Death of 24-year-old Gold Cup winner Papineau who did more for others in his retirement as he did throughout his career
Papineau, a half-brother to the St Leger hero Silver Patriarch, was bred by the late Peter Winfield and later entered the Godolphin system after being bought for 85,000gns as a foal at Tattersalls in 2000. The son of Singspiel won a Listed race in France at three for Andre Fabre before switching to Saeed bin Suroor at four, for whom he won the Henry II Stakes before beating a brilliant field at Royal Ascot, which included Westerner, Brian Boru, and Mr Dinos.
Retired from the track in 2005 as the winner of five of his nine starts, Papineau was retrained and competed in both affiliated dressage and Racehorse to Riding Horse show classes as part of Godolphin’s Lifetime Care programme. He moved to the operation’s pre-training facility at Hamilton Hill in Newmarket in 2016, leading out the yearlings each morning, and remained busy, showing at Newmarket’s open weekend, attending Retraining of Racehorses parades, and twice traveling to Deauville to take part in the Au-Dela des Pistes display.
Papineau also visited schools as part of the Godolphin Beacon Project, a joint venture between Godolphin, Newmarket Academy, and the education charity Racing to School. He visited Newmarket Hospital and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, providing joy and relief to patients and their families.
Last month, Papineau was recognized by RoR as a finalist in their Community Impact Award. Unfortunately, he had only recently been diagnosed with heart issues, and he had to be put to sleep.
Suroor expressed, “Papineau was a pleasure to train, and his Gold Cup win at Ascot was a very special day indeed. His achievements after his racing career are something that the whole team should be incredibly proud of.”
Liam O’Rourke, Godolphin’s director of stud, stallions, and breeding, said: “Papineau was a horse who did even more for others, both within and outside of our industry, in his retirement as he did throughout his career.”