Godolphin’s King George great Swain honoured

Swain, one of Godolphin’s stars of the nineties, has been honoured as the latest winner of the prestigious King George Diamonds and Pearls award.

He follows other greats of the Ascot Turf — Grundy, Dancing Brave and Galileo — in landing the prize, which was awarded at a ceremony in London on Tuesday as a prelude to Saturday’s latest renewal of the iconic all-aged G1 clash.

In 1998, Swain became the first male winner of back-to-back King Georges and was to prove one of the outstanding Godolphin horses of that era to campaign internationally.

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor described Swain as “one of the best Godolphin ever owned.”

He continued: “People, they still remember him and they love him. He was very special to us, winning two King Georges. He’s going to be in the memory for a long time.”

Bobby Brittain, Godolphin’s Marketing Director, who picked up the award on behalf of connections, said: “His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has owned many outstanding horses, Swain being one of them. We, at Godolphin, think it’s wonderful that Swain’s achievement of back-to-back wins in the King George has been recognised in this way 20 years on.”

Swain, a son of Nashwan, won 10 of his 22 starts, racing from 1995 to 1998. He now lives in happy retirement at Shadwell Farm, Kentucky.