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Ed Chamberlain is preaching that due to Field Of Gold being a grey it is going to be a draw for terrestrial viewers, really I can’t see it who cares the draw will be that he is a good horse. What is it with these people that they have to make tenuous connections to the likes of Desert Orchid and One Man who were certainly popular mainly due to the talent, flamboyance and longevity of Dessie, you are not going to get that with Field Of Gold.
The more I know the less I understand.
I think it is more a question of grey horses being quite obviously different/striking and standing out because the vast majority of horses fall into the bay and dark bay category – my mum is not a massive racing fan (bets mainly on Cheltenham Festival & Grand National) but she will always asks me about a grey horse if she sees one before a race is due to start and if one is already under way she will (as regular as clockwork) call out in passing ‘the grey horse will we it’ (even though it very rarely does actually win).
Its similar to how people that don’t have a lot of racing knowledge and/or don’t spend much time watching will always latch onto a horse with some kind of name recognition to them or they might know a named jockey (like Lester, Frankie or AP back in the day) that has transcended the sport on a certain level, so I can sort of understand where Ed is coming from in the fact that FOG will no doubt stand out amongst the crowd to a very casual observer.
For the rest of us with a lot more racing knowledge, it is very much just another eye rolling enducing statement from ITV Racing’s head cheerleader.
I must admit after Field Of Gold won last week I thought to myself “What was the last genuinely top class grey horse on the Flat?” I have probably forgotten something obvious.
When I was started to properly watch racing, Henry Cecil had Indian Skimmer. I was at Newmarket when she won the Champion Stakes. That was back in the late 1980s, so there must have been a top class grey horse on the Flat since.
Err I’d try and argue that a horses co!our shouldnt make it more popular ….but then look at my profile pic ….
Thanks ERL, I did say I had missed something obvious! Although even Daylami must be going back about 25 years now.
I think greys ARE irrationally popular with the casual racing watcher, by that I mean the casual ITV Racing viewer.
The trouble with Chamberlin’s argument is that there won’t really be time for him to build a public following, unlike the chasers who build that following over a few years.
However, what you can guarantee is that ITV will milk every excruciating ounce of what they mistakenly think is the public’s mass affection for the horse.
Next time he runs watch at your peril.Since Daylami’s annus mirabilis in 1999, we have had two grey Arc winners: Dalakhani (2003) and Alpinista (2022).
Going through Timeform’s highest-ever flat horses, only two greys have been rated higher than Daylami (138). They are champion sprinter Abernant (142) and American star Arrogate (139).
Silver Charm still alive , oldest Kentucky Derby winner , hes is very white now .
Greys will be only colour with own race , Newmarket and one at Flemington on Mel Cup Day .One of my favourite 2YOs who happened to be a grey was the little rocket Paris House who couldn’t quite hold on in the Nunthorpe as a 2YO being run down by Sheikh Albadou.
The more I know the less I understand.
Not a grey but odd marked horse won Saturday at Randwick , ex Gosden has been in OZ couple years , Quantum Cat . Looks like someone stood on him to paint stable celling , as they went into gate commentator rightly pointed out he wont be part of a ringing coup , or any mix up .
My niece (b 1985) watched Desert Orchid with her mother, win the Gold Cup. And that fixed in her mind that greys are the best horses.
Her current favourite horse is the 4yo filly Estrange. Only a Group 3 winner so far, but she has Group 1 ambitions in her future.
https://www.racingtv.com/watch/replays/2025-05-31/haydock-park/1458
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