Golden Cygnet, a bay gelding, was born on 21 June 1972, which made him a very late foal in bloodstock terms (although barely 6 months old on 1 January 1973, he was officially a yearling).
Golden Cygnet was sent to Goffs November Sales as an unbroken 3-year-old in 1975, where he was bought by trainer Edward O'Grady for 980 guineas.
He was well supported in the betting market (7/1 to 3/1) and although he won the race, he was disqualified for causing interference inside the final furlong and placed second.
However, Golden Cygnet failed to settle in the early stages of the race and was in front with half a mile to run before fading in the straight to finish seventh.
So easily had Golden Cygnet won at Leopardstown that his trainer Edward O'Grady decided to let him take his chance in the Slaney Hurdle at Naas only 12 days later.
He travelled well throughout the race and settled it in a matter of strides when he swept past the leader approaching the final hurdle to win with the minimum of fuss.
Golden Cygnet started the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham as the 4/5 favourite and as soon as he was asked to make his move at the top of the hill with 3 to jump, he began to take a strong hold.
Timeform's 'Chasers & Hurdlers' recorded that "he toyed with his seventeen rivals....pulling over his field and striding majestically up the final hill to win running away by fifteen lengths.
Trainer of the runner-up Fred Rimell was astonished at the performance of the winner and told reporters afterwards that he had "never seen a horse win so easily at the Festival.
It was expected to be his last race of the season, but he was so well in himself afterwards that connections decided to enter him in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr 18 days later.
The only horse with a higher weight was Sea Pigeon, who was asked to carry just 1 lb more, having finished a close second to Monksfield in the previous month's Champion Hurdle.
Approaching the final flight, he moved alongside the leader Night Nurse travelling very strongly and looked an assured winner, but he did not lift his front legs high enough and crashed through the hurdle, somersaulting on his head before hitting the ground.
Racing's highly respected judges 'Timeform' stated in their 1977/1978 Annual: "The race confirmed two important points – that Sea Pigeon had no superior among the established hurdlers apart from Monksfield, and that all the superlatives heaped on Golden Cygnet had been justified.... Golden Cygnet appeared to have plenty left, and was two lengths up on Sea Pigeon and about to take the lead from Night Nurse when he suffered his fatal fall.
After consulting the racecourse vet, he decided as a precaution to send the horse to the veterinary unit at the University of Edinburgh for a couple of days to be sure that everything was OK before allowing him to travel home.
When he was contacted by the university the following day (Sunday), everything appeared to be fine, but 24 hours later Golden Cygnet's condition began to deteriorate rapidly.
By the time of his death, he had achieved much more in his first season as a hurdler than either of the most recent winners of the Champion Hurdle, Monksfield and Night Nurse, at the same stage of their careers.......There was no doubt that he was still improving when we last saw him and it is as certain as anything can be in racing that he would have had a very bright future in the top class had he survived.
[2] Their highest rated hurdler ever, Night Nurse, was given a mark of 182 at his best in 1976-77 but given the normal improvement one could have reasonably expected from a novice of Golden Cygnet's potential, there is every chance that he would have exceeded that figure in the future but for his fatal fall.
"[2] O'Grady also considered that he was not so distraught at the time as he might have been later, "Being so young, I fully expected that another every bit as good would come along and I simply didn't realize that a horse of his ability would prove to be quite so rare.