'An extraordinary character' - Roy Rocket, the beloved Brighton hero

What makes a racehorse special? We are immediately drawn to those with superlative ability, whose legacies are founded by their exploits on the track, often in the big races, on the big days, for big trainers.

Yet to set the bar so high would be to miss the point. Some horses become popular partly because they do not adhere to this lofty ideal and our affection for them is often far more difficult to explain.

Few have typified this relationship in recent years better than Roy Rocket, a quirky Brighton specialist whose sudden death on the gallops last month at the age of 11 left a hole in trainer John Berry's life.

"Roy had a wonderful life and gave people so much pleasure – it's a tragedy it didn't turn out to be longer than it was," says Berry.

Berry treated Roy Rocket as a member of the familyCredit: Alan Crowhurst

"Humans and animals are not immortal, but his life came to an end suddenly and left a massive hole in mine. It just reinforces the importance of Robin Williams' advice in Dead Poets Society to seize the day – we have to appreciate the things we love while we can.

"It's clear Roy will be missed, and people's kindness has been so touching. Their words are appreciated and have meant an awful lot to me. They provided further confirmation of how popular he was."

A cursory glance at the form book will tell you Roy Rocket was a middle-of-the-road handicapper but those who experienced the rapturous reception he received at his favourite seaside track will quickly tell you he meant a lot more to the racing public than that.

Many horses never win a race. He won nine, but more than that he served as a timely reminder that racing is not just about winning or losing – it is about enjoyment, and he gave his connections plenty.

"When you train a small number of relatively inexpensive horses you're not likely to get a Group horse, so your stable star needs to be special in other ways and Roy provided that for us," says Berry.

"Even though he won low-grade races, he was so special to others. He always tried and had an eyecatching style of racing coming from the back. He was also a white horse with a really catchy name.

"If he had been in the same stable as Enable and Stradivarius, you probably wouldn't appreciate him as much, but he was an absolute champion. You could leave his stable door open and he wouldn't do anything stupid – you could have brought him in the house."

Roy Rocket was a huge part of Berry's life. The trainer bred him and co-owned him with his friends Larry and Iris McCarthy, whose late husband Joe was a longstanding owner before his death in 2006.

"It was doubly special for me because I bred him and part-owned him with a family who have been brilliant supporters of the yard," says Berry, who began training in Newmarket in 1996. "Joe first sent me a horse in 1997 and the family have been a delight to deal with.

"Roy was inexpensively bred and I own his dam Minnie's Mystery. I have bred around ten foals from her and sent the ones I thought had value to the sales. Roy proved you can get a horse who will give you a lot of fun and success, albeit at a low level, on a limited budget."

Roy Rocket took a while to return Berry's investment. He scored on his 16th start, two and a half years after his Newmarket debut, at Brighton and he followed up at the track just a week later. So began his love affair with Brighton, where he won nine times.

"People say 'everybody would love to train a horse like Roy' but the reality is if they trained him, they might have got fed up as he didn't do anything until he was five and was badly behaved," says Berry.

It would be an understatement to say Roy Rocket knew his own mind, and his wishes did not always tally with those of his trainer. He had a habit of pulling too hard in his races but was perfectly relaxed at Berry's unique yard, nestled away in a mostly residential area.

"You had to take the partitions in the box out to travel him on his own," adds Berry. "A couple of years ago I had to take two runners to Brighton and thought he should be old enough to travel with another horse so I decided to test him in a single compartment.

"I drove ten meters up the road before I started to hear banging behind me. He was rearing up and striking out with his front legs."

Occasional histrionics aside, Roy Rocket was docile and often held court alongside Berry at Brighton, where he ran 31 times and was once the co-record holder for most wins alongside Pour La Victoire.

Racegoers would gather around the parade ring to see him and they never failed to cheer him home after the commentator spotted him making his trademark, gut-busting run from the rear of the field.

