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By way of research, I’d be grateful for anyone’s tales of experience with savage horses.
I seem to recall the late S Nesbitt’s notorious Ubedizzy sometimes raced in a muzzle, though memory might not serve me well there as I can’t imagine such a thing would be allowed today.
I suspect entires are much more prone to savagery,than geldings/mares.
I would like to hear from forumites with yard/riding experience in particular, though all stories would be welcome.
Thanks
JoeJoe,
From Racehorses of 1978 about Ubedizzy:
….behaved so badly in unsaddling enclosure afterwards that his trainer gave an assurance not to race Ubedizzy again in Great Britain.
…. wears a muzzle in the paddock: was also an intended runer at Phoenix Park in July but refused to allow handlers to fit blinkers at start and was withdrawn ….
That first part refers to the 1978 Abernant after which he got on top of his lad and tried to eat him. The lad in question lost part of a finger – his name was Andrew Crook and he still trains in the North.
I’ve certainly seen horses raced in a net muzzle in this country within recent memory, although Ubedizzy would probably have considered such a flimsy deterrent as just another source of food!
Ubedizzy went on to be champion sprinter in Sweden – presumably he didn’t like Scandinavian food.
He was useful enough too was old Ubedizzy. I am sure one raced in a muzzle relatively recently.
At last year’s open day at Lucinda Russell’s yard one of the boxes was marked ‘Beware! This horse bites!’.
there have been a number of horses that wore muzzles to stop them attacking other horses in a race. Marinsky was one such horse.
Ubedizzy wore the muzzle to protect the people around him. What happemed to him? Was he gelded or destroyed? I can see no stud record for him.
I believe net muzzles are used to control headstrong pullers.I read that Mill Reef and his son Reference Point were notorious savages at stud.
TEN EQUINE ECCENTRICS; Steve Dennis recalls ten wayward horses who will forever be remembered for their deviant tendencies.
CERTAIN racehorses have their quirks; some racehorses are defined by them. Occasionally the quirks are endearingly sweet, such as 1922 Derby winner Captain Cuttle being so devoted to trainer Fred Darling that he would follow him around like a dog.Modern contemporaries such as Sanctuaire have interestingly wayward tendencies, although he poses no threat to those around him.
In some horses, though, the quirks take on a darker hue and involve acts of such sudden violence and wilfulness that they become cautionary tales passed on with a bloodcurdling relish.
There are many such instances, and everyone will have their favourite. No list can be exhaustive, but here are ten notable members of racing’s hall of infamy.
Ubedizzy Here is your permanent point of reference. Here is the recidivist’s recidivist, the rogue of rogues, the villain for whom Timeform would have implemented a third squiggle. Here is Ubedizzy, a legend in his lifetime and the first name that comes to mind whenever arbitrary acts of equine violence are discussed.
"I could write a book about that horse," says Andy Crook, trainer of a Scottish National winner and who once drank daily from the poisoned chalice labelled ‘Ubedizzy’s groom’.
"If I was offered a thousand pounds a week to do him now, I wouldn’t do it. The times I used to come out of his box with a leg missing off my trousers, or my shirt torn to bits …" Ubedizzy didn’t stop at the rending of garments. The evidence can be seen on Crook’s left hand, in a ring-finger an inch or two shorter than nature designed.
"He bit the end of my finger off," says Crook. "He was always a bit sharp that way. I’d ridden him out one morning and was taking off his tack when he lunged at me and bit my hand.
"You had to jump off him, not slide off, or he’d reach round and grab you. I used to walk him into his box and reach up and grab the guttering above the door, lift myself off that way."
On the racecourse Ubedizzy – trained in Middleham by Steve Nesbitt – was a class act who finished fourth in a Nunthorpe Stakes, although his innate misanthropy was never far from the surface. Crook won several races on him and remembers that matters were often best left to his irascible mount.
"I went to give him a crack one day and he skewed his head round and showed me his teeth," he says. "I thought I’d better put the stick down and just rode him hands and heels, and he got up to win by a short head."
Ubedizzy’s final act on a British racecourse, at Newmarket in April 1978, will never be forgotten by those who saw it. After finishing second to Boldboy in the Abernant Stakes, Ubedizzy knocked his lad to the ground in the unsaddling enclosure, knelt on him and began to savage him. This wanton viciousness earned him a ban from British racing and lasting notoriety.
"It was the only time I didn’t go racing with him," says Crook. "I think it was a chap named Martin Taylor who got half-eaten – if I’d been there it might not have happened.
