- This topic has 13 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
On the day the entries were published for the race once known as the Schweppes, a tale from the 1960s which some might not be familiar with….
https://www.racingpost.com/news/controversial-winners-for-ryan-price-came-at-a-heavy-cost/119284/amp
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Remember reading about Price , I think it was in Claude Duvalls bio , he rarely talked to journalists , I reckon one Dandy Nicholls used him as inspiration
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
I was too young to be aware of it at the time, but I once saw footage of Hill House going clear and commentator Peter O’Sullevan remarking on the boos from the Stands up the run in.
Amazing to me that happened in the 1960s, because I think it would cause consternation in the racing establishment to this day.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Thanks for sharing the link. I think that is the first time I have ever seen a photograph of the legendary Ryan Price.
It does seem a little unfair how his winner was booed. As far as I am aware, Price’s stable was a well known gambling operation. Was it really surprising that he laid one out for a valuable handicap?
I was interested to read how Rosyth only carried 10st 2lbs the year after he had won the race. It is difficult to imagine a horse winning the Betfair today and then having a feather weight the next season, unless there was a Champion Hurdle horse under top weight and keeping almost everything else out of the handicap.
Incidentally, it was during the first running of the Schweppes at Aintree when Stan Mellor sustained terrible facial injuries in a fall. It says something about his strength of character that he came back from it to ride at the highest level again.
41 runners around the tight hurdles course at Aintree is a terrifying thought even as a spectator!
You’re welcome, CAS.
Champion Hurdle standard horses often ran in the race in those days and Persian War was one of the all-time great Champion Hurdlers.
I think the feeling, rightly or wrongly, among many was that Hill House winning by that margin having been a well-beaten fourth off a similar mark previously was unacceptable.
Ryan Price’s wife was reportedly so upset – the booing continued all the way into the winner enclosure – she ceased going racing.
My personal view is that if your horse shows marked improvement to land a gamble in a handicap it can’t be a surprise if there’s a vocal reaction among some of the betting public.
Goes with the territory – but still, in the 1960s, so much for gentler times!
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Interesting story about Captain Price here (starts at 11min 34 seconds)
Seemed such a nice man !!
It wasn’t just booing during and after the race either. A contemporary newspaper report states that when there was a loudspeaker announcement to the effect that the stewards had interviewed Price and Gifford and were referring the case to the National Hunt Committee, there were ‘tumultuous cheers all round the racecourse’.
Six months later, John Oaksey wrote about the enquiry that cleared them, saying that the film of the Sandown race (run a week before the Schweppes) showed Hill House making two bad mistakes, but still close up two out before tiring on his first run for three months. He then says that the Schweppes was run at a furious pace and realising this, Gifford dropped Hill House right out, and as a result, he was the only horse still galloping at the finish.
In this century, that still sounds like schooling in public, but the idea of a horse needing a run to achieve full fitness was quite normal in the 60’s. There were no AW gallops, no horse walkers, no swimming pools. I still remember the first winner I ever backed on the basis of a tip. I was told the horse would have his final gallop in the Lincoln Handicap (47 runners!) and with that run behind him, would win a week later at Catterick. Which he duly did, providing a return on my 2s 6d each way at 9/2.
Yes, Alan, I seem to remember that many of Fulke Walwyn’s used the racecourse for fittening first time out, and that it was fairly well known among regular punters.
Hi Joe,
He certainly wasn’t the only one. I had a couple of years as an owner with Stan Mellor and I think if one of his won first time out, you’d assume everything else must have fallen!
Just another one of the many things that Martin Pipe changed completely.
“I think the feeling, rightly or wrongly, among many was that Hill House winning by that margin having been a well-beaten fourth off a similar mark previously was unacceptable.”
I understand that but even in that far off era when you could not watch every race in the comfort of your own home, Price’s methods must have been well known to racegoers.
If I had fancied something in the race, I like to think I would have had a saver on Price’s horse as well!
“The idea of a horse needing a run to achieve full fitness was quite normal in the 60’s.”
The idea has persisted into this era, despite the Martin Pipe revolution.
Whenever anything wins after a long absence, it is invariably described as a “great training performance”. But is it really? Trainers should know how to get horses fit nowadays.
Put it this way, had I been an adult at Newbury that day, I wouldn’t have booed because –
1. It’s pointless.
2. It was a well-known plot yard and it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility I might have been Johnny The (Second) Guesser and had a few quid on it myself.
That said, I’ve zero sympathy for Price – what did he expect?
A standing ovation for pulling everyone’s pants down?
He’d landed a gamble, but some people want jam on it.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Lots of interesting posts in this thread, and the whole of the interview with Roy Harknett was a great watch too. Thank you for posting it TimJames.
While there is a much greater expectation on trainers having horses ready first time out nowadays, it was still quite surprising to see the level of support that Angels Breath had in the Silviniaco Conti chase on Saturday. He had been absent for over three years. There can’t be many horses that have won a Graded race first time out after such a long time away.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.