50 years of the Pattern: how slim pickings became the monster we know today

At the end of the 1960s international racing in Europe was at a crossroads. French owners were not best pleased that their races, which were far more valuable than those in Britain and Ireland, were being plundered by foreigners. In those days penalties were determined by prize-money, so French horses ended up carrying more weight.

With French authorities threatening to restrict overseas runners, a solution to the crisis was found in the creation of the European Pattern race system, which based penalties on the status of the race and not its value.

So, 50 years ago on Saturday, April 3, 1971, the first Pattern races were run in Britain and Ireland. At Ascot, Freddie Maxwell's Cawston's Pride won the Group 3 Ascot 1,000 Guineas Trial, while in Ireland Vincent O'Brien's Minsky landed the Group 3 Gladness Stakes.