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The 3.45 at Downpatrick today is a humdrum beginners’ chase made interesting by the fact that there’s a ten year age gap between the eldest runner (the 14yo Moon Prince) and the youngest (the 4yo Finding Touch).
Does anyone know of any race run under rules with a larger disparity in age between two runners? I certainly don’t, although those who have the form books from Sonny Somers’ time might be able to find an example or two.
Edit: Just looked up Victory Gunner’s record on the Racing Post website and Richard Lee’s stalwart ran in a handicap chase at Lingfield last year at the ripe old age of seventeen. One of his rivals, Leith Hill Legasi, was a sprightly six years old at the time, giving a difference of eleven years.
Any advance on eleven?
Sonny Somers won twice as an eighteen year old, once at Southwell, once at Lingfield on his final start.
A horse called Creggmore Boy won at Cartmel aged seventeen in 1957 and had his final run there aged 22 in 1962.
Fiddlers Pike ran as a sixteen year old, his final start was at Newton Abbot, but there again he didn’t have his first race until he was ten, also at Newton Abbot where he came second. Not sure if the racecards are available online to see who their opponents were but I might just have the racecard for his first start as I was a regular at Newton Abbot in those days.
Got an eleven-year gap on the flat courtesy of 14yo The Tatling’s last (victorious) run at Wolves in December 2011. Several of his opponents were 3yos, including short-head runner-up Novabridge.
The Tatling also ran aged ten in The Nunthorpe when Kingsgate Native won it as a 2yo. Eight years could be a record for a Group One!
Mike
Megalala at 15 has run against and beat some 3 year olds this season
Fit The Cove was another in Ireland last season as a 15 year old running against 3 year olds.
Any advance on 12?
Tangential to the OP, I’d like to introduce a special category for Classic races.
Several of the early Derby winners were in fact four years old at the time, so the largest age disparity in an English Classic is probably 1.
If anyone knows of a ‘2’ then I’ll be seriously impressed.
Megalala at 15 has run against and beat some 3 year olds this season
Fit The Cove was another in Ireland last season as a 15 year old running against 3 year olds.
Any advance on 12?
I didn’t even think of any flat horses racing beyond thirteen and wasn’t aware that Megalala was still going!
Megalala at 15 has run against and beat some 3 year olds this season
Fit The Cove was another in Ireland last season as a 15 year old running against 3 year olds.
Any advance on 12?
I can equal 12. Jimbalou ran six times during 1999 and 2000 as a 16- and 17-year-old, with four- and five-year-olds respectively in opposition. Sadly there wasn’t a 4yo in the line-up of the Taunton selling hurdle he took in on April 6th, 2000, his sole run as a 17yo, so the gap of 13 wasn’t achieved.
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.
Stop the clock! I’ve found a thirteen!
Exeter, May 29th 1991. A four-runner handicap hurdle on hard ground. The Martin Pipe-trained favourite Blake’s Progress was a mere slip of a thing at five years of age. The 100-1 outsider Ken Lake, owner-trained by RW Pincombe and rated a mere 46 (and racing from 48lb wrong here), was eighteen years of age. He finished several time zones behind the Pipe horse, himself a well-beaten third.
Soooooo, can we go to a gap of fourteen, then?
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.
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