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In my view Pendil , Wayward Lad and Night Nurse are all meritorious calls.
Gay Spartan was a horse of immense potential too.
Carvills Hill was an absolute superstar with cut in the ground. Sadly his best chance of Gold Cup glory was absolutely ruined by the disgraceful tactics employed by the Jenny Pitman yard.Wayward Lad was trained by Michael Dickinson and formed the Dickinson five which was Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck & Ashley House. What a training feat that was.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.Five years prior to the 1992 Gold Cup, Frank Bruno fought Joe Bugner at White Hart Lane, with a battered Bugner famously complaining that his corner threw the towel in “just as I was going to get him”.
This is similar rationale. Carvill Hill’s jumping was simply awful that day (he was well behind when also falling early in his favoured conditions in the 1989 Gold Cup) and blaming it on Pitman’s no-hoper Golden Freeze seems extraordinary when we are talking of a potentially champion racehorse.
Timeform correctly dismissed the allegations out of hand (as did The Jockey Club, more formally) stating that “if Carvill’s Hill had indeed been thrown out of his stride…by Golden Freeze, then he didn’t deserve to win a Gold Cup.”
Nevertheless, Carvill’s Hill remains an outstanding chaser.
Mike
Carvill’s Hill fell v early in his first Gold Cup, he wasn’t well behind. Didn’t enjoy the circus of his transfer from Dreaper to Pipe, but can’t remember another occasion where a horse was specifically targeted in this way. Was never a natural jumper, but had an incredible engine
Belarge that on GOLDEN FREEZE vs CARVILL’S HILL is my view too. Posted earlier by me.
Another one who was raved about was Carvil Hill. After winning the Welsh National by a country mile, been beaten in that season Cheltenham Gold Cup was unthought of until Golden Freeze spoilt the party. Golden Freeze thorough ran his normal to race and eventually finished last.
This view came from the fact that GOLDEN FREEZE was one of my horses to follow that year, and while I thought GF was out of his depth in the GC, he did employ the same tactics in his races up to that run.
Also in the Welsh National, CARVILL’S HILL was well clear of PARTY POLITICS but I thought he wasn’t foot perfect at his jumps. In my view the was no pressure, he should have jumped round like a showjumper. This was exposed when something took him on.You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.Good points Mike.
Yes, Carvills Hill jumped poorly that day. tbh Carvills was never a good jumper anyway but his jumping was at its best dictating / in front… And other trainers / owners / jockeys knew putting as much pressure on Carvill’s jumping was their best chance of getting him beat. Taking such a horse on happens quite a lot. However, there were other aspects important to this story.
A) Carvills Hill was capable of exceptional form.
B) Carvills Hill was a stayer, therefore the more of a test of stamina the greater his chance.Therefore, if his jumping stands the test Carvills Hill would’ve been suited by going a good pace; in order to put the emphasis firmly on stamina.
On the other hand…
Golden Freeze was not such a stout stayer.
Golden Freeze was effective at much shorter distances
You could say Golden Freeze’s best chance of winning was for the Gold Cup to be run as slow as possible… And yet he was sent up to hassle Carvills and turn it in to a thorough test of stamina. Indeed probably too fast; Carvills Hill the only horse to finish who ran anywhere near the pace – and he was tailed off!Rank outsider and doubtful stayer Golden Freeze making a strong pace… And the third favourite being Jenny Pitman’s other runner Toby Tobias… It didn’t look good. Seemed as if Bolby on Golden Freeze had deliberately sacrificed himself.
So was he a non-runner whose sole role was to get Carvills Hill beat?
Well,
A) Toby Tobias was hardly an out and out stayer himself. Beaten under a length in the previous Gold Cup by 100/1 shot Nortons Coin, but TT was far from certain to stay with an even greater test of stamina and so it proved. Finishing only one place in front of Carvills.B)…And although making a test of stamina was against the chances of Golden Freeze – being up there on the pace was just as important to the horse as it was to Carvills Hill. Could say vital to both. In Desert Orchid’s Gold Cup both were held up and both ran poorly.
Golden Freeze was a natural front runner (or at least raced prominently) whenever running well. What’s more, when up there with the pace he usually jumped particularly well. If Carvills Hill took on Golden Freeze hen the favourite was always likely to come off worst.
tbh At the time I thought Pitman and jockey Bolby were at fault. Think I was wrong.
Value Is EverythingLol at everyone saying Golden Freeze was not ridden to get Carvill’s Hill out of his rhythm. Just watch the race on YouTube!
You can clearly see Michael Bowlby roust the outsider along to take on the favourite from the start then drop anchor when left in front after the second, only to ride his mount along vigorously again when Scu goes past him on the turn away from the stands. It is blindingly obvious.
Of course, the damage had already been done by then, with Carvill’s having probably already injured himself at the first, and one of the greatest staying chasers of all time was never to run again.
Golden Freeze needed to be up there on the pace in order to show his best, Gladiateur. Therefore of course he would be scrubbed along to remain up with the pace. He was also not really a stayer, therefore of course he’d try to slow it down.
Value Is EverythingWith Gladiateur on this one; and as he says, there was no need for it, the mistake at the first ended Carvis Hill’s career. Bit like Douvan’s in the Champion Chase, never the same after
Night Nurse. Came closest to pulling off the Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double before Dawn Run actually did it.
For me it would have to be Night Nurse who was the best Champion Hurdler of all time.
He wasn’t quite as good over fences but, in finishing runner-up to stablemate little Owl in 1981, he achieved rather more in my opinion then Dawn Run did when making the most of the gender allowance and the stamina deficiencies of Wayward Lad a few years later.
Dawn Run was an admirable mare, but her Champion Hurdle win doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny either, as she again needed the gender allowance in order to beat Cima, who is hardly one of the best hurdlers I’ve seen over the years.
Night Nurse won twice in the golden era of hurdlers and the only horse that could conceivably have been better than him was the ill-fated Golden Cygnet.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Dawn Run won the GC as a virtual novice, in a record time, beating a v good field; I accept her CH was possibly her least impressive performance, but consider the the others she left in her wake, including Buck House and Desert Orchid. 2 mile was also on the short side for her, at 2 + 1/2 and 3 she was unbeatable, mare’s allowance or not. I think in the match, where she beat Buck House they carried equal weights
The literal l answer would be Sprinter Sacre.
In terms of 3 mile chasers, Cue Card, Wayward Lad, Vautour would stand out for me.
It’s hard to believe that the highest rating achieved by Cue Card (176) and Vautour (176) is only 4 pounds higher than the highest rating achieved by Santini (172) and 3 pounds higher than Lost in Translation (173)
Its actually astonishing
Timeform, incidentally, would say the best chaser to run in the Gold Cup and not win it was Carvill’s Hill.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"But was Sprintre Sacre’s performance in the Champion Chase any better than Crisp’s? Crisp then went on to show the versatility to narrowly lose out in the National while conceding 23lbs to a three-time GN winner with another future winner (and dual GC winner) 25L back in 3rd (at levels) in a time about 20s faster than the previous record that had stood since the 1930s. Crisp is undoubtedly the best horse to run in a GC and not win it.
Not according to Timeform, not that they are necessarily the definitive arbiters on the subject.
But it’s clear that, to paraphrase Blackadder: “opinion is divided on the subject.”
https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/top-horses/timeforms
Carvill’s Hill was very good when he didn’t have one of Jenny Pitman’s stalking him: https://youtu.be/FV4w0GZPriA
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