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I think many trainers these days avoid taking on really big horses in the belief they’re very difficult to keep sound.
I very seldom go Flat racing but remember at Goodwood in the late ’90s being amazed at the size and presence of Dubai Millennium.
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My ex
Jenny Pitman had a big lad in Superior Finish and Jonjos Keen leader was another,so too was Geoff hubbards Strong Promise…All 3 were big black beauties too.
Ah Keen Leader – I always felt like his brain was too small to control that giant body. He was such a mad flail of legs. I’m not sure if anyone has the alternate footage of Best Mate’s third Gold Cup showing the also-rans, but Keen Leader absolutely zoomed up the hill when Best Mate was halfway down the walkway.
I get a similar feeling about Josses Hill – so much talent for a big horse but so little intelligence. When he ran at Ascot, someone in the office said "they don’t make a racecourse big enough for him!"
I remember them having trouble getting Scallywag in the stalls due to his size.
There was an old favourite of mine Jumbeau was a great looking horse.
Also Kilkillowen made the national fences look like hurdles.I have seen Australian horse Holy Roller described as one of the biggest to race.
He apparently was 18.1 hands high and needed 14 inches of metal for each shoe compared to the average 8 inches for other horses. His biggest win was listed as The Waterford Crystal Mile in 1997.
I found this graphic which compares him to the legendary Seabiscuit, who stood at 15.2 hands.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=holy+ … B477%3B318
This is him in the starting stalls, you’ll just have to guess which one he is, no help from me here
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=holy+ … B636%3B424
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
VtC,
Yep, Doynosaur is the size of a small country, and was something of a favourite of Al and me on the Radio for a couple of seasons. We envisaged her literally devouring the opposition, ‘cos she’s a big girl and probably eats other horses to sate her hunger.
Not sure she’s been out for a while, though, and I imagine she’s no easier to train than any of the other equine behemoths listed.
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.
Soll is a big lad. Saw him in the flesh at Newbury when he ran in the Hennessy and he towered over the field.
I don’t know if he was actually a big horse but Flyingbolt always looked a giant. Well he was in many respects and still my favourite horse.
Yesterdays’ Newbury winner Krakatoa King is quite a sizeable beast,should make a nice staying chaser in time.
“Soll is a big lad. Saw him in the flesh at Newbury when he ran in the Hennessy and he towered over the field”
He looked quite big when winning today right enough.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Skallywag a 17+ hands grey unbeaten in 2 from 2 going into the 1976 St Leger was by far the biggest horse I have ever seen on the flat and he was so big and long he needed a stalls extension on the back of his stall to be able to loaded. The following link is the only racing footage available of him but in it you can clearly see how he towers over the rest of the field in the 1976 St Leger which also includes the also later jumps sire Oats.
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