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On May 26th this year,we celebrated the 50th birthday of the equine superstar Night Nurse.Arguably no better hurdler ever stepped on a racetrack or put his nose through the bridle.In my memories Night Nurse flashes like a comet.The energy he exuded on a racetrack gave vibrations of manifestations of the divine .Night Nurse blended the courage of a soldier ,with the talent of a magician.Few jumpers ever were such an epitome of consistency and class.Simply energy personified on racetrack.His characteristic front running style was was beauty personified or poetry in motion.Few jumpers were more household names as Night Nurse who struck the core of the soul of every Jump racing fan,reminiscent of a Muhammad Ali.At his best his ability was simply mythical ,being an absolute powerhouse of hurdling.Few jumpers treated their rivals with such contempt,but still bestowed utmost grace in action.Truly one of sport’s great characters.Night Nurse took versatility ,temperament and endurance to regions rarely traversed.
No Hurdler ever received as high a timeform rating of Night Nurse at,1982.He may not have devoured his rivals by a sensational margin ,but in both his champion Hurdle triumphs beat the very best,be it Monksfield, Sea Pigeon or Bird’s Nest.I can’t forget his valiance when warding off a late challenge from Bird’s nest in 1976 or when winning a hard fought battle with Monksfield in 1977.Possibly Monksfield would have come much closer has he not made an error at the last.Few jumpers ever exuded such battling spirit to overpower rivals as Night Nurse in champion Hurdle.In the Templegate Hurdle in 1977 he dead heated with Monksfield,taking courage or resilience in racing ,to magnitude almost unparalleled.Rarely in sport has intensity in establishing or contention for supremacy transcended such volumes.In addition to the Englsih Champion Hurdle,Night Nurse captured the Scottish and Welsh champion hurdles.
In defeat it was never disgraced be it the Embassy Premier Chase when overpowered by Silver Buck,or the Edward Hammer Memorial Chase when misfortune cost him a win again against Silver Buck,pulling of lame .In the 1977 Champion Hurdle Night Nurse’s legs took its toll and he was beaten into 2nd place,after an apparent loss in form in that season.
When switching over the fences Night Nurse exuded the class of a Gold cup winner.Night Nurse was a most honourable runner up in the 1981 Tote Cheltenham Gold cup,being in strong contention of winning at the turn and making a sensational burst at the finish to give winner Silver Buck,a run for his money.I can’t forget his victory in the Buchanan. Whisky chase in 1979.With a bit more luck he may have won a Gold Cup.It gained a most meritorious win in the 1982 Mandarin Handicap chase at Newbury,which jockey Jonjo Neil described as the greatest thrill of his racing career.
After Red Rum in the 1970’s Night Nurse is strong contender for the best jumper of the 1970’s if one analyses the merit of his wins ,and mastery over the hurdles and steeplechases.
His association with Paddy Broderick was one of sport’s most magical partnerships,expressing a chemistry of sublime proportions.
Night Nurse did not win 4 Champion hurdles like Istabraq,but in sum total was still possibly the best every hurdler.By 1976-7 Night Nurse had won 18 out of it’s 22 races while overall it won 32 out of 64 races with a record of 19 wins in 32 hurdles.In 1979 Night Nurse surpassed Red Rum’s record prize money earnings for a jumper. Considering all factors Night Nurse was possibly amongst the best 5 jumpers of alltime,ahead of even Dawn Run and Istabraq.
I would say Night Nurse was the best Hurdler ever.
He often didn’t win by far – and younger people watching footage on YouTube might wonder what the fuss was about – but what an era he dominated.
He had Comedy Of Errors, Lanzarote, Monksfield, Birds Nest and Sea Pigeon behind him in various races.
The only possible caveat is the brilliant novice Golden Cygnet was pulling double over him when fatally falling at Ayr – he might have gone on to be even better.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It’s all about opinions and mine is that I would have to have: Arkle, Flyingbolt, Sprinter Sacre, Kauto Star, Mill House, Desert Orchid and Dunkirk ahead of Night Nurse on rateable career best form.
