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Hi all, new on here .
Anyone remember these old faves of mine , Friendly Henry,Amrullah and Willy What to name but three .
Ones for the teenagers eh?
No he was a faint hearted snow white `grey` trained by Stan Mellor i was only about 12 at the time but he was a favourite of mine.
Threw himself on the floor at the first in the 77 national but i still loved him
That was very sensible of him, if he was faint-heated.
I remember Amrullah, I think. A fairly high-class handicap hurdler, but I’ve never been much interested (until now) on betting in those kinds of races.
I don’t think I’ve heard of Friendly Henry, but it reminds me of the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on a racecourse, involving Henry Hall about half-a-dozen years ago or so. It was in the 5f H’cap the day after the King George at Ascot (the Bovis?). The commentator mentioned that Henry Hall always went in last, and always went in unescorted by stalls handlers. Well, Henry Hall prances up, bumps into the side of the gate, injures himself, and gets withdrawn! (He was ok, he ran again a couple of weeks later.) At the time, I took it as an example of how stupid horses are, but I read a few months later that horses can’t see too well about 4-6 feet in front of them (hopefully, someone knowlegable about horses will provide the actual situation/figures regarding horses’ vision).
Hi, new as well.
You’re right – it is said that a horse can’t see directly in front for about 4-6 feet. Which means when they jump a fence they can’t actually see it. Supposedly they decide where it is as they approach and jump from memory.
However, I think there is a lot we don’t know about what they are actually seeing.
I once owned a horse that had the misfortune to be beaten by Amrullah, who was the all time professional loser (until Quixall Crossett came along), but much loved by his owner and trainer, Terry Thorn and John Bridger. Amrullah had quite a lot of ability – if I remember rightly, he once finished third in the valuable juvenile hurdle at Kempton that was run yesterday.
My horse was called Liam’s Pride and he ran in the Noel Novices Chase at Ascot just before Christmas, 1989. There were only four runners and I was sure we could at least beat Amrullah and collect third prize, but we didn’t even manage that. There was never much chance of either of us beating the other two as they were Remittance Man and Morley Street!
A few years later, a half brother to Liam’s Pride turned up in the UK and did OK – he was called Mr Mulligan.
LOL, great story A.P. !
Poor old Liam’s Pride — he certainly ran up against a couple of live ‘uns in that scot race.
I note that he did acquit himself reasonably in his subsequent outings — winning a couple of 2 mile chases. But it is his notoriety in finishing behind Amrullah that is endearing.
Yes, I seem to vaguely recall a Mr Mulligan winning some race or other ……………… some race with Gold Cup in the name, wasn’t it!
Can`t forget Amrullah. He used to set off like a scalded cat and sometimes carried it all the way through to a victory. I remember backing him at 33/1 at Kempton and with three to go he led by a distance. If Betfair was available then I could have laid off but the wily bookies there that day wern`t ready to let me lay it off,as they knew the old scoundrel to well. He was beat on the line.
Roddy are you the part owner of the great Iron Man and even greater Ballycassidy or am i getting mixed up?
Friendly Henry caught a bit of media attention as he ran in the National as a maiden – I think either 88 or 89 – and managed to finish sixth.
As I recall he was a son of the sprinter Be Friendly, so he got more than his fair share of favourable mentions from Peter O’Sullevan!
Roddy are you the part owner of the great Iron Man and even greater Ballycassidy or am i getting mixed up?
Yes mate,and a couple of others in the pipeline. Iron Man runs Thurs at Ludlow and then Chelt.
Friendly Henry caught a bit of media attention as he ran in the National as a maiden – I think either 88 or 89 – and managed to finish sixth.
He was sixth in 1988, but fell at The Booth (fence 11) the year after. And you’re right, Sir Peter made
very
sure he pointed out Friendly Henry had never won a race when he crossed the line!
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Roddy are you the part owner of the great Iron Man and even greater Ballycassidy or am i getting mixed up?
Yes mate,and a couple of others in the pipeline. Iron Man runs Thurs at Ludlow and then Chelt.
I`ll keep my eye out for the result keep thinking there`s a really big race in this fella but i feel the national fences are a struggle ,is it just my impression but is he on the small side seems to land a bit steep for those fences though was very clever at them in the sefton.
Roddy are you the part owner of the great Iron Man and even greater Ballycassidy or am i getting mixed up?
Yes mate,and a couple of others in the pipeline. Iron Man runs Thurs at Ludlow and then Chelt.
I`ll keep my eye out for the result keep thinking there`s a really big race in this fella but i feel the national fences are a struggle ,is it just my impression but is he on the small side seems to land a bit steep for those fences though was very clever at them in the sefton.
Paddy Brennan told me two years ago that he would win a GN one day. He is a brilliant jumper and has no problem with Aintree. Been a bit unlucky there and should have won the Becher. Probably won`t get in this year so will run in the other.
Roddy are you the part owner of the great Iron Man and even greater Ballycassidy or am i getting mixed up?
Yes mate,and a couple of others in the pipeline. Iron Man runs Thurs at Ludlow and then Chelt.
I`ll keep my eye out for the result keep thinking there`s a really big race in this fella but i feel the national fences are a struggle ,is it just my impression but is he on the small side seems to land a bit steep for those fences though was very clever at them in the sefton.
Paddy Brennan told me two years ago that he would win a GN one day. He is a brilliant jumper and has no problem with Aintree. Been a bit unlucky there and should have won the Becher. Probably won`t get in this year so will run in the other.
i`ve been looking at where he is in the handicap and if past trends are anything to go by he will get in ,would love to see him in another national ,despite my reservations he will still be carrying my money as i have said previously there is a big race in this horse.
And it would be justice as your Ballycassidy was the unluckiest national horse in recent times ,he was definately going away from them again when he fell.
I hadn`t been so gutted since Boom Docker refused in 77
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