- This topic has 3,119 replies, 103 voices, and was last updated 1 month ago by
.
- Posts
“Such a pity his jumps career has ended with a whimper”
I think there were just too many Hendo trained horses who careers ended that way. How come his stable attracts so much drama?
Possibly because it’s the pre-eminent British jumps stable and has been the most capable of standing up to the Irish invasion at Cheltenham in recent years: it’s therefore bound to attract more scrutiny.
That is true but also Hendo’s comments over the years about his ‘stars’ tends to draw the eyeballs to him a fair bit more than if he kept his own counsel a bit more.
Glad they eventually arrived at the best decision for the horse – I do hope he makes his mark on the flat, lets face it if (and absolutely no disrespect here) less naturally gifted horses like Ethical Diamond and Absurde can win big races then who knows what CH could do if targetted at the right races.
There is also the chance that (given his age) we just might see a lot more of him racing given how much he seemed to enjoy Friday plus even if he had to big weights, it will still mean that he is carrying significantly less weight than he would have to carry over hurdles.
Very relieved to read that Constitution Hill has jumped his last hurdle and will now pursue a career on the flat and wish him well chasing those dreams.
What a relief not to have to hide behind the sofa with the volume down every time he runs.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Ethical Diamond on the flat won at the breeders cup , with all due respect to the hill he’s miles away from that at present , a realistic flat campaign to start with we then build
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
I see the sporting life website is starting a GOAT Cheltenham horse list , article no1 is Istrabaq , very worthy starting place
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
This might be quite a divisive thing for some as it very much depends on what your criteria is and what you value more (for example race wins or level of competition etc) to define your GOAT. Also I note that the title of the piece doesn’t indicate that it is just about horses at the Festival either.
With that being the case, you have to look at trainers like Vincent O’Brien (who over a 6 year period won the Gold Cup 4 times and the Champion Hurdle 3 times included the double back to back in 1949 and 1950), Willie Mullins (the winning most trainer in Festival history) and Michael Dickinson for training the first five home in the 1983 Gold Cup. Maybe also throw in Ruby Walsh as currently the all time winning most jockey at the Festival.
Looking back at horses, personally, Istabraq wouldn’t be high up on my overall list and I would have a few hurdlers above him too. For various reason, I would have Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon (3 of the Golden Era of hurdling), See You Then (fragility of the horse), Quevega (6 consecutive time race winner), Big Bucks (4 consecutive time race winner) and probably even Willie Wumpkins above him. Willie Wumpkins is a remarkable tale, in 1973 at the age of 5 he won what is now the Turners Novice Hurdle, then 6 yers later he would return to win the Coral Golden Hurdle Final (aka Pertemps Network Final) for 3 straight years in 1979, 1980 & 1981 as a 11, 12 and 13 year old! Not sure there are many older winners at the Festival either. He was ridden in all 3 wins by amateur Mr Jim Wilson, who in 1981 also won the Gold Cup on Little Owl.
Arkle would be an obvious choice for chaser but I would also have Golden Miller right alongside him simply for winning 5 straight Gold Cup, his first at the age of 5 – yes I know you can argue the quality/strength of the race back then but just turning up for the same race for 5 straight years is an incredible feat in of itself let alone winning them all (also still the only horse to go on and win the Grand National in the same year). Maybe throw in Kauto Star as the only horse to regain the Gold Cup and Badsworth Boy as still the only 3 time winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
All subjective but there will likely be names that will cross over on everyone’s list.
I’d argue Best Mate won 3 so so Good Cups but to turn up and win 3 is an achievement in itself , longevity has to be taken into account
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
I logged into my Hills account a few minutes ago and found there was money in it. To my surprise, they had settled the “Constitution Hill to only win one Champion Hurdle” bet.
I thought I was going to have to wait until the horse was formally retired, with Hills arguing there was a possibility he might yet go back over the obstacles.
I expect Mr Davies has bought a few extra packets of hobnobs this week..
Best Mate for me is another horse I never really took to, probably due to his sparing appearances on a racecourse, his first Gold Cup win was his 4th and final run of that season with his subsequent 2 Gold Cup wins being his 3rd and final runs of those respective seasons.
Yes winning 3 Gold Cup’s is a tough task but to call them so-so would be being rather generous (Commanche Court, Trucker Tavern and Sir Rembrandt would have been very average winners of Gold Cups for sure). His peak years (age 7, 8 and 9) conincided with not a great bunch of staying chasers.
