Le Moss

Le Moss was a chestnut horse with a narrow white blaze and three white socks[1] bred in Ireland by the Irish-based McGrath Trust Company, a family breeding operation run by Joseph McGrath. His sire was the McGrath-owned Le Levanstell, who won the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 1961 before a successful stud career. Le Moss's dam, Feemoss came from a strong staying family, being a daughter of the Yorkshire Oaks winner Feevagh and a half-sister of the Queen Alexandra Stakes winner Laurence O. Feemoss had previously produced the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Levmoss and the Prix de Diane winner Sweet Mimosa.[2]

As a yearling, Le Moss was sent to the sales and was bought for 26,000 guineas by representatives of the Italian lawyer Carlo d'Alessio.[3] During his racing career, Le Moss carried d'Alessio's red, white and green racing silks and was trained by Henry Cecil at his Warren Place Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk. He proved a difficult horse to train, being highly temperamental and lazy in his exercise. Joe Mercer, who rode the horse to some of his biggest wins described him as "a cantankerous bugger".[4]

In 1980 he was officially Europe's second best older horse, and the fourth best overall with a rating of 129, placing him behind the three-year-olds Moorestyle and Argument as well as the four-year-old Ela-Mana-Mou. Following a "recalibration" of historic ratings in 2013, the ratings of all horses in the 1980 classification were moved down by four pounds, giving him a new official rating of 125.[8]

The independent Timeform awarded Le Moss a peak rating of 135 in 1980, making him their highest-rated older horse and the second best horse of any age behind Moorestyle.[9] They described him in their annual as "a powerful, relentless galloper......a phenomenon among racehorses: he's not the best long-distance horse we've ever seen, but if there is such a thing as a top-class racehorse that stays forever, Le Moss is probably the closest to him we have encountered since that great out-and-out stayer of the mid-forties Marsyas II, and on the score of determination and courage, precious few stayers of the post-war era rank with Le Moss......His performance in winning his second Gold Cup was one of the most stirring seen on a racecourse in many a year; it was an unforgettable display of endurance and courage......When he took the so-called stayers triple crown as a four-year-old he became the first horse to do so for over twenty-five years, and no other horse has completed that notable treble two years in a row. And he achieved his second treble the hard way, making virtually every yard of the running in almost seven and a half miles of competition......In terms of merit, we rate Le Moss higher than his famous brother (Levmoss) {135 to 133}".[10]

In their book A Century of Champions, based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Le Moss a "superior" Ascot Gold Cup winner and the second best British or Irish trained horse foaled in 1975 behind Ile de Bourbon.[11]

Le Moss in 1980

Le Moss was retired to Brownstown Stud in Ireland. Although he had raced throughout 1980 in the colours of Carlo d'Alessio, he was bought after the Ascot Gold Cup by Paddy McGrath (a trustee of the McGrath Trust Company, his breeders) for a reported £250,000 and leased back to d'Alessio for the remainder of his racing career before taking up stallion duties in 1981 at Brownstown Stud, the place of his birth.

He made no impact as a sire of flat runners, but his progeny had some success in National Hunt racing. The best of his offspring was the steeplechaser Scotton Banks, who won the Peter Marsh Chase and the Martell Cup in 1996.[12] He was also the damsire of the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander. Le Moss died at the age of twenty-five at Waterhouse Farm near Minehead in Somerset on 17 August 2000.[10] On learning of his passing, Joe Mercer, who rode him to 8 of his 11 victories, said: "Le Moss was difficult to train and would never go on the gallops unless he felt like it. But he always woke up once we got him to a racecourse. He was as tough as old boots and tremendously difficult to pass. So my orders were invariably to lead from the start and just keep punching all the way to the line. That was the way I rode him in those great Cup races in 1980 and I shall always remember the old rascal with great affection. He was an outstanding stayer." 

• 1979 Ascot Gold Cup
• 1980 Ascot Gold Cup
• 1979 Goodwood Cup
• 1980 Goodwood Cup
• 1980 Doncaster Cup