Owned by Richard Burridge and trained by David Elsworth at Whitsbury Manor Racing Stables, in Fordingbridge, Wiltshire, Desert Orchid achieved iconic status in National Hunt racing in the eighties and early nineties. All told, the aptly-named grey gelding, by Grey Mirage out of Flower Child, won 34 of his 70 races over hurdles and fences and amassed just over £650,000 in prize money. In 1983/84, his second season over hurdles, he won six of his eight starts, including the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown Park and, although ultimately well beaten, was actually sent off second favourite for the 1984 Champion Hurdle, behind the redoubtable racemare Dawn Run.
However, it was as a steeplechaser that Desert Orchid was to find lasting fame and, three decades after his retirement, in December 1991, remains the sixth highest-rated steeplechaser since the early sixties, according to Timeform. A sturdy, handsome grey, whose coat turned almost white with age, Desert Orchid was undoubtedly a better horse going right-handed – “a stone better”, according to one of his regular jockeys, Simon Sherwood – but that didn’t stop him from winning a memorable renewal of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Away from Prestbury Park, his bold, front-running style served him well over distances ranging from two miles to three miles and five furlongs.
Desert Orchid won the King George VI Chase, over three miles, at Kempton four times, in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1990, thereby setting a record that has only been surpassed by a more recent superstar of modern times, Kauto Star. In 1988, he also won the Tingle Creek Chase, over two miles, and the Whitbread Gold Cup (now the Bet365 Gold Cup), over three miles and five furlongs, both at Sandown and, in 1990, Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse, again over three miles and five furlongs. He died peacefully in his stable in November 2006 at the age of 27.