Cool Dawn by Graham Isom.
Graham Isoms latest limited edition print, Cool Dawn, is characteristic of the artists genius in rendering the sense of horses in motion. The image depicts the fairy-tale victory of Cool Dawn in the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup, which was run on Thursday March 20th 1998. In the race, the unfancied outsider beat Strong Promise well into second place and the favourite. Dorans Pride, into third. Trained in Dorset by Robert Alner and carrying the colours of owner, Dido Harding, Cool Dawns romantic story stunned the world of racing. Bought cheaply as a nice safe ladys ride - to be ridden by the owner in point-to-points, Cool Dawns victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup brought him the most prized trophy from the major meeting in National Hunt racing. In training, Cool Dawn had shown early promise and eventually ran third in the Irish National. However, the ten year old was so little fancied for the Gold Cup that lie set off at odds of 25-1. His jockey. Andrew Thormon, made all the running throughout the race and Cool Dawns terrific staying power kept him ahead of the pack, and thus out of trouble, until challenged only after the last fence by Strong Promise. In an epic battle up the hill to the finishing fine, Cool Dawn gradually inched ahead to complete a fairy-tale three-day racing festival at Cheltenham in which equally romantic victories had been won by the popular grey. One Man, and by the Irish favourite, Istabraq.
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