Sea Pigeon 1980 Vaux Gold Tankard Redcar

[The Judge]

Here’s a treat for the weekend that I discovered on Youtube from mimbrenos, who has posted some classic videos, mainly flat racing from 1979 to 1981. This includes Sea Pigeon winning that grand old Tankard race at Redcar (again), a very young and enthusiastic Graham Goode on comms, analysis from Ken Butler and some old buildings after the winning post I have never seen before!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMaq8-j … ature=plcp

To think that it was not that long ago that people were having these brilliant video finds taken down by the powers that be. Marvellous that commonsense has prevailed and here’s to much more vintage archive to come…

[betlarge]

Great stuff – also had an advert for Norseman Lager on the bend!

Here’s the Fighting Fifth from 1980, featuring genuinely the worst ever commentary by Raleigh Gilbert who calls the third horse the winner!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1NGiX0sh8A&feature=related

Mike

[CrustyPatch]

Here’s a treat for the weekend that I discovered on Youtube from mimbrenos, who has posted some classic videos, mainly flat racing from 1979 to 1981. This includes Sea Pigeon winning that grand old Tankard race at Redcar (again), a very young and enthusiastic Graham Goode on comms, analysis from Ken Butler and some old buildings after the winning post I have never seen before!

Thanks go to His Honour The Judge for this trip back to yesteryear. I would have been watching this at the time as a young World of Sport fan.
I used to like watching the televised racing from Redcar, especially the Vaux Gold Tankard and Zetland Gold Cup meetings. The old buildings and houses always used to be a bit of a curiosity at the time, just as it was at Ayr.
Great to see Sea Pigeon again.
Graham Goode was decidedly more high-pitched and squeaky in those days and certainly put in more effort in that commentary than he did in many of his racecourse commentaries in later years, which were punctuated by long, bored-sounding pauses.
I’d forgotten how posh Ken Butler was, saying "orf" in the manner of Julian Wilson. He was a wine merchant as well as a racing host and his Ken Butler Wines company sponsored a race at Lingfield, which I believe was his home area.
He always used to sign off from his World of Sport days with variations on this: "It’s time for me to say goodbye to you from all of us here at Redcar and return you to Dickie Davies in the studio." Always the same every week.
Those were the days. Unlike Emma Spencer, he never did present from "Giddwidd".

[CrustyPatch]

Here’s the Fighting Fifth from 1980, featuring genuinely the worst ever commentary by Raleigh Gilbert who calls the third horse the winner!

I always associated Bellway with the Fighting Fifth and used to love watching that meeting on World of Sport. Bellway had two stints at sponsorship of it, I believe, and came back to supporting the race after a break of a few years.
They were as much a part of Newcastle racing as dear old Doug Moscrop, of the Newcastle Journal.
First time I have heard John Oaksey since the news of his death. It really didn’t work having him and Jonjo giving a mid-race appraisal, any more than it does having Francome doing it now. It’s totally pointless and very irritating. Now that Channel 4 takes so many of the racecourse commentaries, thankfully we don’t hear these "helpful" mid-race comments much these days.
Raleigh certainly wasn’t at his best in that race, it has to be admitted. I know they always say it’s a difficult angle at Gosforth Park but that was ridiculous.

[The Judge]

Worth recalling that in the 1960s the Vaux Gold Tankard was the richest handicap in Europe!

[Author]

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