Reference Point: Cecil's ray of sunshine who lit up a soggy summer

Name Reference Point
Dates 1984-1991
Pedigree Mill Reef - Home On The Range
Trainer Henry Cecil
Jockey Steve Cauthen
Owner Louis Freedman
Form figures 311-1121110
Big races won Derby, St Leger, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, William Hill Futurity Stakes

It was a rotten summer that year; damp, chilly, dreary. Royal Ascot was run in the mud, the tennis at Wimbledon was hamstrung by rain, Test cricket was a washout. The brightest thing about that summer was the vivid yellow silks carried by Reference Point, racing's little ray of sunshine.

There was nothing flashy about Reference Point. He was an old-fashioned galloper blessed with stamina and courage, almost a throwback to the days when stout-hearted homebreds were the very stuff of England, and if he is occasionally overlooked by those compiling lists of the 'best horses' then the omission shows our inadequacies, not his. Thirty years ago this week he set the seal on a soggy summer with a dominant performance at Ascot, seeing off a strong and international King George field with a trademark display of powerful front-running that set him high above his peers and left him there.