70 Amazing Races and Interviews from The Golden Age of Hurdling

One significant difference between the CH runners in those films and their modern equivalent, is that many of the old timers had raced on the flat and plenty of times as well.

Comedy Of Errors won three races as a 3yo and finished 4th in the Magnet Cup – Sea Pigeon as most will know, won at Ascot as a 2yo and ran in the Derby – Night Nurse was doing the rounds in northern 12F handicaps before going hurdling – Lanzarote was in training with Henry Cecil – Monksfield had a run a dozen times on the flat before he ever jumped a hurdle in public – Heighlin had won three races at Bath before Elsworth bought him.

There are currently six horses quoted at less than 10/1 for the 2025 Champion Hurdle – none of them has ever run in a flat race other than a bumper. And only one of them has actually run ten times or more – State Man. He’s had 16 career starts, which just happens to be the same numbers of starts that Sea Pigeon made in 1978 alone, flat and NH combined.

Watching this bit by bit over breakfast a bit before my time but the names are all familiar, excellent video ERL

Drone,

It’s possible the original owner was having a bit of fun with the name – he was Ogden Phipps, wealthy owner/breeder in Kentucky and one time president of the US Jockey Club.

Broadsword was out a mare called Cutting, so ‘sword’ would seem an obvious fit. But the dam of Cutting was called Sarcastic, so the reference could be the other meaning of cutting, as in ‘a cutting remark’. In which case Broads Word is just the sort of name he would give the colt.

Broadsword ran on the flat in Phipps colours as a 3yo in 1980, trained by John Dunlop. In the same year, Dunlop trained Posse, running in the colours of Ogden Phipps son. Posse was out of a mare called In Hot Pursuit!

Broadsword also had a half sister who was top class in the States – she was by Dr Fager out of Cutting, so Phipps called her Operating.

Thanks for putting this up ERL,

lot of the early ones before my time but amazing to see how they turned out time and again to do battle against each other. Sea Pigeon winning a handicap with 12st 7!!!!! imagine that. This was always the magic of the jumps game for me old and new doing battle year after year. Sad to see the game in the state it is today.

As with a lot of sport though, money and greed ruin the enjoyment

It’s possible the original owner was having a bit of fun with the name – he was Ogden Phipps, wealthy owner/breeder in Kentucky and one time president of the US Jockey Club.

I recall Ogden Phipps, and your suggestion that he was having a bit of fun with the name Broadsword seems reasonable given he had other examples of cleverly named horses derived from their pedigree, as I’ve also found these:

Easy Goer – ex Relaxing
Rhythm – ex Dance Number
Orb – by Malibu Moon
Inside Information – by Private Account ex Pure Profit by Key To The Mint
Personal Ensign – by Private Account ex Grecian Banner by Hoist The Flag

The last two are particularly good

I recall Posse being the horse promoted to second in the Guineas after first past the post Nureyev was disqualified

Probably right Andy, if they were good enough they wouldn’t be going over hurdles at all. Altho Simenon and Wicklow Brave were decent (WB even winning a classic, albeit the Irish St Leger, beating Order of St George), so would have been interesting to see A Power or Faugheen in the Ascot Gold Cup.