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I just watched a few uploads on YouTube about this legendary horse and I also have an VHS of my own, but obviously no possibility to watch it nowadays.
Let me get straight to the point: How “GREAT” was he really? Or was he just overrated and we just got carried away by the fact he was a grey horse?
A few facts to start with: Never went to Ireland, was a complete failure at Cheltenham with the exception of his QMCC win and he was also a complete failure at Aintree. He won a Hennessy of 10-0 against a horse from New Zealand that never won in open company, he was very good in 3-5 runner fields and was truly outstanding in the rearranged King George of 1995. But are those wins and a couple of Charlie Hall victories where he beat a total of six runners good enough to sustain his legendary status?
I still have loads of symphaty for him and his connections, but tell me what made him a legend and why?
Interesting question Ex-RubyLight. I think it all depends on how you define a “great” and how many “greats” you think it is acceptable to have. Looking at the number and variety of races he won, and the way he maintained extremely high class form over a prolonged period, I would definitely say he was a great. I think other horses have shown higher class form, but some greats are greater than others.
I think the end of his career when he finally got his Festival win definitely adds to the romance of his story, and then of course we have him being a grey and his tragic demise to consider too. But I think I’d consider any horse with his record a “great”.
There were similar comments on the Cheltenham thread about the likes of Istabraq and Hurricane Fly being over rated, which I agreed with.
However, doesn’t this risk getting a bit miserable? Holes can be picked in most horses form.
Shouldn’t we just enjoy them for what they are, instead of measuring them against some sort of standard?
As stated on the Cheltenham thread, it depends on your criteria for greatness.
If versatility is big for you, then winning a Hennessy and a Champion Chase, along with the King George might make him great – effective at 2m, 3m and 3m2f.
But I was never a particular fan and I don’t even need to stray outside greys to find his superior.
Desert Orchid was effective from 2m to 3m5f and was simply a better horse.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I wasn’t trying to pick holes in his form, just mentioned a few facts that help us when defining greatness. Somehow I think this word tends to be oberused.
Stating One Man complete failure at Cheltenham apart from winning the most prestigious 2m race on the calendar seems a bit strange.
It’s a bit like saying someone was a complete failure at playing the lottery except for that time they won the £2m jackpot!
I agree with CAS here, just enjoy watching good horses.
“It’s a bit like saying someone was a complete failure at playing the lottery except for that time they won the £2m jackpot!”
Superb, hilarious, line and I tend to agree.
However, possibly like Gladiateur, I think One Man was “very good” rather than “great.”
The word “great” is overused, though not as overused as the more contemporary term “superstar” – the Racing Post must give at least 50 horses the label every year.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“Great” has lost all meaning in general, not just in racing.
How often do you hear football commentators scream “Great effort!” as the ball sails into row Z, for example.
Yeah, that fantastic CC he won. Or Royal never won a chase afterwards from about 30 further starts. Just two Hcap hurdles round Wetherby. Lord Dorcet, almost exactly the same with one Hcap hurdle at Wetherby.
Everybody knew how poor that Champion Chase was, but he fully deserved it.“Great” has lost all meaning in general, not just in racing.
How often do you hear football commentators scream “Great effort!” as the ball sails into row Z, for example.”
Agreed – the devaluation of the superlative is a sign of the times.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"For me a very good horse but he had his flaws – a bit of an oddity in many ways as he won a Hennessy over 3m 2F (which you have to be able to stay) but he went from hard on the bridle 3 out to the petrol gauge hitting ‘E’ coming off the home turn in two Gold Cups – that was why his QMCC was that feel good moment of him finally winging up the Cheltenham hill rather than the legless version in the aforementioned Gold Cups..
I always felt the rescheduled King George he won at Sandown left some sort of physical or mental mark with him as that was the first time I really noticed (after he jumped the last) him going up and down on the same spot and he did it subsequently in most of his staying races afterward (usually on the run in).
That being said there was one very visual moment with him that always impressed/stayed with me and it came in his second King George. It was after jumping the 4th last, Ch4 Racing at the time always used to do a long static camera shot from side on that showed the horses making that long sweeping run around to the the final bend – after jumping said fence One Man was the best part of 8L behind Mr Mulligan and AP but with seemingly little effort from Dunwoody he just breezed up to him at such a rate that by the time they hit the crown of the bend he was right on Mr Mulligan’s tail and Dunwoody was still motionless…..I would imagine that there must be a video of it on YouTube but it was a moment that showed what a very good horse he was to me anyway but if you watch the run in closely it also showed that frailty of him starting to go up and down on the spot in the last 100yds or so.
Double Exposure
Ian Davies’s horse of choice back in the day – time and time again ( if I am not mistaken )
I’m in the camp that says let’s enjoy them for what they are when they are with us. I’m of the opinion that if you backed them more often when they won, rather than lost, you are bound to regard them as “great”.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysIt’s often forgotten that he did win a 3M 1F+ chase round Cheltenham, beating Barton Bank in the 1997 Pillar Chase – form that was reversed six weeks later in the Gold Cup. Barton Bank was older but still top class, as he went on to win the 3M 1F chase at Aintree.
Looking at the career record of One Man, it’s noticeable that apart from that Champion Chase, he never had much success in March/April. As a novice hurdler, he won three times, but was beaten at Aintree and Ayr. At the time, I felt he was probably a horse with an intermittent problem of bursting blood vessels. When I had horses with David Elsworth, one of the theories he talked to me about, was that horses were more likely to burst if the weather was warm, than they were on a cold day in mid winter.
It could only be a theory back then, as there were no facilities on course to scope horses immediately after a race.
One other point about One Man and Cheltenham – both the races he won there were run in a time faster than standard. The going was good to firm for that Pillar Chase and although officially good for the Champion Chase, two other winners that day went under standard time, so it was probably good to firm then as well.
Good to firm ground at Cheltenham in January.
A reminder that once upon a time racecourses did not have water put on them unless it was raining.
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