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Aside from those mentioned above, Sharmadhal’s career was one i was really looking forward to
Decoupage was something else – he would have won a King George at least.
Mysilv would have gone a long way over fences as well.
French Holly is fairly obvious too but as discussed with a friend recently, you’d have to bew worried about the jumping of a horse who fatally injures himself schooling – he may well have never achieved what may have been possible down to his fencing.
Decoupage was something else – he would have won a King George at least.
Something about your username and that posts that makes me think you have a soft spot for some of Mr Egerton’s horses. Always thought Killusty could have been pretty handy if he wasn’t so difficult to train.
re Gloria Victis – didn’t really have an opinion either way as to whether he should have run [ran?] in the Gold Cup; just remember a lot of talk at the time about it [seem to remember John McCririck going on about it a lot]. But, given the vast number of races that we all watch over the years, some moments are just etched into your memory, and you can still see that race in your mind, and for a novice to have that effect on me it must have been very very special…..
Trabolgan
I should also mention Kieran Kelly who won the RSA Hdl on Hardy Eustace in 2003 before losing his life in a fall at Kilbeggan just 5 months later.
I’m not a NH fan, but I’ll go with David Nicholson’s Mighty Mogul. He was a fantastic horse who was cruelly cut down just as his career was taking off, and looked to have the world at his feet.
I had one of the biggest bets of my life on him at Kempton when he slammed Flown and Granville Again (that season’s Champion Hurdle winner) in the Christmas Hurdle. I’d also backed him ante-post for the CH, and also had him in a double at 12s for the the big one with Jodami at 20s for the Gold Cup. Yes, it was the same year Peter Beaumont’s horse won at the festival.
Oh, what could have been – for the horse and for me.
Apart from the plethora of tragedies for the National Hunt aficionado, what about the dramatic career-ending run of Gorytus. Rated 132 as a 2 year old by Timeform (I believe), but the sad site of his obvious distress in the 1982 Dewhurst. A dark chapter in the annals of racing.
Regards,
Dave
llanrumneyboy – I had actually thought of Gorytus last night while perusing this thread. I think Dick Hern believed he was something special, a significant accolade indeed, and it was very sad to see his career ended in such circumstances.
Thetford Forest looked like a very promising horse after his win in the 1992 Sun Alliance novice hurdle. He was sadly injured in a race at Aintree on his next start.
Trabolgan
So is he definitely never seeing a racetrack again? Last I heard (albeit a while ago) connections were still hopeful of a return eventually.
But talking of him, Strong Flow was another recent Hennessey winner who could have been an interesting GC competitor had he improved his jumping instead of getting injured.
I always had Strong Flow down in the same category as Moscow Flyer. A brilliant jumper but plain careless at times. Have a look at his AON run behind Farmer Jack, a superb round of jumping.
I thought I’d read somewhere that Trabolgan was back in full training and expected to run this season.
Can only echo what has been said about Gloria Victis – remember he was gaving Marlborough a stone in the RP Chase and still give him a 10l beating and that was as a 6yo as well. What an incredible race he was running in the Gold Cup as well – because he jumped so far right he must have covered an extra furlong. I think AP said that he felt him go wrong just before the fence that he perished at hence why he suddenly looked beaten.
Imagine if GV, Nick Dundee & Monsignor had hung around long enough to take on Best Mate over fences – what an era we could have had.
More recently, Fundamentalist has been a big disappointment for me because I thought he was destined for superstar status especially after he won the 2m novice chase @ the Open meeting beating subsequent Arkle winner Contraband by 10l. He’s been a complete shadow of the horse that he was since he sustained a leg injury later that season…
Nick Dundee was a potential Superstar, a shame what happened. I’m pretty sure he would’ve won that Sun Alliance Chase. I know Coolmore get loads of stick but everything was done for that horse, it’s a miracle he came back to a Racecourse. Sadly no longer with us.
What about Nicky Henderson’s The Proclomation, killed at Ascot in December 89/90, from what I remember they rated him extremely highly.
Good call. Killed in the Lightning Chase at Ascot at the start of 1990.
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.
Brown’s Gazette was a highly talented hurdler who died during a race.
I remember at least one classy hurdler being killed in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle during the mid-80s – can’t remember whether it was Browne’s Gazette, or Ekbalco, or indeed both.
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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