland
Colour Bay
Breeder Richard Vaughan
Owner Frank Vickerman
Trainer Vincent O'Brien
Major wins
Irish Cesarewitch (1947)
Cheltenham Gold Cup (1948, 1949, 1950)
King George VI Chase (1948)
Last updated on January 1, 2008

Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was a successful National Hunt racehorse. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche, Co. Cork, Ireland. Before he embarked on his jumping career, he was failed by a vet on three different examinations. On the last of these occasions, the vet was working for Frank Vickerman, who had just become one of the first patrons of a new Irish trainer named Vincent O'Brien. But the deal still went through, and Cottage Rake ultimately set his trainer on the route to the top of the training ladder by becoming only the second horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years in a row. He achieved this hat trick from 1948–1950, beating Finnure by ten lengths in the last of these races. His hardest-won triumph had come the previous year when he only got the better of Cool Customer in the final 100 yards. Such was his partnership with jockey Aubrey Brabazon that a verse was composed about their success. Cottage Rake lost his form after his third Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph. He moved over to Gerald Balding's stable in England, but the change of scenery did not resurrect his success.

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