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I wonder if anybody can help me.
I read the first paragraph of an article regarding Nicholls v Pipe 2005 title race in the racing post, but no more as I don’t subscribe.
2005 was the year I caught the bug for jumps racing. I was huge fan of the Howard Johnson/Graham Lee partnership and thought Cheltenham was just an easy way of making money when Inglis Drever, Arcalis and no refuge all obliged for me (not backed a winner since!)
I remember the 2005 title race quite well and the tension around it. It seemed quite vicious at the time and was really built up by Channel 4.
Maybe my mind is playing tricks, but I remember watching some racing one day with my dad in the Gus Carter bookies in my local village. My Dad was seething as Pipe had run the same horse 3 days in a row (he was much more well versed on all things jumps racing as he had been losing money for 40plus years at that point and seemed to be no fan of Pipe). I think said horse won all three races? Can anyone confirm that this did happen and the name of the horse. It was in the David Johnson blue and green, I am almost certain of that.
Seems unthinkable now when we have Horses scarcely running 3 times a year!
Just googled it and got the following (it was a horse called Commercial Flyer)
Commercial Flyer 21 22 April Perth , 23 Sandown.
It was been mentioned in a thread here a few years back.
I’ve been at Cottenham PTP and a horse called Bally something or other went round twice in a day .
Also was racing in NZ and horse went round first and last race on the flat , I’d scribbled it out in last race as awesumed it was scratched but in turned up in paddock , placed both times , then few months later done it again at another track . Trifox that one’s name .Thanks for that. That’ll be the one. Just looked on Sporting life. It actually ran 6 times in less than 30 days, winning 5. That is a bit beyond the pale!
Refreshed my memory of Trifox , 74 career runs and backed up loads times . That twice in a day was actually a win ( he had won two days before as well ) followed by a second in last .
The other twice in a day was after a run two days before as well .This previous thread may be of interest https://theracingforum.co.uk/forums/topic/running-twice-in-the-same-day/
Commercial Flyer gets a mention among many others.
I wouldn’t say the horse had a hard race in any of those wins.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
Commercial Flyer was a destroyed horse afterwards. It won a chase after a well needed 10-month break and then his form dipped: PPFPP9PF. his last fall resulted in his death.
After running seven times in six weeks in ran another nine times in four years. Well, it was the Pipe stable what else could you expect?
With form figures like that he should have been on a ban as uncompetitive after PPFPP .
Likes Mr Incredible needs an embargo on entries too , the horse dont want to be there . , its horse racing not let just ride a horse round a course .As a general rule, I’m not a fan of banning horses for being uncompetitive. To give an example, Copperhead had form of FPP50PU not so long ago, but has since had a wonderful season with his recent form being 1112214.
I’d make a distinction between this and when a horse is giving repeated clear signs that it really doesn’t want to race. As much I love quirky horses such as Mr Incredible, there has to be a point when it is accepted that he is letting everyone know he would much rather be somewhere else, and nothing is going to change his mind about this.
This is where trials are good , horses can be warned , then embargoed until they show some life in trials . Most horses form tails off for decent period they are generally finished , some may improve change scenery , beach training etc .
As for horse that consistently chucks it in , cannot have it both ways , horses runs because it wants to , then horse clearly dont want to we run it anyway .“This is where trials are good”
I think trials are very common in Australasia, but HCMW might know a bit more. It’s a better guide after a few below par performances or after a long layoff. When reading the HKJC report, I find numerous horses asked to trial after one or two poor efforts. It’s fair for all parties involved, not only for the horses, but also for connections and racegoers.
I’d be interested to know more about how trials work overseas too.
I’ve also taken a more detailed look at Commercial Flyer’s form figures of PPFPP. These were all in extremely high-class races, one of them being the King George. The fall was late on in a very competitive chase at Cheltenham that he’d have probably won if staying upright.
So I think these form figures hide that this was still a horse who retained considerable ability for much of this period. The message I take from looking at them is mainly that Pipe was asking relentlessly tough questions of the horse.
Therefore I don’t think the horse should have been banned from racing at this stage, but possibly Pipe should have been being asked some questions by the end of this sequence.
Trials everyweek in NZ and OZ , three courses have trials in NZ on Tuesday . Different divisions for different classes , ages , trips . All filmed , timed and shown on TV as a recorded block . Also website has them uploaded . Most horses trial before a fresh up run , Vauban i think had an 800 metre jog round few weeks back.
Horse yesterday refused to load for 2nd time , he has to trial ok before he can race again.
Jumpout different , more of a informal trial.
I used to go trials a bit , get a good look some unraced types see how they shaping up.Thanks for the info HCMW. It does sound as if trials could be made more use of in the UK.
Barrier trials are also used in Ireland and fully reported on the Irishracing.com site, but the info isn’t picked up by the Post or RacingTV. Here’s a sample card I was pointed at when checking the background of a horse down to run at Newbury last Saturday:
https://www.irishracing.com/raceresults/Mon-27th-May-2024/Naas
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