But having finished runner up in a decent Gold Cup (Dawn Run had the benefit of a gender allowance) as well as winning two vintage Champion Hurdles, Night Nurse’s versatility IMO entitles him to be hailed as one of the top-twenty all-time NH greats.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Was fortunate enough too seem him race in the flesh several times, both over hurdles and fences. Along with those two great duels – with Monksfield in the Templegate and with Silver Buck in the Embassy Premier Chase Final, another I would single out was the part he played in the first running of the Royal Doulton Hurdle on May 1st 1978.
This must have been the best field ever field assembled for a handicap hurdle.Monksfield and Sea Pigeo both carried 12 stone. Night Nurse, with 11st 9 lb, Bird’s Nest 11st 8 lb, his stable companion Beacon Light had 11st 6 lb. Further down the field you had Schweppes Hurdle and Imperial Cup winners and the like, receiving shovels of weight. Amazingly,half the twenty runner field carried the minimum 10 stone, including the Fred Rimell trained Royal Gaye who beat Monksfield bt three quarters of a length, with Night Nurse rallying to finish only a couple of lengths away in third – and too think, if Golden Cygnet had not perished the previous month he would very likely have made the line up too!
Pretty difficult for top class horses to run in 0-135 handicap hurdles.
As for Night Nurse, he is unquestionably the greatest hurdler of all time and in the top half dozen National Hunt performers.
We can all have our opinions on who’s the best, Sea Pigeon was my personal favourite, but surely no one can deny what an era this was for hurdlers.It was a privilege to be able watch these warriors on a regular basis. Even now, all these years after it brings a smile to my face.
As mentioned up thread these horses turned up everywhere; what a contrast to the shambles these days.
Monksfield was also second in the Royal Doulton (a really big new race then) a year later, giving Beacon Light 12 lbs.
Such a sad reflection on the choker bloc conditions race programme that we will probably never reverse to how things were back then.Was also at that 1979 running and got Richard Pitman to sign my race card. Such a run of the mill race now. Couldn’t even name a recent winner or the present race title. Think the last time I saw it live was when Jobroke got stuffed and that feels like a modern running though it was actually in the 1980’s.
Agree, a sad reflection on the current race programme – and the lack of depth of top class hurdlers in the UK.
Really don’t know what the answer is.On another point, and pure fantasy, I’ve often thought I’d love to see Ascot & Cheltenham offer an incentive for an Ascot Gold Cup/ Champion Hurdle double……however, that is never going to happen; none of the Flat connections are brave enough to try, and the NH horses are probably too slow.
Night Nurse was the first horse i followed that got me into racing as a wee boy. I will never forget him.
I’ve little interest in the flat, but you might think that Faugheen and Annie Power would have been competitive in an Ascot Gold Cup
I saw Night Nurse get the better of a titanic struggle with Birds Nest in the little-known Yorkshire Hurdle at Doncaster on Great Yorkshire Chase day in January 1978.
I later saw him win a 3m pattern chase there, footage of which still exists on YouTube.
While he was IMO the best hurdler of all-time, as a chaser he wasn’t quite as good, though he was runner up to stablemate Little Owl in above-average Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1981.
Many are saying Night Nurse is in the top-six NH horses of all time.
Arkle, Flyingbolt, Sprinter Sacre, Kauto Star, Mill House, Desert Orchid and Dunkirk – which TWO of those seven are being kicked out to include him, then?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Night Nurse was my favourite NH horse when I got involved in racing in the mid-seventies. His front running style captured my imagination. As other posts have stated he was the king in an era of greats. Although he never reached the same heights over fences he was still a very good chaser on his day. I remain convinced he would have won the King George in 1980 but for blundering at the last and his run in the gold cup in 1981 still hurts to watch when having finally got the better of his nemesis, Silver Buck, he valiently failed to peg back his stablemate Little Owl.
Anyone interested in learning a bit more about this legend; copy this link. https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/greatest-racehorses-night-nurse-2352020.P.s. love watching the old stuff on youtube.
A good jockey doesn't need orders and a bad jockey couldn't carry them out; so it's best not to give them any.
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