Mtoto: 'The hallmark of a great horse is acceleration and he was like a Ferrari'

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: Mtoto

Acceleration, bravery, class. Mtoto had the ABC of a great racehorse, and never more so than in the epic Eclipse Stakes of 1987 when he just got the better of Derby winner Reference Point in a thrilling duel. Thirty-five years ago this week, this was the race that established Mtoto as a major force at the top level and made him one of the most exciting and popular horses of a vintage era.

Over the course of that season and the next, the Alec Stewart-trained late developer racked up back-to-back Eclipse triumphs, did the same in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, landed the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on his first try at a mile and a half in Group 1 company and was agonisingly denied the ultimate winning send-off in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

It was the CV of a superstar, but for a long time it seemed Mtoto was destined to be one of those frustrating enigmas who fail to reach their full potential. His juvenile season was cut short by a hind leg injury after just one run and, when he returned as a three-year-old in 1986, his fragile hooves made him difficult to train.

When he did make it to the racetrack, his keen-going tendencies often led to disappointing results, although he showed enough talent at three to finish fifth in the King Edward VII Stakes and fourth in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. By the end of his second season, however, he had just a maiden win at Haydock to his credit from seven starts.

Michael Roberts, the South African jockey who would go on to forge a memorable partnership with Mtoto, remembers the frustration of those early days.

“The first time I sat on his back I reported back to Alec Stewart, ‘Look Alec, this is the best horse I’ve ridden’. He said: “Well, you can’t have many good horses in South Africa then!” But I could tell he was good. We galloped him on Racecourse Side and the acceleration and the feel he gave me was phenomenal.

“At home he was so relaxed but at the racecourse he’d jump and take hold of the bit, so I was scratching my head how to get him to settle better.”

Roberts, now 68 and a successful trainer in South Africa, recalls how he hit upon a solution at the start of Mtoto’s campaign as a four-year-old. He suggested to Stewart finding a small-field race, even if it meant going into Listed or even Group company, and told him he would miss the kick deliberately and drop Mtoto out at the back. The chosen race was the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown and the plan worked perfectly.

“I told Alec I’d miss the break with him on purpose because he was obviously frightened of horses being up his backside. He switched off so beautifully. As we came around the turn I squeezed him a little bit and, oh boy, when I pulled him out it was race over. At the pull-up I had Steve Cauthen on one side and Greville Starkey on the other and they said ‘where the hell have you been hiding him?’ I said to them ‘this is a proper horse’.”

Mtoto opens his Group-race account in the 1987 Brigadier Gerard StakesCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Next was the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, then a Group 2 but still one of the most prestigious races of Royal Ascot, and again Mtoto won impressively with a burst of acceleration from the back.

The stage was set for a classic showdown in the Eclipse between the broadsword of the front-running Reference Point, who had just won the Derby in a fast time for Cauthen and Henry Cecil, and the rapier thrust of Mtoto.

The high-quality field also featured the indomitable mare Triptych, who had won the Coronation Cup at Epsom, as well as Bellotto, runner-up in the 2,000 Guineas and third in the Derby, and runaway Coronation Stakes winner Milligram.

Mtoto, fourth in the betting among the eight runners, was having to concede weight for age to his main rivals bar Triptych and it was clear this would be a severe test run at a fast and furious pace.

“I thought they were going to go like hell and I was very bullish because in my mind they were going to set the race up for me,” Roberts recalls. “Alec said ‘why are you so confident? He’s got to give a lot of weight away’ and I said ‘Alec, they’ll set it up for me, you’ll see what’ll happen’.”

Roberts was right. Reference Point, dropping back to a mile and a quarter, set such a blistering pace from the off that Triptych’s intended pacemaker was unable to keep up, and in the straight Mtoto was the only one who could lay down a challenge to the 11-10 favourite.

Roberts launched his run inside the two-furlong pole but Reference Point bravely kept finding more against the rail and the two titans went head to head for well over a furlong in a gripping battle. Finally, in the last 50 yards, Reference Point could give no more and Mtoto forged ahead to win by three-quarters of a length.

The Sandown crowd knew they had seen a classic. “The reception we got when he beat Reference Point was mind-boggling. Coming in at Sandown they were ten deep around the winner’s enclosure. It was unbelievable,” Roberts says.

That was the high point of the 1987 season for Mtoto, who had to miss the King George (won by Reference Point) because of soft ground and did not return until the Arc, where he finished fourth behind Trempolino, Tony Bin and Triptych. The season ended in disappointing fashion when he was well beaten behind Triptych in the Champion Stakes on tacky ground at Newmarket.

Returning as a five-year-old, Mtoto was back on top form when he won the Prince of Wales’s again before his attempt to double up in the Eclipse. This time he was hot favourite at 5-4 ahead of the reopposing Triptych and the Cecil-trained mare Indian Skimmer, but it was 33-1 shot Shady Heights who would push him just as hard as the now-retired Reference Point had the previous year.

“Shady Heights was a strong, game horse and he pinched a couple of lengths on me going into the straight,” Roberts recalls. “I was going comfortably but as I got next to him Shady Heights was pulling out more, so I went for the whip. I’d never really had to do that before and Mtoto resented it. So I quickly had to put the whip down and ride him out hands and heels. He regained the lead right on the line and we only won by a neck.”

