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I would love to get into Anne Duchess of westminster’s private collection must be some awesome pics we shall never see.
I can Imagine how you must have felt and thousands like you when Mill House got beat. He looked unbeatable he was an awesome horse who stood head and shoulders above everything else at the time. There is little doubt he would probably have won 4 Gold Cups and been hailed as the greatest of all time had it not been for Arkle.
I think it must have been the 2 pints of guiness Arkle drank everyday that made the difference.
I was at Sandown with my uncle the day he beat Rondetto and Mill House and even at my tender age couldn’t believe what I saw….I remember some guy next to us saying "Mill House has got him beat today" and for a few moments it looked like he was going to be right……….even the jockey said later he was going so well he thought he was going to win……..out of the blue Arkle just found another gear and was gone……..it was no fluke and Mill House had done nothing wrong, the race was run 16 seconds faster than any horse had ever covered the distance in before. Mill House had just met Arkle in what was probably the best race he ever ran in his career. They talk about Best mate beeing a good jumper…..Arkle jumped one fence that day and I swear he cleared it by 3 feet and gained 2 lengths in the air on Mill House.
The Irish reckon Arkle read the sporting life the day before and knew exactly how they planned to ride Mill House and thought it was a good opportuinty to take the piss out of him…
they actually had a stand at Cheltenham the other year with lots of photos, video footage and items from the Duchess’s private collection; wish I’d had more time to see all of it…..didn’t she used to say that in the summer when he was with her he used to be asleep in the field and wouldn’t get up until she walked across and gave him a mint. he had such character and presence….
best m8 was best jumper by far, and the only one to have won goldcup 3x running, and probably more to have come if not for his tragic end,,,,
Here’s the Nick Dundee race – oh what might have been…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLI-SWEJ … re=related
And here’s Stormin’s interview afterwards –
"How are you going?" I’m beat says it all……..can’t believe there are people who think he wasn’t something special or that he wouldn’t have beaten LLT.
Very sad outcome and as you say "what might have been"…..thanks again
Best Mate, whilst clearly a high class animal, achieved nothing in winning three Gold Cups and, in my view, found himself struggling against the very best of his time. Well, I say against the very best, maybe ‘when conditions weren’t absolutely perfect’ would be more accurate.
Best Mate could only win if the ground was perfect, the wind wasn’t blowing straight at him, the grass was mown in the direction they were running and he hadn’t ‘grazed his head’ at any stage within three months of the race. When conditions weren’t ideal (and of course, it was a ready-made excuse for connections) he found things eminently more difficult.
Jair Du Cochet embarassed him at Huntingdon – and, for what it’s worth, we never saw the best of Jair Du Cochet who was potentially quite special – he struggled to get the better of Seebald at Exeter, and Beef Or Salmon laughed at him in Ireland.
It’s no bad thing to have been beaten by the aforementioned horses, and he was a gallant fencer, but he was by no means in the same league as Kauto Star ability-wise. Good, but not great.
I take it you dind’t like him too much?
I am bursting my sides reading that about the grass
But hell what a good and accurate post…..damn thing that gets me Terry B was one of the bravest and best Jockeys I ever saw……but such a wimp when it came to taking any chances with Best Mate.
I really liked Best Mate but I am under no illusions that he was a good Gold Cup winner just because he won 3……….moderate by the standards expected for sure. No buzz about him just workmanlike….good horse like Kauto wouldn’t see him in his way.
It was nice to see Arkle on the front page of today’s Guardian. He’s still making the headlines after all these years.
Here’s the Nick Dundee race – oh what might have been…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLI-SWEJ … re=related
And here’s Stormin’s interview afterwards –
What would be far more interesting is an interview with Williamson now to see if he realises how wrong he was.
It was nice to see Arkle on the front page of today’s Guardian. He’s still making the headlines after all these years.
Every good chaser who does something special is immediatly compared to one horse……..I wish I has a hundred quid for everytime I have read or heard someone say "he could be the best since Arkle"…..unfortuantely they threw away the mould when they made him……now It’s Denman’s turn to be compared………waste of ink as far as I’m concerned…..though I may end up eating my word because he does look the part….but looking the part and being the part are not the same thing………only time will tell
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