Nicky Richards: 'Monet's Garden never let us down and took us everywhere'

Tony Dobbin rode Monet's Garden on his first 23 career starts, winning 13 times

"He was wonderful and, until I retired, I was the only one to ride him in a race. He was just a wonderful animal from day one. When he was being broken in around Greystoke I remember watching Brian Harding jumping him over tractor tyres.

Early days: Monet's Garden and Tony Dobbin win the 2004 Ascot Hurdle at Windsor on the horse's first start out of novice companyCredit: George Selwyn

"I remember riding him in his first bumper up at Ayr and he hadn’t even had a racecourse gallop at that stage. Graham Lee was riding this sweaty thing and it was all over the place, so I told him to follow me down to the start. Monet’s went down like an old police horse and I said to Graham halfway to the start, 'Just look at him, he's a machine.'

"He was just a tremendous horse and I loved him."

Barry Geraghty is another jockey to have fond memories of Monet's Garden, having won both the Old Roan Chase and the Ascot Chase on his only two rides

Day to remember: Barry Geraghty was aboard for Monet's Garden's second victory in the Grade 1 Ascot Chase in 2010Credit: Mark Cranham

"It was all about jumping. It was so easy for him. He attacked his fences, he had great scope and great accuracy. He was brilliant over a fence and that’s what really set him apart. Those big tracks like Ascot and the Mildmay Course at Aintree, they're built with a big fence and that’s where he excelled. He was a lovely horse to have anything to do with."

Owner David Wesley Yates said it was love at first sight when Nicky Richards brought Monet's Garden back from the sales

"Nicky bought him along with his man in Ireland, Gerry Griffin, at the Derby sale. He came back with the grey and he was striking from the first moment we saw him.

"The big story in his life was that he didn’t like staying away from home. When we worked it out we started travelling him on the day, even though it’s a long way from Penrith down to somewhere like Ascot. The first time we tried it, he sauntered home in the Ascot Chase.

David Wesley Yates, Joey Richards, Tony Dobbin and Nicky Richards after Monet's Garden's defeat of Kauto Star in the 2007 Old Roan Chase at AintreeCredit: David Dew

"But I think beating Kauto Star at Aintree was some achievement. He was the best around but Monet’s Garden beat him on that occasion."

Nicky Richards gives great credit to his daughter Joey, who was a constant part of Monet's Garden's life, both during and after his racing career

"We ended up running him around Aintree rather than Cheltenham, although he only just got beaten there as a novice by Voy Por Ustedes. It was a very good Arkle that year and I think we gave him 5lb.

"They changed the rule to 3lb about three weeks later, which didn’t go down too well at Greystoke! We’d have probably pipped Alan’s horse but never mind, it was a great race. He never let us down and took us everywhere."

Cheltenham bridesmaid: Tony Dobbin congratulates Robert Thornton after Monet's Garden goes down narrowly to Voy Por Ustedes in the 2006 Arkle ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

"Joey looked after him from when he was five and they used to go everywhere. In his racing days he didn’t like to be away from home for too long, although it took us a couple of races just to work that out.

"We ran him in the King George one day and, as soon as we got to Kempton, Joey said, ‘You can forget about him today,’ he hadn’t settled on the overnight stay. They'd been leaving here at three in the morning some days to get down to Ascot. He was an absolute star of a horse."

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