Pivotal moment on the Knavesmire still sweet for Duffield

York racecourse will always hold a special place in George Duffield’s heart, and it was 30 years ago he would enjoy his finest hour at the track when shooting star Pivotal stormed home late for Nunthorpe Stakes glory.

An exceptional two-year-old and trained by Duffield’s long-standing boss Sir Mark Prescott, Pivotal was making just his fourth career appearance when downing his elders in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot, but defeat would follow when stepping up to six furlongs for the July Cup the following month.

Recharged and readied for the Knavesmire’s fast, flat five furlongs – tailor-made for the Cheveley Park speedster to shine – Pivotal reached into the depths of his reserves at the climax of a thrilling dash up the York straight, pegging back the front-running Eveningperformance in the nick of time.

It was a career-defining moment eventually confirmed after an anxious wait for all concerned and one that will always be remembered by the man on board.

Duffield said: “It was one of Sir Mark’s first Group One winners and it was a good day for all concerned. They just made us sweat on the result – when it takes so long you start worrying you might have got beat.

“It felt like 15 minutes and I didn’t know myself. I would always think it just favoured the stands side at York and that was what made me think I might have got it.

“It was a day to remember and they are the days where you can compare yourself to an athlete winning a gold medal at the Olympics, the Group Ones are the races we always wanted to win.

“The July Cup might have taken a bit out of him and he probably wasn’t as good at York as he was at Royal Ascot, but he was as brave as a lion and I think his heart and class saw him home. He had a real touch of class and although he just got there, he was a terrific horse to ride and you couldn’t have found a better sprinter.”

Pivotal’s Nunthorpe triumph would be the final time he would be seen in action on the racecourse before he began a decorated career in the breeding shed, going on to sire a whole host of top-class horses including a subsequent Nunthorpe hero in Kyllachy (2022), while his grandson Sole Power won it twice (2010 and 2014).

However, for Duffield there is always the unanswered question of how good the son of Polar Falcon could have been if allowed to remain in training an extra year.

He said: “It’s a pity he never went on to be a four-year-old as I don’t think we saw the best of him and I thought he would have been even better at four.

“He just didn’t get home in the July Cup, I think he was just an out-and-out five-furlong horse. He travelled all right but just when it mattered in the final furlong on the July course he just didn’t get home.

“But he was an absolute gentleman and I don’t think he would know how to do anything wrong. He would never misbehave, never do anything at all out of place.

“He was a top-class two-year-old and he broke the Folkestone track record without coming off the bridle and then went on to do what he did at three. He would have cleaned up again at four.”

As a proud son of Yorkshire, the Knavesmire has always been regarded as a special place by the 79-year-old Duffield, who along with Pivotal’s Nunthorpe surge, enjoyed many other great moments in the saddle at the track.

Clive Brittain’s Oaks heroine User Friendly enjoyed a lap of honour under Duffield in the 1992 Yorkshire Oaks, winning leg five of a thrilling six-race winning run that culminated in St Leger glory close by at Doncaster the following month.

While many will struggle to forget some of the famous York gambles the former jockey landed alongside his old Heath House ally Prescott, firstly with Hasten To Add in the 1994 Ebor and then with both Pasternak (1997) and Foreign Affairs (2021) in the John Smith’s Cup.

“I always loved York when I was riding and even now as an ordinary punter I could just keep going there for a day out. It’s a special place – it’s the Ascot of the north,” continued Duffield.

“It’s quality horses, quality racing, quality jockeys in top-class surroundings, you couldn’t really ask for more.

“It was the one track I loved riding at and I preferred York to Ascot. I know Ascot is Ascot and special, but I just prefer York more. When they had Royal Ascot at York it was special for the area and the course.

“I was lucky enough to ride some great horses at York and I won the Ebor and the John Smith’s Cup twice and a Yorkshire Oaks. There’s been some good days there.”