VIDEO: How Big Orange went so close to Goodwood Cup history
So near - yet so far. Big Orange's number of Goodwood Cup victories remains at two. But how it looked like he might make it three on the trot for such a long time in Goodwood's opening-day feature race.
Everyone wanted the six-year-old, owned by Bill and Tim Gredley and trained by Michael Bell, to become the first horse in the 205-year history of the Goodwood Cup to claim a three-year hat-trick.
Only Double Trigger had come close, winning it three years in four in the 1990s.
But racing rivals have no time for fairytales and the John Gosden-trained Stradivarius, overtook the long-time leader in the dying atages of the two-mile race to take the crown.
We followed Big Orange from the pre-parade ring to the winner’s enclosure, even if it was the No2 post rather than No1, where he took the post-race applause.
See his Goodwood Cup treble bid in our video, above