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You mean you were the maddening crowd..the whole two of you.
For two educated men I would have thought you would have had a bit more respect for the thread starter and post something worth reading……..go play in the lounge you bozo’s
Unless I’m missing something, Quixallcrossett the poster and I appear to be getting a telling off for something we both posted well over three years ago. How odd.
Be assured the nominating of old Quixall was not facetious, Fist. Mine and QC’s personal and emotional involvement with the gelding is well documented both here and outwith TRF, and his appearance at a racecourse did add numbers to the gate (never more so than on the occasion of his 100th Rules run at Southwell, July 2001, when the place was absolutely packed).
Hope this helps clarify matters.
For the avoidance of doubt, incidentally, QC the poster isn’t male, even if QC the horse was.Very bests for now, speak soon,
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Were you there Pinza?
The most rousing reception for a Flat horse it’s been my privilege to be part of
No, I wasn’t there Drone. In truth, I didn’t want to risk spoiling the
finest hour
feeling I’d been privileged to be part of at Sandown. I couldn’t bear the thought of anything less, though from your description the feeling
was
repeated.
Something of that in France too – another massively generous response. I don’t know about Ireland. Seemed not so big a deal … maybe too many Coolmore connections there to allow unbridled ecstasy!
STS got a massive reception at Leopardstown – the best I can recall for a flat horse in Ireland. Coolmore wouldn’t be too popular with a fair proportion of the ordinary racegoers and Oxx and Kinane were always crowd favourites.
It was nothing compared to what a good NH horse would get though. A horse like Danoli or Limestone Lad from small unfashionable yards would always be guaranteed huge crowds. The the sort of cult following that Danoli generated is unlikely to be seen again.
The only thing that puts me off going to see a particular horse is the fear that they won’t turn up that day…I was there when Istabraq won his third Champion Hurdle, and there was a scare that morning about whether he would run or not. What would have been a good days racing anyway could have turned into a disappointing one. I went to the Ebor the day after Sea the Stars ran there, and I was asking the staff what the atmosphere was like the day before. They said people were just lining up to see him. It’s funny how you start to get fond of certain horses, only to realise that a lot of other people are feeling the same way; I adored See More Business, but didn’t think he was the sort of horse to make others feel the same way; it slowly dawned on me that this was happening. It goes without saying that One Man had the same effect.That’s why I think it’s so important that retired horses parade before races. It was wonderful to see Dessie and See More Business at Cheltenham; I just used to stand by the pre parade ring at Cheltenham gazing at them all choked up and emotional. I desperately wanted to see The Tatling before he finally hung up his boots, but that isn’t going to happen. This is horse racing, and no matter about the betting and other aspects of it, it’s all down to the horses, and most of us go racing to see them and, if we’re lucky, feel that we’ve been touched by greatness that day. I stood near to Grey Abbey after his rather disappointing run in the Gold Cup, and was happy that I’d just seen him in the flesh; can still remember Francois Doumens face after Baraccouda was beaten; the shock to find that Moscow Flyer had been beaten in his last race at Punchestown. Still treasured memories, even if they are tinged with sadness.
Jeremy and Quixall Crossett – I’m not sure I see anyone telling you off for your loyalty and appreciation of a horse who took part with honour as best he could. I hope not, I too harbour many great memories of him and his connections. You don’t have to win to go racing!
I agree with Moe too, sometimes it is just grand to see some of these old horses, and winning is a bonus.
I remember some amazing scenes at Cheltenham when horses that did not win got massive receptions. On See More’s last run in the Gold Cup fans followed him all the way to the walk out area and some guys who came down from the North and called themselves, ‘the boys from the North’ shouted out to Joe Tizzard, ‘bring him back safe Joe’. These guys were hardly boys but it was harking back to their youth when they had worked in racing. They had long given up racing until one of their Grandsons decided See More was his fav horse. See More rekindled their racing enthusiasm and friendships and they followed him about.
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The only serious crowd pullers ( multiple occasions ) on the flat in the last few years have been Silent Witness ( HK ), Deep Impact ( Jap ) and Zenyatta. Most other big names simply haven’t raced for long enough to capture the imagination of the general public or never reached demigod status.
Lonhro, Octagonal, Manikato, Sunline, Kingston Town, Makybe Diva, Northerly, Vo Rogue, So You Think et al played to a lot of empty seats over the years by Big Red standards. Phar Lap attracted massive crowds through the gates plus non paying viewing areas that were never counted on official stats.
The Motivator full house at Sandown was pre sold out with many having high expectations for the clash between him and Shamardal that sadly never happened.
At the risk of diverting this thread from ‘crowd pullers’ down ‘favourite racehorses’ lane, a little tale concerning a fairly run-of-the-mill nag who I witnessed receiving a thunderous reception after a win
Some may remember Chergan, a ~115-120 rated chaser trained by Sue Bradburne. At that level he was one of the most adept and clean jumpers of a fence you could wish to see, one who fell just once in over 50 chases. It goes without saying that a horse with such a profile would become a favourite of many a racegoer.
In March 2004 I set off for Doncaster with the usual eager anticipation revved-up still further by the prospect of knowing Chergan was due to run. Being a skinflint I always try to find someone willing to share a taxi from station to course and sure enough a gent accepted the offer. The usual sort of pre-race chat-with-a-stranger ensued: ‘regular here are you’ ‘what d’ya fancy then’ ‘great track Donny innit’…blah blah
‘I’ve travelled up from Brighton’ gent reported; ‘long way’ I countered; ‘sure is, but I’ve got a horse running’; ‘aye who’s that then?; ‘Chergan’. My face lit up ‘lovely horse, a favourite of mine’; gent smiled ‘mine, my partners, and Sue’s too’; ‘stiff mark at present, he’ll have to improve again to win this’ I ventured; ‘maybe but Sue’s got him spot on and I’ll be backing him’; ‘good luck, enjoy the day’ and we parted
I backed the second, Super Nomad, and Chergan won at 7/1, unbacked. It was a Saturday if memory serves so a decent crowd was in and considering Chergan was fourth pick of the punters the reception he got when crossing the line was voluminous. There then followed what appeared to be a swift mass exodus from stands to winning enclosure where the horse was met with a tremendous reception, including a rather loud hoorah and cane-painful clapping of the hands from me.
Didn’t manage to catch the eye of my taxi companion but he and the other connections appeared, quite understandably, to be in top spirits
I forget, but I think the gent was Mr Hardie of the Copland, Hardie and Steel partnership
Ta mate, enjoyed it
Aaaaah, lovely story, Drone. On broadly similar lines, I’m reminded of the ovation which greeted Snowy following his win at Kelso on Arc Day 2009 – far in excess of that accorded to Sea The Stars’ Arc win as viewed on the screens there that day.
I can’t conceive that this charismatic Northern grey hadn’t added a fair few to the gate of an already not inconsiderable attendance, not least as murmurs of retirement had been voluble beforehand – "last chance to see", and all that. Smashing animal, loved by many.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
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These are wonderful, warming tales of the old jumpers. Great stuff!
My only question to received wisdom, would be that although Salmon may taste better, Sturgeon is more highly prized because of its rarity value.
The same is true of those fantastic moments where a flat horse gets to people in the way that so many jumpers do. It’s not any better, but it’s the rarity value that makes it more precious.
For the avoidance of doubt, incidentally, QC the poster isn’t male, even if QC the horse was.
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