A jockey's nightmare, undisputable champions and the world-beating Mill Reef - six of the best horses associated with Geoff Lewis

Following the death of Geoff Lewis at the age of 89, we take a look at six of the best horses he was associated with during his riding and training careers . . .

Silly Season

This frustrating colt, trained by Ian Balding for Paul Mellon, won four races that now have Group 1 status, but became a jockey's nightmare and lost several races he should have won.

Having landed the Coventry, Dewhurst and Greenham Stakes, Silly Season started favourite for the 1965 2,000 Guineas but came second to Niksar after being clear two furlongs out. He then led all the way in the St James's Palace Stakes and won the Champion Stakes from the unlucky Italian filly Tadolina, with Niksar third.

As a four-year-old he won the Lockinge and Hungerford Stakes, but he seemed ungenuine and in the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes he cruised to the front inside the final furlong but contrived to be headed close home.

• 'One of the icons of the turf' - Geoff Lewis, who won the Derby and Arc on the great Mill Reef, dies aged 89 

Jimmy Reppin and Right Tack

The best horses Lewis ever rode apart from Mill Reef were Jimmy Reppin and dual 2,000 Guineas winner Right Tack, both of them milers trained by John Sutcliffe, and their careers overlapped.

In 1968 Jimmy Reppin came third to Sir Ivor and Petingo in the 2,000 Guineas and beat Petingo in the Goodwood (now Celebration) Mile, while his stablemate won the Imperial and Middle Park Stakes.

The pair were two of the three best milers in Europe in 1969. Jimmy Reppin gave Lewis his only victories in the Sussex Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, and also won the Hungerford Stakes for the second time, although champion Habitat beat him twice.

Right Tack triumphed by two and a half lengths in the 2,000 Guineas and the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and followed up in the St James's Palace Stakes, beating Habitat by half a length.

Mill Reef

A world-beater equally brilliant on fast and heavy ground, Mill Reef was ridden by Lewis in all his 14 races over three seasons (1970-72), resulting in 12 victories including the Derby, Eclipse, King George and Arc for trainer Ian Balding and owner-breeder Paul Mellon.

He was beaten a short head by champion juvenile My Swallow in the Prix Robert Papin, and then won the Gimcrack (by ten lengths), Imperial and Dewhurst Stakes.

In 1971 Brigadier Gerard, favoured by the trip, beat him by three lengths in the 2,000 Guineas (My Swallow was third) in the only meeting between the two greatest contemporaries in racing history.

Mill Reef (left) won the Derby under Geoff Lewis in 1971Credit: Corbis via Getty Images

Mill Reef triumphed in the Derby by two lengths from Linden Tree, and then proved his greatness with three performances that made him a champion among middle-distance champions.

In the Eclipse he crushed Caro, the best older horse in Europe, by four lengths; in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes he scorched home six lengths clear; and in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe he trounced champion filly Pistol Packer by three lengths in record time.

As a four-year-old he took the Prix Ganay by ten lengths but beat Homeric by only a neck in the Coronation Cup, with Lewis having to show him the whip.

That proved Mill Reef's final race, as he was coming down with a virus that prevented a summer rematch with Brigadier Gerard, and in late August he broke a leg on the Kingsclere gallops while being prepared for a second Arc. He became champion sire twice.

• Geoff Lewis: 'I rode some great horses - but there was something different about Mill Reef' 

Altesse Royale

In 1971, Lewis's first season as stable jockey to Sir Noel Murless, the trainer had champion filly Altesse Royale, who won the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and Irish Oaks.

The jockey finished fourth in the Guineas on Murless's first-string Magic Flute behind her 25-1 stablemate, who was ridden by Yves Saint-Martin. But he did partner Roger Hue-Williams's filly to victory in the Oaks, beating stablemate Maina by three lengths, and the Irish Oaks after runner-up Vincennes had jumped a shadow.

Altesse Royale was not an outstanding champion and yet another stablemate, Hill Circus, was officially rated her equal.

Mysterious

Lewis's only dual British Classic winner, the Murless-trained Mysterious, won the Cherry Hinton Stakes on her sole outing as a two-year-old, and the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks in 1973.

Having won her prep race, the Fred Darling Stakes, she triumphed in the Guineas by three lengths from odds-on favourite Jacinth, and in the Oaks by four lengths from Where You Lead.

George Pope's filly was odds-on for the Irish Oaks but suffered her first defeat when runner-up to Dahlia, whose greatness had hitherto been unsuspected. She then won the Yorkshire Oaks. J.O. Tobin was her half-brother.

• Obituary: Geoff Lewis, a great jockey who will forever be remembered for his association with the unforgettable Mill Reef 

Lake Coniston

The only champion Lewis trained, Lake Coniston was the best sprinter in Europe as a four-year-old in 1995.

Lake Coniston: champion sprinter trained by Geoff LewisCredit: Phil Smith

Owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, he had won the Hackwood Stakes, Prix de Meautry and Diadem Stakes the previous year, and started his championship season with wide-margin victories in the Abernant and Duke of York Stakes before his apotheosis in the July Cup.

Lake Coniston set the pace under Pat Eddery at Newmarket, had the race won a long way from home, and triumphed by four lengths from King's Stand winner Piccolo. For pure speed exemplified in one performance, few horses have matched him in recent years.

Geoff Lewis 1935-2025:

Geoff Lewis, who won the Derby and Arc on the great Mill Reef, dies aged 89 

Obituary: Geoff Lewis, a great jockey who will forever be remembered for his association with the unforgettable Mill Reef  

'He was one of the icons of the turf' - Geoff Lewis, who won the Derby and Arc on the great Mill Reef, dies aged 89