Desert Orchid first into semi-finals with 69% of vote as Frankel prepares to enter the fray

Desert Orchid on Monday became the first horse to go through to the second stage of voting in the Racing Post's search for the favourite racehorse of all time.

David Elsworth's legendary grey received 69 per cent of the votes as he beat Harchibald, Danoli and Tingle Creek in the first People's Champion poll on the Racing Post's Twitter account.

Desert Orchid now moves into the semi-finals, at which point the top 20 horses will be whittled down to a final five to be profiled in National Racehorse Week and put to a vote of all Racing Post readers.

Tuesday's poll pits Frankel, The Tatling, Altior and Faugheen against each other. The vote will be open from 10am until 4pm. Head to @RacingPost on Twitter to have your say.

Tuesday's contenders

Frankel

The highest-rated Flat horse in history after a sparkling career that saw him win all 14 races

‘It has to be Frankel for giving Sir Henry Cecil that twinkle back’
Christopher Evans

The Tatling

Raced 176 times from 1999 to 2011, peaking with victory in the King’s Stand in 2005

‘A total warrior who even won his own farewell race – the Frank Sinatra of the turf’
Shaun Adlem

Altior

Top two-mile chaser who won at four successive Cheltenham Festivals from 2016 to 2019

‘He is the most majestic horse I have ever seen and truly made me fall in love with racing’
Amanda Thompson

Faugheen

Superb winner of the 2015 Champion Hurdle and remained a star for many years

‘He was very classy and made hurdling look easy’
Nigel Goodin

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