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There’s probably several uses of the term dog to describe something that is common, or not real, or not as good as the original.
One that springs to mind is dog-rose.
Yep, dog is no more than a mildly pejorative term for something inferior, secondary or poor
one inferior of its kind : an investment not worth its price : an undesirable piece of merchandise
(Webster’s)
Doggerel has the same linguistic root
Like the chicken-and-egg what came first, ‘dog’ the animal or ‘dog’ in the above sense?
During my brief stint with old ATR, I was in the sudio covering a Cheltenham meeting with Robert Cooper as presenter. In the run-up to a handicap hurdle as we went through the runners, he posed the standard ‘what about X’ question.
I responded that the horse would only have a chance if the race was transferred from Cheltenham to Walthamstow, which I thought was a bit more subtle than referring to it as a dog in plain terms.
The look on Robert’s face was priceless and viewers were gifted ten seconds of very welcome silence. Off air, I was sternly informed that I should never risk offending connections by such a comment.
Oddly enough, the owners approached me at Stratford the following week and told me they entirely agreed wth me and were about to retire the horse.
But I was left in no doubt that so far as broadcasting is concerned, bland is best.
AP
A fascinating and cautionary tale, AP, and proof positive that second-guessing what anyone can get away with in any given scenario is easier said than done.
Ostensibly following the trainer’s lead may be the way to go. However, just because Gary Moore called Master T "an evil little horse who loves to fall" and Evan Williams saved the epiphet "the most frustrating, evil horse ever" for Vibe, doesn’t mean the respective horses’ owners won’t take you to task for doing likewise!
The
Sportsman
‘s line on irresolute of naughty horses was, broadly speaking, "libel horses but not people", and I don’t recall us getting too many complaints from connections about us so doing. Maybe they just didn’t consider us a credible enough publication to warrant a response…
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
The
Sportsman
‘s line on irresolute of naughty horses was, broadly speaking, "libel horses but not people", and I don’t recall us getting too many complaints from connections about us so doing. Maybe they just didn’t consider us a credible enough publication to warrant a response…
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)The then owner of Ryder’s Storm might disagree!
Instead of those derogatory names, why not refer to the unfortunate animal as being a bit of an old Quixall Crossett.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Colin,
I don’t remember any dispute with Mr Gallagher, unless it was about the effectiveness of the rider on board the French horse beaten by One Knight at Cheltenham. Pretty sure that was the only day we shared a studio.
AP
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This is one funny thread
Horses like all animals respond to voice tones and know when their jockey or lad is angry. Doesn’t much matter if you shout "did put ink on the ceiling" or "lift you feet you clumsy B" you get the same response. Nothing if he’s one ignorant sod or he’ll wake himself up and try harder.
The one thing you can be sure of, is they will have worse names for us than we have for them
The then owner of Ryder’s Storm might disagree!
Oooh, did we get grief off Ryder Racing? Must have missed that.
Just trying to remember now if it was that horse of whom one of our number said, "Gains cheekpieces today but really needs an outboard motor". Arf.
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.
Instead of those derogatory names, why not refer to the unfortunate animal as being a bit of an old Quixall Crossett.
Because Quixall Crossett’s resolution was never in any real doubt, just his ability to run as fast as his rivals. He was neither yak nor dog, but possibly a boat.
HTH,
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.
Instead of those derogatory names, why not refer to the unfortunate animal as being a bit of an old Quixall Crossett.
Because Quixall Crossett’s resolution was never in any real doubt, just his ability to run as fast as his rivals. He was neither yak nor dog, but possibly a boat.
HTH,
gc
Yep Quixall was not an awful horse as he finished 3rd on a few occasions its just that he had his own speed of running when in races.
Anyway whats wrong with saying what you really think of any particular horse, sure the owners might not take too kindly but we do live in a world of free speech dont we.
Aslong as the words Dog Food or Glue Factory dont get mentioned then Pig or Dog should be ok.
I can certainly confirm connections don’t like it when their horse gets sqiggled. I’ve dealt with some people who you get the impression they’d be less offended if you squiigled their wife!
Five of the nine runners in Sedgefield’s 3.15 tomorrow have squiggles
The Timeform Racecard salesman will need a minder
By the same token it might be viewed as slightly ironic that John Wade Waste Recycling sponsor the Selling Hurdle series.
Rob
He’s doing Waste Recycling now, is he? So has the bottom fallen out of Equine Rubber, so to speak?
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.
Yep Quixall was not an awful horse as he finished 3rd on a few occasions
Six occasions, as it happens. He finished second twice as well, or three times if you include his solitary point-to-point at Duncombe Park in 1996;
0//P09U95//98F885/445/UP57
2
63U6PPF/PP733524654449F7U6FP6PU55654U33/
4495PPF456P66625/5846BP5P65P75U857P/P537P/4P-P6UU(source: http://www.quixall-crossett.com)
Aslong as the words Dog Food or Glue Factory don’t get mentioned
I have wondered for a while how comfortably it ought to sit that a butcher has sponsored races at Uttoxeter on and off for some years.
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.
Which reminds me of the occasions when Mackenzie, Selby & Harris have pulled no punches in their descriptions of unwilling animals, such as:
A complete dog, and hopefully will end up inside one
and
Deserves nothing less than a bullet between the ears
Sorry, Alan, must have been two other people…….now what the hell is my name……..Ah! yes.
Colin
The then owner of Ryder’s Storm might disagree!
Were you still there for that, Smithy?!
The story was that Ryders Storm won a couple of soft races less than impressively, and The Sportsman’s post-race analyst doubted each time that the horse could follow up.
After the horse’s hat-trick success the owner phoned me up and ranted for ages before working himself to the climax: "you’ve had a go at my horse, you’ll be having a go at my wife and children next!"
To be fair, it was not The Sportsman’s finest hour.
But then it is difficult to tell what was…
(PS I wish to point out that Ryders Storm has not won a race since, so we were, in some respects, ahead of our time. The Sportsman Knew)
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