Never before had two horses given such a performance on the equine stage. No quarter was asked and none was given in an unforgettable renewal of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on July 26, 1975.
Showdowns have a habit of ending in anti-climax, but this really did live up to the hype.
It began, as such races do, as the annual clash of the generations.
In one corner there was the triple Classic winner Grundy and in the other the previous year’s St Leger hero, Bustino. A heavyweight slug fest between two titans at the peak of their powers.
Respected racing pundit Jim McGrath was in the very early stages of his Timeform career when he took a break from glueing together racecards to sit down at home to watch the highly-anticipated clash.
And he remembers a race that had all the hallmarks of a timeless classic and one that remains etched in racing folklore half a century later.
McGrath said: “What makes a great King George is a top-class three-year-old running against a top-class four-year-old so you had all the ingredients and when you bear in mind the past dual winner Dahlia was also in the field, you had everything set up nicely.
“The race whetted the appetite as Bustino was one of the best horses of the previous year and won the St Leger among other races and he went into Ascot having broken the track record at Epsom in the Coronation Cup.
“He was a good horse and as a Leger winner had proven stamina and although Grundy had won the Derby and Irish Derby, I think Dick Hern’s camp felt they might be able to outstay him if they went a blazing gallop.”
After a disappointing spring for Grundy which saw Peter Walwyn’s colt beaten in the ‘stable lads’ 2,000 Guineas, his star had fully risen by the time he was due to take on his elder in Berkshire.
Both horses had strutted their stuff in impressive style at Epsom, Grundy taking the Derby in imperious fashion and the Dick Hern-trained Bustino the Coronation Cup in record time.
But that was only part of the story as the Bustino camp’s quest to ensure a breakneck pace to aid their relentless galloper was dealt a blow when Bustino’s chief Epsom assistant Riboson was unable to join Kinglet and Highest in the line-up.
McGrath recalls: “Dick Hern ran two pacemakers, but they had a pretty good horse who used to lead him called Riboson and he made the pace in the Coronation Cup but had got an injury and couldn’t take part, so they used the other two horses.
“Grundy was a wonderful horse and his story takes almost a year’s cycle as 51 years ago he started his career at Ascot in July 1974 by winning a race called the Granville Stakes for two-year-olds.
“He had gone through the two-year-old season unbeaten, winning several races, including the Dewhurst, but at the beginning of his three-year-old he got kicked in the face by one of his stable companions at home and had a chequered preparation.
“It was also a spring where it was very very wet and he got beat by Mark Anthony in the Greenham, which was a shock, and then he was beat in the 2000 Guineas. There were no excuses for Grundy despite what you might read and Bolkonski who beat him was a very good horse in his own right and went on to win the Sussex Stakes.
“But Grundy went on to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the Irish Derby and then he came to Ascot and it made for a blistering race.”
Grundy, the 4-5 favourite, and Bustino (4-1), may have grabbed all the pre-race attention but it was not just a two-horse race as the 11 runners included other equine stars such as Dahlia, successful in the two previous renewals, and Star Appeal, winner of that year’s Eclipse and later the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The script went slightly awry for the Hern team when Bustino was the first out of the stalls, but Highest soon went on and set off like a startled hare with stablemates Kinglet and Bustino on his tail.
Kinglet had to take over but he too was a spent force much earlier than had been the plan, leaving Mercer with no alternative but to kick on half a mile from home. By the final turn, Bustino was four lengths clear.
Pat Eddery was forced to go after Grundy harder than he had ever done before and the younger horse responded as only a champion could.
With a tough final furlong left, Grundy had whittled away the deficit and with the rest of a strong field toiling, the big two settling down to a street fight.
It was impossible to predict who would prevail until Bustino gave best 50 yards from the line allowing Grundy to gain the verdict by half a length as they ripped the course record apart by 2.36 seconds. Dahlia was five lengths away in third place.
The two war horses had given their all in what was a truly memorable contest for which they will always be remembered.
McGrath said: “They broke the track record by 2.3 seconds, absolutely shattered it. It was set up to be a great race, and it turned out to be a great race and both horses gave everything.
“The ground was really firm and it was real, fast summer ground by that time of the year. They both gave everything and Bustino went down narrowly.
“Joe Mercer later recalled that he felt if the pacemakers had led him along a little bit longer he might have just won and you always look for minor things when you have just been beaten in a tight finish.
“If you watch a replay of the race you can see right on the line that Bustino falters slightly and he never ran again – in fact I think he only ever cantered again once.
“Grundy only ran once more and went to York for what was then the Benson and Hedges and what we would call now the Juddmonte International. He just ran a really flat race and Dahlia won it.”
The Grundy-Bustino clash remains the benchmark to which future King Georges have been judged.
There have been many spectacular renditions of Ascot’s midsummer feature in recent times, but McGrath is in doubt the race takes on an extra dimension when there is one special element to it – just like when Grundy and Bustino went head to head five decades ago.
“The Enable one was good, but the one between the two Stoute horses, Poet’s Word and Crystal Ocean, was a rare old tussle. Then there was Galileo and Fantastic Light who had a tremendous duel in 2001 where Galileo came out on top and then they renewed rivalry in the Irish Champion Stakes and had another wonderful battle.
“But essentially what sets the race up perfectly – which you haven’t got this year – is when a Classic three-year-old goes up against a top-class older horse. That is what the race was designed for when it was inaugurated and is what it produces from time to time.
“We’ve got a very interesting contest this time around, but we haven’t got what I would say is that extra ingredient that makes the race a must see.”