Having proved himself the dominant force again at a mile and a quarter, Mtoto was set for a new challenge three weeks after the Eclipse with a step up in distance in the King George. He faced another strong field, headed by 2-1 favourite Unfuwain and Italian challenger Tony Bin, but the main concern was the good to soft ground at Ascot, which put his participation in some doubt.

Roberts was confident, however. “I wasn’t that worried about the ground or about his stamina, I was more worried about the horse settling early. But Willie Carson was riding Unfuwain and he said to me ‘we’ll see how good he is today’ and I knew then the pace would be good enough. He settled beautifully and he won well really.”

Mtoto and Michael Roberts beat Unfuwain and Willie Carson in the 1988 King GeorgeCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Mtoto’s trademark burst of pace from last to first down the outside settled the issue before the furlong pole, leaving Unfuwain two lengths back in second and Tony Bin third.

Mtoto

Born April 1, 1983
Died May 23, 2011
Starts 17
Wins 8
Biggest wins Eclipse Stakes (1987 & 1988), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1988)
Prize-money £841,959

By now he had such a hold on the middle-distance division that a similar result was expected against familiar rivals in the Arc, which was to be his final race.

Sent off the 6-4 favourite, Mtoto came from well back in the 24-runner field but was held in by Cash Asmussen on Village Star at a crucial moment and could not quite reel in Tony Bin, falling a neck short at the line.

“The saddest part, and the most disappointing time of my career, was getting beat in the Arc,” Roberts says. “We’d beaten all those horses in the King George. I was a little bit hemmed in, but in my heart I still feel I got out in time.

“I followed Tony Bin, thinking he’d take me through, so I was following the right horse, but Cash kept me in slightly coming to the final straight and I couldn’t quite make up the ground. Mtoto didn’t change gear that day like he had done in the past. He took a while to unwind. I’d have loved to win the Arc, but it just wasn’t meant for us.”

While Mtoto went off to Aston Upthorpe Stud, where he produced 1996 Derby winner Shaamit, Roberts cemented his reputation as a top rider. He took a retainer for Sheikh Mohammed in pre-Godolphin days, was champion jockey in 1992, won British Classics on Mystiko and Intrepidity and partnered a host of top-level winners including Opera House, Indian Skimmer, Barathea and Lando.

Roberts feels he owes it all to Mtoto’s breakthrough success in the Eclipse, a first Group 1 in Britain for the rider.

“Mtoto winning the Eclipse was the turning point in my career,” he says. “I remember coming home about a week later and my wife said Henry Cecil had phoned, and I said ‘yes, yes, yes’ because the jockeys were always pulling pranks and I thought it was one of them winding me up. But it was Henry and he wanted me to ride a couple of horses for him. It was just unbelievable, from then on the phone never stopped ringing.”

He has no doubt Mtoto was the best he rode. “For me the hallmark of a great horse has always been acceleration. Riding him was like sitting in a Ferrari. You’d put your foot down and lean back with the acceleration he gave you. He could make up five or six lengths so quickly, it was quite frightening really.”

Then and now, Roberts felt the public affection for Mtoto. “I got many letters of congratulations after he won and I’d be given photos of the horse that people wanted me to autograph,” he recalls. “Even now I’ll meet people who come on holiday to South Africa and they’ll say to me ‘I remember Mtoto winning this and Mtoto winning that, and he was my favourite’. He was a very popular horse with the public.”

'Jeez, Alec was a good trainer'

The understanding between horse and rider was an essential element of the Mtoto story, and so was the partnership between Michael Roberts and trainer Alec Stewart.

Their paths first crossed almost a decade earlier during the 11-time South African champion jockey’s first venture into British racing with Newmarket trainer Gavin Hunter, which lasted only six months.

“Alec and I went back a long way,” Roberts says. “When I came over for Gavin Hunter in 1978 he was assistant in the yard. A few years later when he was training himself I rang him and said I’d like to come back, and asked if he’d help me.

“My first ride for him won and we had a great relationship. It’s really important for a trainer and a jockey to communicate about the horses and I’d say what I thought and he’d listen to me. He believed in me and that’s why we were so successful together.”

Alec Stewart (right) in the winner's enclosure with Mtoto and Michael Roberts after the 1988 King GeorgeCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Stewart, who died aged just 49 in 2004 after a long battle with cancer, excelled with his handling of the fragile Mtoto.

“Alec and his staff did a fantastic job of getting him to relax,” Roberts says. “Alec was very particular. He’d explain exactly how he wanted a gallop to go, what you should be doing with a horse at every furlong marker. Jeez, he was a good trainer and it’s a shame we lost him at such an early age.”

Read other Fans' Favourites . . .

Wonderful Tonight: 'She truly won all of her races like a proper champion'

Stradivarius: 'He's been one of the soundest horses who's ever lived'

Muhaarar: 'His last performance was his finest – he was the best I've ever trained'

Pyledriver: 'He was no 66-1 shot – so they had £20 each-way and I had £10 each-way'

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