"He had an angleberry [warty growth] in his armpit which was obviously quite tender. He had two girths on and his jockey Edward Hide undid one and let it dangle while he undid the other. He should have whipped the whole thing away quickly, but the dangling girth must have knocked Ubedizzy’s armpit and annoyed him."
Woe betide anyone who annoyed Ubedizzy. Now persona non grata in Britain, an abortive attempt to race him in Ireland was followed by his sale to Sweden, where he became champion sprinter.
"You’d say he was a real savage," says Crook, whose fund of Ubedizzy stories exceed the space available. Then, almost wistfully, he adds: "He was a bloody good character …"
See You Then Enormously talented, worryingly fragile, frequently vicious – the three sides of triple Champion Hurdle winner See You Then. On the death of his stable star, Nicky Henderson reminisced: "He was a wonderful horse outside but inside the box he was a brute. He would eat people. I owe a lot to his lad Glyn Foster, who looked after him from the day he arrived. I’ve still got the jerseys and jackets that tell the tale of going into his box. He either bit you or kicked you."
Marinsky Vincent O’Brien was a genius but he couldn’t help Marinsky, a bad-tempered, irresolute rogue who was eventually banned from racing. In the 1977 Diomed Stakes he attempted to savage Relkino three times before failing to go through with his effort when holding a winning chance, while in the St James’s Palace he wore blinkers and a muzzle before again throwing in the towel. He actually won the July Cup, but was disqualified for veering violently left in the closing stages. The authorities had had enough by then and ‘retired’ him.
Muley Edris Fred Archer could be hard on his horses and by all accounts Muley Edris had been on the receiving end of two or three thrashings in his races. One morning at exercise the horse recognised the man who had treated him so badly, grabbed his right arm and lifted him off the floor before dropping him and kneeling on him, gnawing away at his arm all the while. Archer had been bitten through to the bone but a fortnight later, with an iron bar supporting his useless arm, rode Bend Or to win the 1880 Derby in a driving finish.
Vodkatini Once he consented to race Vodkatini was very good – winning the 1988 Grand Annual and finishing third in a King George – but he wouldn’t always start. He famously dug his toes in and refused to race when favourite for the 1988 Tingle Creek Chase, did the same at Aintree the following spring and again at Chepstow 18 months after that. His recalcitrance endeared him to many.
St Simon Undefeated and regarded as one of the greatest of horses, jockey Fred Archer compared St Simon – given the limited technology of the era – to a ‘bloomin’ steam engine’. His notable excitability proved problematic at stud, however. He killed cats, assaulted grooms – one later said: "It’s all very well to talk about the patience of Job, but Job never had to groom St Simon" – but his reign of terror came to end when it was discovered he was wary of umbrellas. In the absence of an umbrella, a bowler hat on the end of a stick was found to do just as well.
Maylane Not vicious but wayward, Maylane won the September Stakes but is better remembered for the races he didn’t win, the ones in which – to paraphrase Magnus Magnusson – he started but didn’t finish. At Newbury in April 1997 he swerved left on leaving the stalls and unseated Michael Roberts, at Ascot five months later he pulled the same stunt in the Cumberland Lodge Stakes. Starting was always his Achilles heel; perennially slowly away, he was twice tried over hurdles but – as befitting his aristocratic breeding – declined to participate when the tape went up.
Remittance Man The brilliant two-miler was a nervous type who benefited hugely from having a sheep named Nobby to keep him company in his box. Even sheep need holidays, though, and when Nobby needed some flock-time trainer Nicky Henderson filled the vacancy with a different sheep.
To humans, one sheep is very much like another sheep. But Remittance Man wanted Nobby; he picked up the new sheep by his teeth and threw him out of the box. He did this again and again with different sheep until Henderson was forced to recall Nobby from the field; soon all was well.
Arcadian Heights Not quite in the Marinsky league for equine cannibalism, Ascot Gold Cup winner Arcadian Heights was nonetheless pretty handy with his teeth and inspired form book comments such as ‘beaten when bit winner approaching final furlong’. That little snippet of poetry in the prosaic world of race-reading came when he was fourth behind Luchiroverte at Doncaster in March 1992. He then made a lunge at Drum Taps when runner-up to that horse in the Gold Cup three months later, and thereafter was equipped with a net muzzle.
Derring Rose There was nothing malicious about Derring Rose, but sometimes he just wasn’t interested in the stupid race. In 1981 he won the Stayers’ Hurdle by 30 lengths, but his temperament began to assert itself after that and at Cheltenham that New Year’s Eve he was at his eccentric peak. He planted himself on the way to the start, almost pulled himself up going down the far side, only consented to race from an impossible position on the home turn but was soon in the lead, only to down tools on the run-in before being coaxed home by a simply brilliant John Francome. Watch it on YouTube – type in Derring Rose.
