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Do people really care about whether a horse is English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish?
Just reading DJ’s BOS thread and it seemed to suggest some posters really do seem to defend "their" horses.
Personally I couldn’t give a toss where the horse comes from (trained, born, whatever). But when we get to Cheltenham we get a big deal made of Irish/French/GB winners. Does anyone really care about this or do you just try to work out the best horse in the race?
Reading some of the posts you would think that a lot of people do care but being from Wales I feel a little more objective.
We have won the Gold Cup and if you accept that Mr. Price almost trains or trained in Wales we can claim Flakey Dove as a Champion Hurdle winner but as you say where the horse is trained shouldn’t make any difference to the esteem in which we hold the horse.
Colin
I suppose the one time I do care a little is Breeders Cup night where I do sort of cheer on the Euros.
But even then, I would happily back an American horse if I thought it was the likeliest winner and eulogise about the best horse irrespective of nationality.
Tend to agree Mortisha
One of the attractions of racing is that nationlism should be irrelevant. Doesnt sit easy with the nature of the sport and why we follow it
Wasnt keen on BG’s flag waving on Moscow Flyer that time. I was thrilled at the way he won but that took some of the pleasue away. Not a big deal but best left at home i feel…
I fully agree with Alderbrook. I want to watch good horses run in exciting races and I could not care less where the horse comes from. I ignore it completely and think all this nationalistic nonsense is just woeful.  ÂÂÂ
Whatever I bet on, patriotism goes outta the window, I backed Calzaghe to win against Lacy, not because I’m Welsh but because I did the homework, same thing with horses, especialy the Breeders Cup, (I wish I had taped ‘Invisor’ come steaming home! ( 7.7 on the pari-mutuel) :o
I don’t give a monkeys where the horse/trainer/jockey/owner is from either, and I doubt many people do, even in Cheltenham week. I just like to see a good horse win.
Think its only natural to want those in your locality and who you work with to do well. Do I want to see the best horse win? Of course, but its a nice bonus if Irish based for the reason I stated above.
Quote: from Mortisha on 7:12 pm on Nov. 5, 2006[br]The Anglo-Irish Chektenham rivalry exists only the minds of the Irish and is pathetic.<br>
Wow, thats quite a harsh statement. I am Irish Motisha and I will always have a punt on a horse and disregard nationality. However, regarding Cheltenham, its really only a bit of friendly rivalry and overall a bit of fun. I wouldn’t take it so seriously…. To call it pathetic it actually a little ridiculous IMO.
Clive,
Whats so wrong with BG waving a flag after winning on MF? Its not as if its a swastika for godsake. If an english jock wants to wave a flag over here after winning a major race, I wouldn’t have a problem with it…..
JohnJ.
I agree with Aidan.
True fans should recognise quality wherever they see it, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting the horse I liked in his maiden at Leopardstown or the Curragh to vindicate my judgement by going on to greater things, and I am pleased the guy I used to chat to coming home from school is making it as a trainer.
I am also pleased that the quality of Irish racing in general has never been higher and that we can go to see excellent races such as Teofilo v HRE or BoS v War of Attrition on our doorstep as well as having the best of UK racing on the TV.
And what good racing that is. Did anyone else see the table of the top 10 flat races in the world* in the Irish Times on Saturday? Five of them, the King George, Champion Stakes, Juddmonte, QE II and PRince of Wales Stakes are staged in England. Not bad!
* (Based on average International Federation of Horseracing Authorities ratings on the first four horses in leading world races over the last three years)
Arkle was clearly an English horse as he was owned by the Duchess of Westminster:biggrin:
Zorro, you are forgetting that Arkle was Scottish, on account of being named after a mountain in those parts.
Quote: from Zorro on 2:13 pm on Nov. 6, 2006[br]Arkle was clearly an English horse as he was owned by the Duchess of Westminster:biggrin: <br>
Zorro,
Anne Winifred Sullivan (The Duchess of Westminster) was born in Cork and spent most of her childhood there. Not sure if that qualifies her to be English….;)
JohnJ.
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