Enable wasn’t expected to be the superstar she has proved to be when she made her racecourse debut on the all-weather at Newcastle on November 28, 2016. She duly coasted to a comfortable victory at odds of 7/2 and headed for winter quarters.
2017 was Enable’s crucial three-year-old season and she made an inauspicious reappearance, finishing third of six runners behind more fancied stablemate Shutter Speed in a conditions race at Newbury.
Enable’s next outing came in the Cheshire Oaks at Chester – always a good trial for the Oaks at Epsom. And with Frankie Dettori on her back for the first time, Enable was an impressive winner as she comfortably outpointed the Aidan O’Brien-trained favourite Alluringly.
Classic glory was next on Enable’s agenda as she headed to Epsom for the Investec Oaks, and she would come up against another O’Brien hotpot - the 8/11 favourite Rhododendron.
Enable, sent off at 6/1, took up the running two furlongs from home and stayed on strongly to forge five lengths clear of the favourite for an emphatic success.
Irish Oaks success arrived in mid-July via an effortless defeat of Rain Goddess at the Curragh, and connections decided then to take on older horses and colts for the first time in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes just two weeks later at Ascot.
Enable went to post the 5/4 favourite against a field which included among others, the highly talented Ulysses, Highland Reel and Jack Hobbs. But in rain-softened ground they were no match for Dettori and the wonder filly as they rocketed clear in the final two furlongs for a four-and-a-half-length victory.
After that emphatic success against colts and older horses, the Yorkshire Oaks at the Ebor meeting in August 2017 was expected to be a cakewalk for Enable. And so it proved as she coasted home by five lengths from Coronet under Dettori at odds of 1/4.
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was next for Enable, and she duly scorched to a highly impressive victory. Connections immediately said she would bid to return to France for a repeat victory in October 2018, but the journey to get there was to be a difficult one.
In early May 2018, the superstar filly suffered a setback in training while being prepared for the Coronation Cup at Epsom. The injury would keep her off the track for a further four months and put her Arc bid in doubt.
When Enable was finally fit to return to the track, prep race options for the Arc at Longchamp were limited. Gosden sent her to the all-weather track at Kempton Park to take on the talented Crystal Ocean in a small field for the September Stakes.
As Gosden and connections held their breath Dettori had 8/15fav Enable perfectly positioned throughout and she quickened readily in the final stages to score by three-and-a-half lengths. She was back and the Arc beckoned.
Europe’s richest race returned to Longchamp in 2019 after a short spell in Chantilly, and Enable would grace it with style. It wasn’t as easy as the first victory but she held on to score again and sealed her place in horse racing folklore.
America was now the final frontier for Enable to conquer and she headed Stateside for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs. It took all of her guts and Dettori’s urgings to get her past Aidan O’Brien with Magical by three-quarters of a length, but once again she ran out victorious to end another glorious campaign.
Juddmonte Farms announced that Enable would be kept in training as a five-year-old in 2019, with a bid for a third consecutive Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victory the main target.
She took some time to come to hand and missed intended June engagements in the Coronation Cup at Epsom and also at Royal Ascot.
The wonder mare though was in good enough shape to make her eagerly-awaited seasonal appearance in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 6, 2019. Despite a 245-day absence, and the fact the 1m 2f trip may have been a little on the sharp side, she was heavily backed and sent off the 4/6 favourite for the Group One test.
As ever Dettori had Enable perfectly positioned throughout and she cruised to the front two furlongs out and easily repelled the challenge of old Breeders' Cup foe Magical by three-quarters of a length.
After the race Gosden admitted his stable star had only been 85-90 percent fit, and therefore was delighted with the performance.
After Sandown, Enable was back on track swiftly for a bid for a second victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on July 27, 2019.
Given a marvellously patient ride by Dettori, she overcame an extremely difficult passage to get the better of an epic battle with old foe Crystal Ocean in the closing stages to score by a cosy neck at odds of 8/15. The victory took her career earnings to more than £9million.
After Ascot, connections announced that rather than the Juddmonte International - sponsored by her owner - Enable would have what would likely be her final race in Britain in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks on the Knavesmire on August 22, 2019.
Despite the presence of old foe Magical, Enable was sent off the 1/4 favourite in a four-runner field. And, roared on by an adoring crowed, she duly obliged by a comfortable two-and-three-quarter lengths from the Ballydoyle filly. No wonder Dettori was moved to tears amid the post-race celebrations.
