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Mr Pilsen I was tired last night
after the carlton scroop affair
so cannot remember which broadside
I got copy from.As for Pipe he was foruanate
to be racing beforethe list
was published but I wouldn’t have
him down as a baddie – on the contrary
I personally liked his style
fit horses and dash to the line.I cursed myself for dithering over
Make a Stand’s Champion hurdle.
It reminded me of the Thomas Crown Afffair;
bad planning and nothing down
– just bloody windmills and no grain !Yes that was an awesome sight still lingering fondly in the memory. So many lengths clear on the far side and piling on the pressure, pressure. One of those joyous moments when you see the jockeys behind becoming more anxious and pushing and pushing but not appearing to make inroads. Coming round the final bend is hope and prayer time. Will he last out? Please God don’t let them catch him up the hill. Sweet success. Nice price. Joy of joys.
I’m disappointed to hear that you consider Richard Hannon arrogant Kevvo. I met him by chance on Challow Hurdle day when he was struggling to convince the group he was with that he’d once trained the winner of the race. He started to talk to me on the assumption that I knew Geoff Howard-Spink, who owned said horse, but when I explained that I’d simply left my anorak at home, he was happy to continue the discussion and after the race, offered to shake my hand with a courteous "I’m Richard Hannon by the way, it was a pleasure talking to you." I thought that was a particularly nice, if old-fashioned touch.
ha! oh yeah, now i’m gonna be up front (as i always am and will be) about hannon. he’s cost me a small fortune these past few months. there ha been one race in particular where hughes deliberately times his run wrong and finished second on the one i was on. i can (and do) spot these things when they happen. if you think this is sour grapes then you may well be right! but the grapes belong to hannon and hughes, not me.they own the vineyards.
but of course i accept that not all will agree with me,that’s their right,just as long as people remember it’s my right to criticise if i think there’s something not quite kosher going on!Move on quickly, Kevvo, before the moderators get their red pencils and little black books out.
What was that you were saying about a working day in the stables……?
ha! i’ll get round to that in a little while mate! but tut tut,i’ve only been on here a week or so and already the mods are ganging up on me like the house robots on robot wars!!
i have huge shoulders but i’ll put an overcoat on just in case!Excellent thread this, really enjoyed reading it, and I’ll add some names if I may (I’ve kept it English!):
FERDY MURPHY: Might raise a few eyebrows, but I interviewed Ferdy at the Velka Pardubicka last year, and it was the first proper interview I’d ever done. His horse had ran out whilst in front, and he could have told me to sling my hook, but no. We stood outside the weighing room, and he was only too happy to give an interview.
ALEX HALES: I’ve got a horse in training with Alex, so this is more at business level, but he’s a great guy and also incredibly professional. Today was his Owners Open Day, but I had to give it a miss due to it clashing with the Grosser Preis von Baden, but he’s a very genuine person, and also a talented trainer as he’s proved with horses like Superior Wisdom.
ANDREW BALDING: Met him at the 2008 German Derby, and had all the time in the world for me. To be honest, I think he was glad to fine someone who spoke English, but he came across as a well educated, well spoken very polite guy.
CLIVE BRITTAIN: Met him at Newmarket last year when I accompanied some German owners over, and I’ve got to say, if there is a nicer person in racing in the UK, I’ve not met them yet! We were taking about Warrsans victories in the Grosser Preis von Baden a few years back, as well as a couple of German bred horses Clive had just taken on. Such a wonderful guy, could have spoken to him all day to be honest, a real genuine nice chap.
Ok i’m probably his biggest fan but Derek Thompson has to be one of the nicest people in racing i’ve met – other than a stable guy who looked after my horse Feels Like Heaven few years ago. Never got his name but was soooooo nice and always so lovely with my little boy and if seen him at races when he had other horses in parade ring he’d go out of his way to wave and say hello at us. Always made you feel special haha. Was worth paying over the odds for a hoof in a syndicate that was going nowhere!! ha.
Anyway tommo, at York few years ago he was working and looked stressed to death and rushing and being ordered about obviously working, and all these people kept stopping him for autographs, pictures (i was going to be one of them but thought better of it) and he was so nice to every single person and gave them all time even though a little bloke behind him was shouting for him to move to the parade ring. I’ve seen him a canny few times now at Sedgefield, York, Redcar, Wetherby and Newmarket etc and he is always so nice if you say hello or ask him for a tip. He’s a genuinely nice man that’s why i really hate it when he gets stick on here.
Another, is Jockey Royston Ffrench, actually where is he nowadays don’t think i’ve seen him about for a while. But going from what i’ve seen he is a really nice guy. Seen him at Newcastle and came over to say what a lovely little boy my son was as he’d just started walking at time and we were walking down the tunnel there and he asked if was having a nice day etc… just totally out of the blue after he’d lost on the favourite ha. And when visiting Ann Duffields stables he was there helping a new starter by looks of it, just seemed really pleasant chap.Actually to be fair so many racing folk are lovely. The other people who are the nicest are the regular racegoers you get at the likes of Catterick, Sedgefield, Wetherby, Hexham (and sure up and down the country but i’ve not been so can’t comment!) etc, such lovely lovely people.
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