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As a random experiment, I recently wrote down the ten most prominent ‘alternative’ horses that I thought of and have sorted them in order of interest, if such a chart could ever be rationally worthwhile!
By ‘alternative’, I don’t mean the Frankels & Arkles of this world, but lesser horses – many from years ago – who for some reason have stuck in my mind. I’ll try to explain why that’s the case with each horse. I should also point out that this list could well be different if I wrote it next year! Hopefully, I’ll be writing a new potted biography every couple of days and we’ll be doing a time-honoured Kid Jenson-esque chart countdown.
So, stay tuned pop-pickers, cos straight in at No 10 is…
Number 10
LEANDROS (1982) Richard Hannon
What? You’ve never heard of Leandros? (Not the decent Irish handicapper of the 2000s by the way). Don’t worry, nobody has.
One is allowed to bet in the UK at the age of 18, this happy milestone turning up for me on Monday 29th March 1982. Now this legal technicality was more honoured by myself in the breach than the observance as I’d been punting at a very small level for a few years. However, I was determined to remember this day betting-wise as well as for other reasons, and so walked into William Hills to solve the first at Leicester, a 2yo auction stakes.
With no form to go on at that time of year, I took a price of 3-1 about Leandros, trained by a youthful Richard Hannon and ridden by the reliable Roger Wernham. It finished third behind a facile winner, the Extel commentary mentioning Leandros only forlornly whilst irritatingly pointing out that the winner was “drawing right away”.
I had legally done my money for the very first time but this was a race that taught me plenty about racing. I understood that I basically knew very little about odds and how subjective they are and that betting without form is probably not a strategy I should pursue. I also learned that in gambling, as in life, someone always knows more than you do. And likewise, because of this race, I was to come to understand that some people will go to any lengths to ensure they finish in front.
It wasn’t Leandros who taught me these lessons – he was to become a modest seller-winner before disappearing from view, just like the thousands and thousands of other ordinary horses who exist only in fading form book print or the recesses of our memory. Rather, it was the 20-length winner of that five furlong Leicester stakes.
His name was Flockton Grey.
Mike
I’ll be sorely dissapointed if the turf-hating Peruvian Chief doesn’t make this list Michael.
BUY THE SUN
Mike,
Leandros didn’t quite disappear, as Timeform Racehorses of 1982 reports that he was ‘exported to Algeria’. Although I suppose that amounts to the same thing.
AP
Sorry to say TTC that neither Peruvian Chief or The Tatling are on this list, although a very similar sort is…
Mike
Number 9
VODKATINI (1982-1992) Peter Haynes, Josh Gifford
Vodkatini could well be described as Alex Higgins in equine form. Like the mercurial Ulsterman, when he was good, he could be very good indeed, but when he didn’t fancy it…
The signs were there from the start, Vodkatini running out on his hurdling debut in 1982 yet showing decent winning form albeit pulling like crazy on most occasions. He seemed to go sour over the next couple of seasons, but a change of stables from Peter Haynes to Josh Gifford worked wonders with five wins in 1987/8 (in one of which he whipped round at the start) including the Grand Annual.
The following season, he went off favourite in the Tingle Creek (then a handicap) and duly planted himself. Yet he’d been in prime form at that time, jumping well and staying on strongly to take quality handicaps at Ascot twice and Cheltenham, and then tanking along in the King George behind Desert Orchid before running out of steam over the 3 miles to finish third. However that Cheltenham win in December 1988 was to be his last as the old rogue began to totally lose the plot…
Now operating at the highest level, he was prominent when falling in the Victor Chandler & the Champion Chase, before again disgracing himself Hamlet advert-style at the Grand National meeting and earning a warning from the stewards about future races. Vodkatini’s form over the next couple of seasons started to decline quite markedly and it began to contain more letters than numbers. Connections finally called it a day after he pulled up in a low-grade chase at now-defunct Folkestone in early 1992. He last five runs read: FUPPP
At his best Vodkatini could easily be rated in the 160s – a highly talented performer, if not quite top class, who ran some tremendous races. His bullish, headstrong temperament was probably as much a reason for all his successes as it was for his failures. He always seemed to be running with the choke out to some degree, yet he frequently went after his fences and on going days there was nothing wrong with his jumping. As a betting proposition, his antics were normally priced in, although he no doubt turned the air blue in betting shops over the years. He would prove most entertaining nowadays with bookmakers offering all sorts of refunds.
Before joining Peter Haynes, Vodkatini had been an unraced cast-off from Nicky Henderson, but it was Josh Gifford who got the very best out of him, albeit that I don’t think he or anyone else ever truly understood the horse. There’s a story that out of desperation to get him to jump off, Gifford once chased him around at the start whilst shaking a Coke can full of pebbles. I mean, it’s probably nonsense but don’t you just want to believe it?
Mike
Hi Mike. When you mentioned “alternative” racehorses, Vodkatini was the horse I thought of first!
Look forward to seeing your other choices.
I recall there was a sad end to the Vodkatini tale. In 1995, he and his former stablemate Door Latch were brought out of retirement in their dotage to run in a point-to-point.
Vodkatini fell and brought down Door Latch, and the injuries they sustained ultimately proved fatal for them both. If only Vodkatini had refused to race that day as well. A tragic end for two grand horses.
Cheers Marlingford, I wasn’t aware of that. Door Latch was another of Gifford’s, also very smart. In that PtP, they would have been racing at 16yo & 17yo respectively after having not set foot on a racecourse for years. Frankly, pretty unbeleivable and unacceptable.
Mike
Vodkatini fell and brought down Door Latch, and the injuries they sustained ultimately proved fatal for them both. If only Vodkatini had refused to race that day as well. A tragic end for two grand horses.
What a terrible end for the pair of them. I think Door Latch would have been one of Jim Joel’s last runners/winners. I have a distant memory of him running in a small field at Ascot in the late 80s /early 90s with the camera panning in on him going to post with Peter O’Sullevan’s hushed tones paying tribute to “Harold Joel Joel” – weird what stays in your memory for no reason at all – unless I’ve made it up of course. Maybe it was Sandown – I’ll have a look in the shed see if I can find it.
I do like these nostalgia threads , hope there won’t be any 21st century horses involved betlarge
Currently sitting at #5 in my all-time top 10 fantasy horse races I have Vodkatini lining up against Levaramoss in a match, the pair just shuffling their feet, whistling innocently, and generally looking a bit shifty when the flag goes down.
Salut A Toi,
I’d hazard a guess that the O’Sullevan comment was at the end of the week following the death of Jim Joel. That was on March 23rd, 1992, and five days later, the first televised race from Ascot was a six runner novice chase. The field included Buck Willow, owned by Mr Joel and trained by Josh Gifford.
Mike,
I was at Sandown the day Vodkatini declined to take part in the Tingle Creek – he got almost as big a cheer from the crowd as he cantered back past the stands, as Desert Orchid did when he won the race. And I do rememeber that story about the tin can and the pebbles – no idea when or where it might have happened, but it did get reported in the racing press at the time.
AP
that was such a tragic end for them both 
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