Best Mate ticked very few boxes for me, chasing wise he had a period from late 2001 (his first season out of novice company) to late 2004 (his final completed race before his tragic death) where he was very good and never finished out of the first two in 13 races. So he was limited in the longevity argument.
He ran in just two Limited Handicap races, in one (the 2001 G2 Haldon Gold Cup) he was equal bottom weight with Cenkos and was getting 1lb from Desert Mountain and 12lbs from Fadalko whom he beat 20L and 35L respectively. In the second (a G2 Limited Intermiediate Chase) he was actually top weight and failed by ½L to conceed 18lbs to Wahiba Sands (who’s best performance arguably came when 2nd in the 2002 G1 Melling Chase).
One might argue that this was the start of the era where more grade races started to pop up which meant a lot of the top jumping stars weren’t asked to compete in handicaps like days of old (mores the pity) and while that is not their fault, when you are talking about horse racing GOATS and comparing greats it does (to me) factor into overall calculations. That is probably why I preferred Denman (due to his two top weight Hennesey wins) over Kauto Star even though Kauto had more natural talent and was the more versatile performer.
Its why I would have loved to have seen Constitution Hill (after winning the 2022 Christmas Hurdle) run in the 2023 Betfair Hurdle at Newbury prior to winnning the 2023 Champion Hurdle.
I absolutely loved Best Mate. My favourite horse of all time alongside Kauto Star.
Looking back, those were weak Gold Cups and I don’t think he had near the talent of Kauto. He had a heart of gold though and gave it his absolute all on every outing. That’s probably a big factor in him dying so young.
He retired never having finished out of the first 2 in his career. His last run shouldn’t be counted.
If the health issues hadn’t begun, I think he’d have went very close for a 4th Gold Cup. The ground was absolutely perfect for him the year Kicking King won. I never rated Kicking King at all and that was another dreadful renewal with an average handicapper (Take The Stand) finishing only 5L behind in 2nd.
I like Geraghty now but he was a real cocky shite in his younger days. I remember him saying Best Mate wouldn’t have beaten him any way if he had made it.
I was fuming and thought that was so disrespectful.Came as a great package Best Mate, great horse, trainer, owner and jockey.
The more I know the less I understand.
moehat – it was his first try at 3m and as a result they rode him more to get the trip, afterwards AP said he should have made more use of him and just trusted that he was going to stay. The following year on much softer ground he was in front 3 out and outstayed Hendo’s pair Marlborough & Bacchanal.
Not got top marks for longevity but Flyingbolt deserves his rating and place in the pantheon.
Big race wins C+P from wikipedia:Irish Grand National (1966)
Queen Mother Champion Chase (1966)*
Thyestes Chase (1966)
Arkle Challenge Trophy (1965)
Massey Ferguson Gold Cup (1965)
Black & White Whisky Gold Cup (1965)
Irish Champion Hurdle (1964)
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (1964)*He won by 15 lengths and came 3rd in the champion hurdle the next day.
In the handicaps the weight he gave away was in the order of stones rather than pounds.
Greengrass – I did post about him myself (the entry was on 23 Feb on Page 175 I believe) with an argument to be made that Flyingbolt’s weight carrying performances were actually better than Arkle’s – he was certainly far more versatile than his stablemate and had he come along before Arkle, I am pretty certain the handicapper would have re-written the handicap in the same way he did for Arkle.
They should have run him in the 1966 Gold Cup (their trainer was never keen on pitching them against each other) and it would have been a true race for the ages and I am not sure just who would have prevailed out of the two. We may have got the match up the following year (Flyingbolt’s owners were onboard) but injury to both meant neither made it, Arkle being retired after the 1966 King George and Flyingbolt picking up an injury prior to that, which he never really recovered from even though he would continue to race on afterward.
Oh what might have been.
Just thankful the saga has ended and the horse doesn’t have to go through something he clearly had lost the appetite for. His jumping was always on the limit so falls very likely. Henderson either loves the limelight or talks himself into constantly talking about his horses. As Kevin Blake said in his blog it hasn’t been handled well at all. When loads of real racing fans were praying he wouldn’t jump a hurdle again it was clear the decision should have been made many moons ago.
The whole Southwell sideshow was a distraction. Now we can relax and enjoy the festival instead of fearing for the horse. At least Henderson got there in the end I suppose.
Jac
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.