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This appears to be the new buzz word to sum up a certain type of runner that we used to refer to as a plain old ‘dodge’. Still, at least that other word that was beginning to bug ‘Aggressive’ seems to be on the wane
I’d say "quirky" is "a hint of temperament" Tim. Where as (my version) "dodgepot" is "quite a bit of temperament". I often back "quirky" horses, seldom "dodgepots".
Value Is EverythingI think I recall, many many years ago, Timeform referring to one particular horse as ‘an arrant rogue’
Timeform’s double-squiggle horses are nowadays described matter-of-factly as being "so temperamentally unsatisfactory to be not worth a rating" but until fairly recently it was they who were also attributed the splendid "an arrant rogue or thorough jade"
Jade in this sense is an archaic term applied to a "a broken-down or useless horse"
jade
v. jad·ed, jad·ing, jades
v.tr.
To wear out, as by overuse or overindulgence. See Synonyms at tire1.
v.intr.
To become weary or spiritless.
n.
1. A broken-down or useless horse; a nag.
2. A woman regarded as disreputable or shrewish.
[From Middle English iade, cart-horse, nag; akin to Swedish dialectal jälda, mare, possibly of Finno-Ugric origin.]or
jade
n
1. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Horse Training, Riding & Manège) an old overworked horse; nag; hack
2. Derogatory or facetious a woman considered to be ill-tempered or disreputable
vb
to exhaust or make exhausted from work or use
[of unknown origin]
jadish adj
jadishly adv
jadishness nTimeform’s double-squiggle horses are nowadays described matter-of-factly as being "so temperamentally unsatisfactory to be not worth a rating" but until fairly recently it was they who were also attributed the splendid "an arrant rogue or thorough jade"
Back in the mid eighties, when I was cutting my betting teeth, those horses were simply known as "Ham Shankers"
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
‘Thorough Jade’, you have admire that one. Would you think it might have been Bull who came up with the two descriptions, that and ‘arrant rogue’ ?
The phrase is reminiscent of a Bullism and would certainly do him justice, though whether it pre-dates Timeform and appears in his own ‘Best Horses of…’ Annuals from the 1940s, I don’t know
For that matter I don’t know whether the time-honoured (pun not really intended
) rating symbols – P p + $ $$ – were his or those of his partner Dick Whitford and other colleagues at Timeform
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