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Paul Midgely or Robert Cowell, to name two, achieve far more than silver-spoon Charlie, given the base material.
It’s like saying what can a manager do when they go from a club they’ve succeeded with on a limited budget and taken over a club with lots to spend. Doesn’t always work.
Just because the above do well with cast offs etc. doesn’t mean they’d train superstars.
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Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!Totally the right decision..
Enjoy your retirement Battaash you’ve been a joy to follow. 
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Jack Berry churned out a nice couple of sprinters in his time in Paris House and Mind Games.
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...“It’s like saying what can a manager do when they go from a club they’ve succeeded with on a limited budget and taken over a club with lots to spend. Doesn’t always work.
Just because the above do well with cast offs etc. doesn’t mean they’d train superstars.”
I know a lot of racing fans love to band around trainers being “shrewd” and being “a genius”, but its getting animals fit to run fast and over the right trip. I fail to see why the trainers who are great at improving horses would fail with horses capable of running quicker through their breeding.
Charlie Hills the ‘King of Sprinters” ffs.
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Richard Hannon the “King of the we will have a lot of fun with this horse”
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Clive Cox is certainly one of the best CAS… Good though they were, I’d put Harry Angel and Lethal Force behind both Muhaarar and Battaash as far as ability goes… And Lethal Force was back in 2013. So I’d personally have Clive just behind neighbour Charlie. Ed Lynam’s “Sole” pair also 2014 and tbh not done much since. Charlie Hills exceptional duo both within the last 7 years.
Value Is EverythingLoved him when he was a complete lunatic
Who was either useless or would break the track record
His first Nunthorpe and Abbaye wins were simply breathtaking
As he started to calm down his best didnt seem to be quite as brilliant as it was when he was a nutter
Charlie Hills has said Battaash and Muharaar in the last seven years – so he is the best trainer of sprinters around.
Surprisingly obtuse analysis.
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Battaash was very good on his day, granted his ideal conditions (easy 5f, ideally Good to Firm ground – some hope nowadays with all the overwatering) but he wasn’t the most consistent even when he had everything in his favour.
In my lifetime, Dayjur was better – and more versatile, he stayed 6f well – and from everything I’ve read 1949-50 dual July Cup winner Abernant was the best sprinter ever.
But silly me, we live in an era when any horse with an OR of 120 plus is dubbed a “superstar” by Racing Post, so who needs historical context?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Last time I checked 2014 is within the last 7 yrs but hey ho, I wouldn’t say one particular trainer is ‘King of the Sprinters’ over another as there are a whole host of trainers (some that have already been named) that would have been capable of doing what Charlie Hills has done had they had a Muharaar & Battaash in their stable.
For me Dayjur was the best sprinter I have seen in the last 40yrs (since Moorestyle who won the July Cup, Haydock Sprint Cup, Prix de L’Abbaye & Prix da La Foret in 1980 all after finishing 2nd in French 2000g) and had Dayjur not tried taking up hurdling in the last half furlong of the Breeders Cup Sprint he may have gone down as the best sprinter period.
Yeah but Dayjur had the handicap of not being trained by the mighty Charlie Hills.
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Battaash needed a lead to break it though, whilst Dayjur made all his own running plus he won the Temple, King Stand, Nunthorpe, Sprint Cup and Abbaye all in one season, it took Battaash 3 seasons to win the same five races.
Battaash was a great sprinter don’t get me wrong, he just wasn’t quite on Dayjur’s level.
He ran faster from A to B
When it comes to judging the best sprinters thats surely very important
Battaash may not have been as consistent in his early days but his brilliance is beyond doubt when everything fell right
He was too fast for 5f really, was a 4f horse who just about stayed 5
You can’t usefully compare times from different days, let alone different years, even over the same course and distance as the going varies.
I have zero doubt Dayjur was better than Battaash – his Nunthorpe time figure was off the scale and, unlike Battaash, he was very consistent and equally effective at 6f.
Battaash was the best 5f sprinter for some years on his day, but he wouldn’t be one of the all-time great sprinters.
All IMO of course.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Times alone are never a good means to evaluate who the best is as there are too many variables that go into running a fast time that are hard to replicate exactly.
Case in point, Ribchester in his Queen Anne win ran from A to B faster (he broke the course record) than Frankel did in his year yet nobody would suggest Ribchester was a faster/better horse than Frankel.
LD73 mentioned Moorestyle earlier in the thread; to digress slightly, why is Ripon’s race named after that great sprinter run over a mile and a half?
I get that today is Armstrong Day at the Yorkshire course, but they could have made more of an effort to frame races over suitable trips for the equine stars of yesteryear after whom they were named. The Never So Bold race is over a mile and a quarter, the Maroof race five furlongs and the Shady Heights contest a mile and a half again.
Makes no sense.
Enjoy your retirement Battaash you’ve been a joy to follow. 
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