Cottage Rake

Cottage Rake
Sire	Cottage
Grandsire	Tracery
Dam	Hartingo
Damsire	Hartford
Sex	Gelding
Foaled	1939
Country	Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Richard Vaughan
Owner	Frank Vickerman
Trainer	Vincent O'Brien
Major wins
Irish Cesarewitch (1947) Cheltenham Gold Cup (1948, 1949, 1950) King George VI Chase (1948)
Last updated on January 1, 2008

Cottage Rake (1939–1961) was a successful National Hunt racehorse. His breeder was Richard Vaughan from Hunting Hall, Castletown Roche, Co. Cork, Ireland. Before he embarked on his jumping career, he was failed by a vet on three different examinations. On the last of these occasions, the vet was working for Frank Vickerman, who had just become one of the first patrons of a new Irish trainer named Vincent O'Brien. But the deal still went through, and Cottage Rake ultimately set his trainer on the route to the top of the training ladder by becoming only the second horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years in a row. He achieved this hat trick from 1948–1950, beating Finnure by ten lengths in the last of these races. His hardest-won triumph had come the previous year when he only got the better of Cool Customer in the final 100 yards. Such was his partnership with jockey Aubrey Brabazon that a verse was composed about their success. Cottage Rake lost his form after his third Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph. He moved over to Gerald Balding's stable in England, but the change of scenery did not resurrect his success.

See also

• Repeat winners of horse races

References

• The Complete Encyclopedia of Horse Racing - written by Bill Mooney and George Ennor