Legendary Gold Cup winner and fan favourite horse Celeric dies aged 31

ONE of racing's most popular stayers Celeric has died aged 31.

And in a touching detail, the charismatic Gold Cup winner died on the same farm where he was born.

Starting his career with John Morley before switching to John Dunlop, Celeric was a real zero to hero story.

Winning his first race at the fifth attempt in a Warwick handicap, Celeric would go on to win the Ascot Gold Cup two years later.

That would be his greatest day, defeating Classic Cliche with his trademark strong surge in the final furlongs.

John Morley's nephew Tom, a Grade 1-winning trainer in the US, told : "This is the horse that started it all for me.

"I was taken out of school on Gold Cup day by my mother and father, who promptly lost me when he won.

"John Dunlop took over the training when my uncle died. I'm now sitting in my office at Belmont Park looking at Celeric's Cartier Stayers' Award.

"It was on my father's desk until he died earlier this year."

Rated just 75 when he won his first race, Celeric reached a peak of 124.

He also won a Northumberland Plate, Yorkshire Cup and Sagaro Stakes in a career that spanned just under six years.

Named the European Champion Stayer in 1997, the year he won the Ascot Gold Cup, Celeric competed a time where stayers were in a golden generation.

He competed against the likes of Double Trigger, Istabraq, Shantou, Kayf Tara and Persian Punch.

Celeric was partnered by some of the sports greats too, including Pat Eddery, who rode him to success at Ascot.

He was also ridden by Frankie Dettori and Willie Carson, who both managed multiple successes on him.

Christopher Spence bred the horse and his son Johnno recalling the Gold Cup added: "Both Dad and my uncle were awake at four in the morning listening to the rain pound down.

"David said he didn't think they should run and Dad was adamant that they'd got to the day and that class horses go on any ground. The rest is history."