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They say that they don’t make National Hunt horses like they used to, but there are still a few giant beasts out there. Watching the immense Gentle George win at Leicester today got me thinking: who was biggest or tallest racehorse ever?
A few heavyweight contenders:
Mad Max, Sexy Rexy, Gentle George, Original. Can you think of any bigger?
Always written up as the biggest horse ever to win the Grand National, Party Politics stood over 17 hands tall.
Like so many of that size he suffered with breathing problems and was tubed before he finished second three years after his victory.
I saw him as a novice beating Garrison Savannah at Warwick and I certainly can’t recall seeing a bigger horse, although there was a huge horse running in Hunter Chases more recently whose name currently I’m unable to recall.
Linda Perratt had a huge grey running a couple of seasons back called Anitopia who towered over everything else. He had a big engine when fit but I suspect was difficult to train.
I first saw Tutchec at four years old and he was the biggest four-year-old I’ve ever seen. I commented in time that he would need a while but might turn into a racehorse and he’s turned into a fair winnnig chaser.
Blow me; there was an enormous horse running ound about the Party Politics time and I can’t remember his name. I went to Uttoxeter just to see him one day, but he got injured soon afterwards. This is going to bother me now especially as I didn’t buy racecards in those day.
…just looked up Shraden Leader and he ran at Uttoxeter before running at Ayr and never running again. I’m sure that’s the one as I had it in my head it was a Kim Bailey horse. Yes; I’ve just found a quote describing him as ‘massive’ but no idea how big he was. Might email Kim Bailey to find out. Can remember chatting to his lad as he walked him round the paddock. [blimey; 1994..where does the time go?
]Pleased to know that he survived his injury; wonder what happened to him after 1997 though?
I did start to get paranoid back then because I’d also been to Uttoxeter to see Roll a Joint before he was fatally injured in the National. I had it in my head that when I saw his owners in the paddock they’d be a load of pot heads [alas,they weren’t].
Biggest horse I’ve seen in the flesh was Jimmy Fitzgeralds Uranus Collonges, must have been 18 hands.
Kim Bailey had a couple of other big ones apart from Shraden Leader, Mr Frisk’s half brother Captain Frisk, by the same sire as Party Politics and King’s Fountain, both near 18 hands.
Further Thought was originally trained by Tim Forster, but after two layoffs due to injury, he went back to his owner, Mrs Vanden Burgh. She subsequently trained him when he ran in Hunter Chases.
He was the top rated hunter by Timeform in the 1984/5 season and finished second in the Cheltenham Foxhunters the following season as an 11-y-old. Timeform describe him as a ‘very big long striding horse’.
Info taken from Timeform Chasers and Hurdlers for 1984/5 and 1985/6.
The biggest horse I’ve seen in the flesh on-course was a Sue Smith charge, at Wetherby, in a novice hurdle, about ten years ago. Can’t remember the name and have a feeling was either not seen again or didn’t progress to chases, as it went into my notebook (scrawl on the racecard) as ‘wait for novice chases’
Gave hubby Harvey a hard time from saddling box to parade ring and a wag near me bellowed the not very original line ‘he should be between two shafts’
There was that giant of Graham Wylie/Howard Johnson, Quwetwo, I think they said because of his size, they just couldn’t train him on.
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