And I learned in March that Sir Ken killed another horse whilst turned out in a field…
Does Luis Saurez count? He’s got teeth like a horse!
I think I’d rather get a bite off Ubedizzy!
I am not saying Saurez has big teeth but he’s the only man I know who buys toothpaste in gallons.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Thanks to all.
Odd that in these days when Google rules, my first thought was to turn to my expert friends on this forum, rather than do what BH sensibly did! Thanks BH – great piece (or should that be pieces!)
Given that the herd attitude is claimed by many as what makes racehorses run, I had wondered if savage horses would intimidate others in a race who’d fear challenging them. It seems this is not the case from what I’ve read here.
More stories welcome. But I’ll certainly use the Andy Crook one and Nobby’s tale, too.
Joe
I’m sure Tidal Bay was known to take a chunk out of people in stables if they took their eye off him. It certainly does not come as a surprise, he was a quirky race horse!
St Leger winner Moonax had issues
These snippets from his Wikipedia entry:
In his later career he acquired a reputation for unpredictable and sometimes dangerous behaviour and was described as "the world’s naughtiest horse"
…attempted to win a second French Group One in the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp and as in the previous year’s Prix Royal-Oak he disputed the finish with Always Earnest. On this occasion however, it was the French-trained gelding who prevailed by a short head. The race also helped to give Moonax a reputation for unpredictable behaviour: he turned his head and attempted to bite Always Earnest in the closing stages
Moonax ran in the Group Three Ormonde Stakes at Chester. He demonstrated a range of unappealing behaviours: he "slavered rabidly", refused to leave the paddock, walked backwards when being taken to the start and had to be blindfolded to enter the starting stalls. The fact that his groom was dressed in a body protector and padded arm-guards gave the impression that Moonax had become a thoroughly dangerous individual
I remember Sir Gerry trying to take a chunk out of Delegator in a close finish at Newbury in 2010.
Woodsley House is another I can recall trying to eat one of his rivals during a race at Thirsk.
I can recall a horse doing it on more than one occasion on the all weather a couple of years back but the name escapes me.
Sir Gerry in running
Pulled hard and held up in rear, steady headway on outside from 2f out, ridden and quickened final 100yds, upsides when tried to bite winner close home, just failed
Presumably they mean just failed to bite his rival
That’s spooky there is a horse called Ubedizzy running in the 2.30 (Tooth hurty
) at Carlisle today By way of research, I’d be grateful for anyone’s tales of experience with savage horses.
I seem to recall the late S Nesbitt’s notorious Ubedizzy sometimes raced in a muzzle, though memory might not serve me well there as I can’t imagine such a thing would be allowed today.
I suspect entires are much more prone to savagery,than geldings/mares.
I would like to hear from forumites with yard/riding experience in particular, though all stories would be welcome.
Thanks
JoeWell here is one of the most famous examples of a proper b*****r
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/f … gdnsport33
John
SHL
Definitely live and learn as I’d always assumed it Andy Crook that got attacked by Ubedizzy at Newmarket, so thanks for that info.
Plus a quick check of the form has reminded me of the most recent example of a runner wearing a net muzzle that I saw – Kid Cassidy in a 2M chase at Aintree. Although in his case it was to help the jockey restrain him rather than to protect against savagery.
Odd that in these days when Google rules, my first thought was to turn to my expert friends on this forum, rather than do what BH sensibly did! Thanks BH – great piece (or should that be pieces!)
You’re welcome, I guess.
I have to raise my hands here and admit that google wasn’t entirely responsible for the retrieval of said article. The article in question is fresh in my mind because I saw it in print which, in the modern age, is a rarity.
Indeed, it was luck that I saw the article since I rarely buy I paper these days. I only bought that issue as I was flying to Sarajevo (ljubav jedina!) and wanted something to read on the flight. As fate would have it, one of the best articles I’ve ever read was in that issue. So awesome, it had my Sarajevan girlfriend in (figurative) stitches.
Hence my retrieval of said piece.
Had you not asked your forum friends, I wouldn’t have remembered said piece and without keywords, it would have been a pain in the arse to find starting from a blind scratch. Furthermore, I would never have known that Sir Ken was a cold blooded murderer were it not for the quiz in the lounge…
Not having a go or anything as you know I respect you as much as anybody on here. Just raising the point that TRForumites often know better than google herself which is saying an awful lot!
) at Carlisle today 
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