Roy Rocket winning under Ross Birkett in June 2018Credit: Edward Whitaker

"If he were a low-grade handicapper who had won races at several courses he probably wouldn't have caught people's attention, but he never came close to winning anywhere else," jokes Berry.

"He was a hard-pulling horse and Brighton suited him. Even in his advanced age, he still pulled. He once had to do two stalls tests in a year. He always walked in but reared if he had to stand for too long.

"You tend to get truly run races at Brighton and it's exciting to watch horses come from the back. Around four furlongs out, you'd hear 'Roy Rocket's come to the outside and is starting to make ground'."

Unsurprisingly, many of Berry's best memories came at Brighton, which he describes as an "idiosyncratic" track, including when Roy Rocket narrowly beat a progressive three-year-old in June 2016.

"Palisade was owned by Cheveley Park Stud and he went clear at the bottom of the hill," says Berry. "He was six lengths clear with two furlongs to travel but then Roy started to come out of the pack.

"It was Roy and John Egan knowing to the inch where the winning post was. I took a photo on the line and Roy's neck was so stretched out. He was professional and beat a horse he had no right to beat."

Roy Rocket: often allowed to roam around Berry's Newmarket yardCredit: John and Emma Berry

His professionalism was put to the test in August 2018 when he ran on soft ground to record his final win under Rob Hornby.

"It rained heavily but Roy preferred dry ground," says Berry. "It was so windy that part of the stand fell down and I thought he had no chance at all. You could barely see him, but then he just managed to catch the leader Light Of Air and battle hard to win by a neck."

On his rivalry with Pour La Victoire, who has won ten times at Brighton, the trainer adds: "I was pleased when he won his tenth. Someone said it was a shame it wasn't Roy, but I was so happy with what he achieved. It never lessened my happiness to see another horse do better and I didn't really see it as a rivalry between them."

In 2018, Roy Rocket's status as a cult hero was recognised at the ROA awards when, following a members' vote, he won the Flat Special Achievement Award, beating the 1,000 Guineas winner.

It was a fitting prize for a horse who gave his connections and many fans so much joy and it will be strange to return to Brighton and not see him in the parade ring, or hitting the front with his late finish.

However, Roy Rocket will never be too far from racegoers' thoughts as a race will be named after him this season, preserving the legacy of an immensely popular horse who made the track his home.

'People were responding when Roy Rocket ran'

Simon Holt commentated on a number of Roy Rocket's successes at Brighton, and his distinctive colouring always made him easy to spot.

"He became a familiar sight to the regulars," says Holt, speaking in between races at the track. "It's never a massive crowd here but there's a coterie of people who come along to most meetings.

"They saw him winning regularly and that created a bit of a following. It became apparent to me in the last couple of seasons leading up to his last win that people were responding when he ran.

"Part of my job is playing to the crowd a bit, so I always used to say 'here comes Roy Rocket' as it would always get a cheer. It illustrated his popularity and I was a bit disappointed when he ran elsewhere."

Simon Holt: witnessed Roy Rocket's rising popularity first handCredit: Edward Whitaker

Holt remembers commentating when Roy Rocket battled up the straight alongside Light Of Air and won for the final time in 2018.

"It was a mucky day and it didn't look like happening," says Holt. "He emerged out of the pack and challenged Light Of Air but didn't look like he was going to get there. When he did it was the biggest cheer I've heard at Brighton in the years I've been coming here.

"John was always here, often wearing his wellies and shorts, and people would speak to him while Roy Rocket was standing there. He was never rated higher than 74, but was astonishingly popular.

"Roy Rocket was an extraordinary character and you can imagine how closely attached John and his team were to him. His death must have come as a massive blow. There was no indication there was anything wrong and we were looking forward to seeing him again."

More from our Fans' Favourites series:

Cockney Rebel: the dual Guineas winner who proved a life-changer

'Tidal Bay was so enigmatic we decided to give him a chance at everything'

Ryalux: a Scottish National star still going strong at the age of 28

Mad Moose: the serial refusenik who drove his team crazy and his fans wild

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