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Defining an ‘era’ for these purposes as a three year period, I whiled away a good hour in the car today trying to think what racing’s ‘golden era’ would be.
What post-war three year period would you say, flat and jumps, was racing’s defining age and why?
On the flat would it be the early seventies?
Nijinsky, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard…
Over jumps the mid sixties?
Arkle, Mill House, Flyingbolt…
I think the very recent/current era has been pretty special jumps-wise –
Best Mate, Kauto Star, Moscow Flyer, Baracouda, Well Chief, Azertyuiop etc.
An interesting question.
Off the top of my head, for hurdling it must have been the late 1970s. That particular generation had the unenviable task of trying to live up to the likes of Persian War, Bula and Comedy Of Errors, but incredibly they managed to be even better. One of my biggest regrets in racing is being far too young to remember Night Nurse, Monksfield and Sea Pigeon in their pomp. Those three are widely renowned as three of the best hurdlers of all time, so for them all to be around at the same time was surely something very special. Then there was Birds Nest, who in any other era would have won at least one Champion Hurdle, and of course the tragic Golden Cygnet who may well have turned out to be the greatest of all.
I’d echo Happy Jack’s sentiments – the late 70’s were hugely rich in terms of hurdling talent. The fact that horses like Kybo, Birds Nest, Pollardstown et al were merely supporting players showed what depth that era had. I watched the 1977 Champion Hurdle the other day and the quality in the contest is absolutely stunning.
Great question Corm,
Although I much prefer NH now, my earliest memories of horse racing were pestering my mam to let me have the Wednesday off school on Derby Day.
The early 80’s stick well in the memory and this was definitely the era that grabbed me. I remember the El Gran Senor/Secreto and the Sharastani/Dancing Brave Derby’s as if they were yesterday, as well as winners like Reference Point and Slip Anchor.
At roughly the same time, horses like Dawn Run and Desert Orchard were making waves in the NH game and I was now hooked
Mike
as for jumps it has to be the late 70s for personal reasons………sea pigeon / monksfield / bula and on the flat the early 70s stand out as golden days,chipmunk
I completely agree with HJ. It was Monksfield, Night Nurse and good ol’ Sea Pigeon that really got my emotions stirring and have kept me a huge fan of jumps racing ever since, and I can’t leave out Comedy of Errors. I loved that horse when I was a kid like my friends loved pop stars.
It has to be 1999-2001 over the jumps for me – Quixall Crossett, Monaughty Man, and Patrick Millington running six or seven beasts in seemingly every hunters’ chase going.
Frivolity aside, I’d probably nominate 1983-5 over the jumps as my era. Back then it seemed as if pretty much every horse running in the Festival races was a big name, a star in its own right; and looking back at the fields in many of those races years and years later, that wasn’t actually wide of the mark! The Dickenson Five, Combs Ditch, Burrough Hill Lad, Brown Chamberlain, Forgive N Forget, Corbiere, Greasepaint, Gaye Brief, Dawn Run, Run and Skip, Wayward Lad… and that’s just from the quickest of brainstorms.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
The 60s and 70s were special decades for not only horse-racing, but for music and football as well.
In a seven year span ( ‘ 65 – ‘ 71), both codes (NH & flat) would give us arguably some of the greatest racehorses ever. In 1965 alone, the imperious duo of Arkle & Sea-Bird – for my money, the most talented NH and flat horses to have graced the turf, would sweep all before them. Mill House and Flyingbolt (Arkle’s stable mate), both outstanding contemporaries of Arkle, would – in any other decade other than the sixties – have won the accolade of top jumps horse.
A mere five years later, three magnificent thoroughbred colts – Nijinsky, Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard would capture the racing public’s imagination. Oh, how blessed we were.
America 1973 – Secretariat gallops to immortality when strolling to the triple crown. Sports writer, Hugh McIlvanney, who witnessed "Big Red’s" 30 length victory in the Belmont Stakes, can’t believe his eyes, and proclaims it the best performance by any racehorse he has seen.
Then, in the same year, Red Rum would get up to defeat Crisp in a Grand National record time. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 1977 and ’78, Alleged (Vincent O’Brien’s less exalted star colt) would become the first horse since Ribot to compltete the "Arc" double.
Then of course we had the superb hurdling triumverate of Night Nurse, Monksfield and Sea Pigeon. Enough said.
Great horses all, in a golden, never to be forgotten era. Those of us around at the time were spoilt rotten.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
The 70’s at Cheltenham was the golden era for me. In the days when the Gold Cup started from behind the stands and the place was not a commercial jungle it is now.
Great question Corm,
Although I much prefer NH now, my earliest memories of horse racing were pestering my mam to let me have the Wednesday off school on Derby Day.
The early 80’s stick well in the memory and this was definitely the era that grabbed me. I remember the El Gran Senor/Secreto and the Sharastani/Dancing Brave Derby’s as if they were yesterday, as well as winners like Reference Point and Slip Anchor.
