Slip Anchor

Slip Anchor (1982–2011) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1985 Epsom Derby by seven lengths. After showing some promise as a two-year-old, he showed substantial improvement in the spring of 1985, winning the Derby Trial at Lingfield Park Racecourse by ten lengths before recording a rare start-to-finish win in the Derby. He was rated the best racehorse in Europe in 1985. His subsequent career was disrupted by injury, and he finished second in his other three races before being retired to stud. He had some success as a breeding stallion and died in 2011. Slip Anchor was the fifth Epsom Derby winner whose sire (Shirley Heights) and paternal grandsire (Mill Reef) were themselves winners of Britain's premier classic. Background Slip Anchor, was a "tall, rangy" bay horse with an irregular white star on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. He was bred by Lord Howard de Walden in whose apricot colours he competed throughout his racing career. Slip Anchor was sent into training with Henry Cecil at his Warren Place stable in Newmarket and was ridden in all of his major races by the American jockey Steve Cauthen. Slip Anchor was sired by the 1978 Derby winner, Shirley Heights. His dam was Sayonara, a German-bred mare who produced several other winners including Lancashire Oaks winner Sandy Island.