Farewell to a Festival friend Robert Alner 1943-2020
Robert Alner with his 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Cool Dawn
R OBERT ALNER was a man of extraordinary achievement in the saddle and as a racehorse trainer, not least in winning the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but it was his courage and fortitude after a life-changing car accident in 2007 that truly set him apart. Alner, who died in February at the age of 76, saddled Cool Dawn to land that memorable Gold Cup for owner Baroness Dido Harding, who paid tribute to a man who was a longtime friend as well as the trainer of her racehorses. “I watched the Gold Cup beside him and neither of us could believe it,” Harding said. “I was excited halfway around just because we were going to see him on the TV while he was still in front. “I have a grin on my face remembering it and Robert always did when we spoke about that day. Nobody can take it away from us.” Alner rode one winner at The Festival, Domason, who in 1970 landed the National Hunt Chase by five lengths from the John Oaksey-ridden Bullocks Horn. During the next two decades the dairy herd
at his Dorset farm provided his livelihood and point-to-points his hobby as rider and trainer. Then in 1992, at the age of 48 and 31 years after his first winner, this consummate horseman became the national champion point-to-point rider with 31 wins, including the 200th of his career. Having conquered the world of amateur steeplechasing, he swapped his training permit for a licence in 1993 and his results soon vindicated that decision. His first two Festival wins as a trainer came from Flyer’s Nap, who landed the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup in 1995 and the Ultima Handicap Chase in 1997. Cool Dawn, who had finished second in the Foxhunter Chase in 1996 when ridden by Harding, was partnered by Andrew Thornton in the Gold Cup and led all the way, holding on from Strong Promise by a length and three- quarters. Alner later reminisced: “I didn’t really train him for the Gold Cup. He just kept getting better and better and I thought it would be a thrill just to have a runner.” Alner had few hurdlers and his only Grade 1
winner in that sphere was the mare Kates Charm in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2002. Sir Rembrandt started at 33-1 for the 2004 Cheltenham Gold Cup but put in a career-best performance to be beaten only half a length by Best Mate, who was completing his hat-trick in the race. The out-and-out stayer also finished third to Kicking King in the 2005 Gold Cup. Alner was paralysed in a car accident in 2007 and the following year he and his wife Sally became the first couple to be granted a joint training licence in Britain, which they gave up in 2010. Alner is survived by Sally and their daughters Jennifer and Louise, who is married to trainer Robert Walford. Walford said: “One of our owners is a doctor and he said it was 250-1 for Robert to last five years after his accident and evens for him to last two years, so for Robert to live for 12 years after it just shows what an amazing man he was. “He’s been a boss, father-in-law and inspiration to me. He was a brilliant, top-class trainer who did so well with horses that were not expensive. He was tough and had plenty of courage.”
March 2020 The Festival 41
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