At roughly the same time, horses like Dawn Run and Desert Orchard were making waves in the NH game and I was now hooked
Mike
Totally agree with the early eighties Mikky, but what a shocking ommision from you, Golden Fleece, in my opinion if this horse had been kept in training after the english Derby he would probably be talked about in the same breath as Sea Bird, I remember seeing the Fleece absoluetly trashing multiple Group 1 winning Assert twice, Eddery could have had a Cigar on the way round the horse was winning so easy.
It was also a great era for sprinters.Golden Fleece, in my opinion if this horse had been kept in training after the english Derby he would probably be talked about in the same breath as Sea Bird, I remember seeing the Fleece absoluetly trashing multiple Group 1 winning Assert twice, Eddery could have had a Cigar on the way round the horse was winning …
I remember on the evening of Golden Fleece’s victory, I went out to dinner with my wife and another couple. The other man brought up the subject of that day’s Derby. He had a few quid on the O’Brien horse and proceeded to praise the Nijinsky colt to the high heavens. Yet, when I had the audacity (as he saw it) to suggest that, though good as Golden Fleece was, he still had a fair bit to go before he could be compared to his more illustrious sire – let alone that freak of equine nature called Sea-Bird. – he went nuts. Oh how he ranted and raved.
Yes, Golden Fleece had the potential to become a legend. Sadly we were never to find out. It should also be noted that Eddery claims Dancing Brave to be the better of the two, when asked to compare them – but hey, it’s all about opinions.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Obviously a personal bias here, but I’d have to choose the last three years, 2005 – 7, on the flat.
If only because I’ve had ten winners in that period from a team of two veteran handicappers.
Looking back, I’d nominate the late 80’s over the jumps – the period of Desert Orchid over fences that created so much interest in the sport outside the usual circles. Hard to remember now that before he came along, the average crowd at the Cheltenham Festival was around 25,000 and the first two days at Aintree used to attract less than 15,000. Yes there were other factors, mainly the corporate market, but was the surge in the popularity of jumping at that time really a coincidence.
AP
More specific but that Flat year of 2000 was something pretty special. Sinndar, Giants Causeway, Kings Best, Observatory, Sakhee, Dubai Millennium, Montjeu, Kalanisi etc.
Great question Corm,
Although I much prefer NH now, my earliest memories of horse racing were pestering my mam to let me have the Wednesday off school on Derby Day.
The early 80’s stick well in the memory and this was definitely the era that grabbed me. I remember the El Gran Senor/Secreto and the Sharastani/Dancing Brave Derby’s as if they were yesterday, as well as winners like Reference Point and Slip Anchor.
At roughly the same time, horses like Dawn Run and Desert Orchard were making waves in the NH game and I was now hooked
Mike
Totally agree with the early eighties Mikky, but what a shocking ommision from you, Golden Fleece, in my opinion if this horse had been kept in training after the english Derby he would probably be talked about in the same breath as Sea Bird, I remember seeing the Fleece absoluetly trashing multiple Group 1 winning Assert twice, Eddery could have had a Cigar on the way round the horse was winning so easy.
It was also a great era for sprinters. Even more of a shocking omission by me was that other ‘Golden’ horse – Golden Fancy
He is my earliest memory I have of backing a winner. I think I had a 10p up and down double. Golden Fancy won at 25/1 and although my other one got beat, I had turned my 30p into £2.60.
I think I then blew the cash on many packets of Pannini football stickers in a desperate attempt to get that illusive Bryan Robson sticker, alas, it never turned up
Mike
For NH, it has to be the late 70’s and 80’s (I was only a kid but my dad loved horseracing and so did I) … Night Nurse and Sea Pigeon were brilliant hurdlers. I remember having a bet on Sea Pigeon in the Champion Hurdle and watched with glee as he cut down Pollardstown and Daring Run with a rare ol’ rattle after the last fence. Thrilling stuff!
Silver Buck and Wayward Lad were my favourite chasers. I can recall the latter at some track making the longest jump I’ve ever seen. He stood off a mile, jumped, cleared the fence … and then landed a mile on the other side!
As for the Flat, then it’s the 80’s and all about one horse … the great Dancing Brave (He’s my favourite racehorse of all time). The 1986 Arc is the best race I’ve ever seen but it was nerve-shredding watching it live on TV. The turn of foot he displayed that day was incredible. There’s not a single horse since then who’s captured my attention like ‘The Brave’.
Having said that, there is something about the style/turn of foot of Raven’s Pass that reminds me of DB.The golden period of hurdlers 77-79 seems to be at the top of everyone’s list. Add in The Minstrel, Alleged and Troy on the falt and those were three vintage years.
What about the years 1970 to 1972 though.
Nijinsky, Brigadier Gerard, Mill Reef, Roberto. Will we ever see such anesteemed group again in a three year window.1984 to 1986 was also good. El Gran Senor, Dawn Run, