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There was an interesting letter in the Post this week highlighting how often horses are undeservedly tagged as being ‘great’. I have to agree. There seems a constant need to hype the sport by liberally throwing around superlatives.
For the purposes of this discussion I am just considering the current batch of three mile chasers – so no mention of Tingle Creek chases please.
Denman appears to have developed superstar status overnight but where is the actual evidence to substantiate this claim. I make no apologies for mentioning Arkle as the benchmark of greatness because he gave two stone to Gold Cup horses. By contrast Denman, impressive though the style of victory was, demolished a field of average handicappers – as I mentioned at the time Bible Lord may be good enough to win a useful race but on the day he didn’t stay. As for last season it is not stretching it too much to say the staying novice chasers were generally useless. Ungaro beat Boychuk in the Grade 1 at Kempton – has either of them won a race since? Only Aces Four put up any fight against Denman and his stamina is questionable.
I put up the thread regarding Looks Like Trouble because I really believe at the distance in question his form was considerably more solid than Kauto Star. How good Kauto Star is at three miles really depends on how highly you rate Exotic Dancer. For my liking he went from high-class handicapper to top-class performer rather too quickly.
What else is there around? Look at the betting markets and the answer is pretty much nothing. The fact that The Listener can go over and plunder top Irish prizes says everything about the better Irish horses.
The old adage says you can only beat the best around but does that make you a ‘great’ – not in my opinion.
I think if Kauto Star pulls off the "treble" again this year, he would deserve the "great" epithet, if only for his versatility in winning over such a range of distances and for his general consistancy at the top level.
Beyond that I can’t seen any other current horse in training, in either code, being deserving of the epithet
Hello,
As with literally everything in life, including racing, Television has guided us to our perceptions.
All of a sudden mediocre or ordinary performers in any sphere are "Superstars" or "Great"
Adjectives [or are they Nouns now?], such as "Brilliant" and "Magnificent" are also thrown about at will..
In History the only name to attach Great to was a guy who conquered the known world, went by the name Alexander, I believe,
and a Country who owned a quarter of the world, Britain..
But now the description is attached some dull cretin who wins a Celebrity Show or can dance in a ludicrous ottfit…
Or even worse, an uncouth youth who happens to project a ball into a net..Therefore leading on, Racing will also be tarnished with the misuse of the "Great" word….
Just imagine if Golden Miller, Arkle, NIght Nurse, were given as much media time as today’s horses’, great would be an understatement!!
regards,
doyley
Totally agree words like "Great" are easily thrown around when they shouldn’t be.
Denman for example has won a Sun Alliance and a Hennessy. In both those races what established top horse did he beat? Yet some are already calling him great.
Its just silliness to be honest.
Yes great is thrown around all too easily these days but if you have a Gold Cup, King George, 2 Tingle Creeks and 2 Betfairs in the bag at the age of just 7 as Kauto Star has, you can be called a great IMO.
Just imagine if Golden Miller, Arkle, NIght Nurse, were given as much media time as today’s horses’, great would be an understatement!!
They are and thats the problem. We have a super Champion like Istabraq but those with tinted glasses who love to remind us about how great the past superstars were (must be the only sport in the whole world were athletes in this case horses are not improving and considered better than the predecessors) point out he couldnt be better than Night Nurse etc. And the same again with Kauto Star who imo opinion at his best could give any of the "greats" a run for their money.
Hello,
Hi Aiden, but didn’t Isatbraq "jump" only Eight Hurdles ??
In my lifetime, most hurdlers jumped alot more, an amount I cannot say at present without being "brought down"
Secondly, didn’t those hurdles happen to stay up? Not like the "pretend" hurdles that Isatbraq "jumped"
Thirdly, when the "pretend" hurdles came into fashion, was this the magnet for failed, expensive Flat Horses…?
And, finally why didn’t those magnificent failed Flat horses continue, as in my day, most Hurdlers did, to the Chase regime..
I will tell you why, NH was made very, very easy for a fast Flat Horse, and as a Dinosaur I completely disagreed with it, but I still love todays’ Champions, including Istabraq, but Night Nurse was a completely different animal in a COMPLETELY different game..
regards,
doyley
Istabraq would have been a better animal if there were 20 flights in a race…before his problems his jumping was awesome.
IMO, Kauto Star is the only jumps horse in the UK/Ireland that can be considered "great", but even then, what’s he beaten?
For example, he’s never beaten another gold cup winner.
So, while he’s the best chaser around (based on actual racecourse achievements) and he wins well, he’s never faced the pressure of going up against a genuinely exceptional horse.
(e.g. Moscow Flyer, Best Mate, Kicking King, Beefy in Ireland)
Steve
Hello,
Aiden, Get a grip son. he jumped nothing..
Could you see him progressing to the Arkle, the the QM??..
Nope, let me say now I adore the Hurdlers, more so when they progress, and Istabraq brought me great delight, but as NH fan it was all a joke..
Whereby when Florida Pearl won the bumper we knew we "had a proper horse"…
regards,
doyley
"Great" what a word, probably the most loosely used word in racing. It’s hard not to use the word……..I do it all the time.
But we have to call our fav horses something. So I compiled 3 categories a long time ago for my own peace of mind.
Magnificent,great and brillaint.
Magnificent "Arkle"
Great "L’Escagot" " Red Rum" "Flying Bolt" " Mill House"
Brilliant "Dessie" "One Man" "Pendil" etc
Kauto Star……..He is somewhere between Great and Magnificent he has achieved so much in such a short time the mind boggles on how good he could be. 2M 2m4f 3m 3m2f it seems to make little difference to him…..he does the same thing time and time again…..he has a best turn of foot I have ever seen in a chaser……..he is like Bula was over hurdles. Time will tell if he is going to be considered as highly as I regard him but if he never won another race he would still be a great horse in my book.
Denman or Kauto could get stuffed this week, the difference being Kauto has Superstar status already.
I can’t believe Denman is anywhere near as good as Kauto but the great Fulke Walwyn said the same about Arkle when he was challenging Mill House for supremacy.
I wish the Listener was a proven stayer the the Lexus would tell us more than it might. I have had a close look at the Listener and he is a fair tool to say the least……if he does stay Denman better be good but the horse is on a hiding to nothing….if Denman wins 20 lengths they will claim the Listener didn’t get the trip and we will still be wondering how good he really is
So its hurdlers you have a problem with, well thats a different matter but for all I loved Florida Pearl I know it will be Istabraq who will be the one most remembered in 20-30 year regardless of weither or not you think he "jumped nothing".
Istabraq was truly one of the best winners of the Champion Hurdles ever seen but in comparison to Dessie eg., was wrapped up in cotton wool.
Not many hurdlers have reached "Superstar Status" to the extent Dessie Red Rum and Arkle did……… Persian War is probably the only horse who did but he ran in everything there was to run in.
Of the others Danoli was probably the most popular with the public on both sides of the water, closely followed by Sea Pigeon who was also very successful on the flat.
Istabraq was truly one of the best winners of the Champion Hurdles ever seen but in comparison to Dessie eg., was wrapped up in cotton wool.
What races could Istabraq have ran in that he didnt?[/code]
Someone tell me a top class horse that Istabraq beat over hurdles. The competition was absolutely dire ………. French Holly, Theatreworld, Hors La Loi ???
Good horse but there’s no way IMO that he would’ve beaten any of the 70’s Champions or Persian War.
I am not suggesting the horses he beat were superstars but equally they were not as you call it "dire". French Holly was the supposid second coming after winning so well as a novice but he couldnt get him off the bridle…nor indeed could any. He also beat Moscow Flyer and Limestone Lad over hurdles with ease. It was the margins in which he beat these horses.
As for Sea Pigeon and co…yep I am sure they were very good horses but there is this assumption within racing that those in the past were much superior. I have watched many of those races on tape and time and time again there are usually a few horses finishing close up. If that happens nowadays the form is always rubbished but back then it was simply because they were all superstars.
Racing is the only sport I can think off where athletes (horses) and performances are considered to be not improving. How on earth is that possible?
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