The exceptional miler Brigadier Gerard was a member of the exceptional crop of 1968 that also included My Swallow and Mill Reef. Named after Arthur Conan Doyles swashbuckling hero, Brigadier Gerard was bred by John Hislop, who owned him in partnership with his wife, and was beaten only once in his 18 starts.
Brigadier Gerards dam La Paiva, an ancestress of whom is the great Pretty Polly, was not herself a winner but had bred a number of winners by different stallions before being sent to the out-of-favour sire Queens Hussar, whose stud fee had dropped to 200 guineas by 1967. Queens Hussar had won the Lockinge and the Sussex Stakes and was later to sire Her Majestys Classic winner Highclere.
Trained by Major Dick Hern, Brigadier Gerard made his debut at Newbury in June 1970, when he was sent off the outsider of five. He trounced his rivals, coming home five lengths clear. His juvenile career proceeded unbeaten as he added the Champagne Stakes at Salisbury, the Washington Singer back at Newbury and the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. By seasons end Mill Reef and My Swallow were both rated above the Brigadier, but the Hislops nonetheless received an offer of 250,000 for the colt ” an offer they rejected.
The 2000 Guineas at Newmarket the following May was seen as a contest between the great rivals Mill Reef and My Swallow, but Joe Mercer was able to settle Brigadier Gerard on the rail and sprinted clear out of the dip to win by three lengths. An accurate assessment of his stamina saw Brigadier Gerard miss the Derby ” won by Mill Reef ” in favour of the St Jamess Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he courageously battled on soft ground ” which he didnt favour – to win by a head.
The Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood saw him back to his imperious best, winning by five lengths. He returned to the Sussex track to take the Goodwood Mile by eight lengths, before winning the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in September by ten lengths. He stepped up to a mile and a quarter for the first time in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket, where he again encountered soft ground and showed tremendous spirit in narrowly beating Rarity and Welsh Pageant.
As a four-year-old Brigadier Gerard extended his unbeaten sequence to 13 with victories in the Lockinge Stakes, the Westbury Stakes, the Prince of Waless Stakes ” where he set a new course record ” the Eclipse Stakes and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, his first run over a mile and a half.
The Benson & Hedges Gold Cup at York was his next assignment, and he was sent off a 1-3 chance against that years Derby winner Roberto, unfancied after a poor run in the Irish Derby, and the Derby second Rheingold, who had won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in the interim. Roberto ran out an emphatic winner, taking the lead 6f from home and sprinting for home. Although Brigadier Gerard challenged in the final stages, he was unable to make any impression on Roberto, who smashed the track record.
This was to be Brigadier Gerards sole defeat, as he went on to add back-to-back victories in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes. He retired to the Egerton Stud at the close of his four-year-old season with 17 wins from 18 career starts. He was not a success as a sire, with the St Leger winner Light Cavalry his only son of note. He is commemorated in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown, and with a pub, The Brigadier Gerard, in York, scene of his only defeat.
