news Gold Cup winner Big Orange joins RoR Yard at Palace House

Big Orange has joined the Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) charity flagship yard at Palace House, the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art. Visitors to the museum and specifically the Rothschild Yard will be able to meet the champion racehorse over the next three months along with his new stable mates Purple Moon, Accession, Tariq Too, Rouge Nuage and Whiteshift.

Big Orange was retired from racing in February of this year as an eight year old by which time he had amassed over £1.25 million in prize money. Trained by Michael Bell and owned by Bill and Tim Gredley, Big Orange won on 9 of his 27 starts with career highlights including winning both the Princess of Wales's Stakes on Newmarket’s July Course and the Goodwood Cup in 2015 and 2016, and the Ascot Gold Cup in 2017.

The decision was made to retire Big Orange earlier this year after he sustained a leg injury, Michael Bell said at the time: “He gave us so many happy days but the highlight of his career was the Ascot Gold Cup – his only Group 1 win. It was a fantastic race and all his qualities came to the fore. Everyone loves a horse that seemingly gives their all. He stuck his neck and head out and made himself even bigger when in a battle. When he was on song and got some fast ground he was very hard to get by. Those characteristics, I think, really endeared him to the racing public”

Now, just three months into his retirement, Big Orange will be heading to Palace House for a ‘working holiday’ and to do meet and greets with the museum visitors. Tim Gredley commented: “We are so pleased that Big Orange will continue his retirement at Palace House, having been born and bred at Stetchworth and trained locally by Michael Bell, he really is a Newmarket boy through and through. It’s great that he’s going to spend a few months in the heart of the town where visitors to the museum can meet him and importantly see the great work of the RoR.”

Palace House Director, Chris Garibaldi, said: “It really is such an honour to have Big Orange join the Retraining of Racehorses yard here at Palace House. I am sure he will be a joy to have around and will no doubt give much pleasure to the visiting public along with his five other stablemates. We are incredibly grateful to Bill and Tim Gredley for their long-standing support of Palace House and for their generosity in lending us their much loved racehorse to highlight the wonderful work the RoR does”

Bill and Tim Gredley have lent Palace House Big Orange for the next three months at the flagship RoR yard to showcase the ongoing work of the Retraining of Racehorses charity. The champion racehorse will be meeting Palace House visitors and enjoying time in the Palace House paddocks overlooking the Peter O’Sullevan Arena. His stablemates, who are all at varying stages of their retraining, will be showcasing how thoroughbreds can be re-trained effectively for a successful life beyond horseracing. Big Orange will return to Stetchworth Park Stud later in the summer where he will continue to enjoy his retirement.