A racing plate worn by Mill Reef when winning the 1971 Derby formerly owned by the winning jockey Geoff Lewis, mounted onto an onyx ashtray with plaqu

A racing plate worn by Mill Reef when winning the 1971 Derby formerly owned by the winning jockey Geoff Lewis, mounted onto an onyx ashtray with plaque inscribed MILL REEF, DERBY 1971; sold with a signed letter of authenticity from Geoff Lewis to the present owner confirming that he was personally presented with the Mill Reef 1971 Derby (2) Milll Reef was foaled at the Rokeby Stables, Virginia, in 1968 by Never Bend out of Milan Mill and was bred and owner by the American philanthropist Paul Mellon. The colt was trained in England by Ian Balding (1968-1986) and won 12 of his 14 races. He was an outstanding two-year-old in 1970, and proved even better at three, winning the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Ttriomphe. Mill Reef won both his starts as a four-year-old before his career was ended by injury sustained on the gallops. All of this great success was achieved with a most formidable rival foaled in the same year, Brigadier Gerard. Connections managed to keep the two great champions apart with the exception of the 2,000 Guines, won by the Brigadier. In the 1971 Derby, Mill Reef defeated Linden Tree comfortably by two lengths with Geoff Lewis in the saddle. In a hugely successful stud career, Mill Reef's offspring included the winners in 1978 of both the Epsom Derby Shirley Heights and the French Derby Acamas. Reference Point became a second Derby winning son in 1987. Mill Reef died in 1986 and he is buried within the National Stud where a statue stands in his memory.