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Not sure about the partnership but I’d have to disagree with you on Callisoe Bay being the best two mile novice that season; he was impressive at Newbury but blew out in the Tolwortb, Supreme and at Aintree. Berude Not To also didn’t win again after the Challow, although he almost got up in the SunAlliance Novice Hurdle.
You’re right about Callisoe Bay, but apart from him I don’t remember many novice hurdlers from that season. Silver Wedge was a juvenile, so was Greenback who won 6-7 races that season. Relkeel was already in his 2nd hurdling season and the races Callisoe Bay won, were pretty weak.
Oliver Sherwood also trained The West Awake who was a really good horse , and another one (who I remembered this afternoon, and have now forgotten) which will come back to me (advancing years !). He was former assistant to the great Fred Winter. Have there been any previous threads re great trainers , and the likelihood of their assistants / successors , succeeding ?
Two training proteges of Fred Winter were Charlie Brooks (famous for two seconds with Suny Bay and winning with the editor of the Sun) and Johnny Francome the tussle haired jack of all trades. One hating to be middle class and the other accepting he came from working class roots. Whatever Winter taught them about horses they had their own difficult personality traits and 15 years for Francome and twelve for Brooks with the lovely Miriam didn’t seem to knock any sense into either of the pair.
Brooks gave up training because he felt he couldn’t accept being second best ( only to accept second best on a second bite of the cherry many years later) and Francome couldn’t take the dedication or the workload. Both successful authors but they were both possibly too close to the characters in the books they created. Winning is not everything but Francome won more in the end through safety first in my opinion. Brooks was always the bigger gambler and who knows which man is the happier as they stare into the dying winter embers ?
The big issue for Sherwood was the Lloyds of London insurance crash. His father was a leading player in the Lloyds market and as a result, most of Sherwood’s owners were Lloyds investors who lost fortunes in the early to mid 90’s. I suspect it also cost Sherwood himself.
His best horse back then was probably Large Action, who won many top class hurdle races, including two Bula Hurdles and a Tote Gold Trophy, but was never comfortable on the Cheltenham Old Course and was twice placed in the Champion Hurdle before breaking down at his third attempt on the race.
@Gladiateur – it was Rebel Song. Well remembered. Your mental faculties are holding up much better than mine mate.
I’d add ” what happened to the pipe yard ” , they are having a better season but no superstars for them now , according to the racing post site there top rated horse is Ramses De Teille …..
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
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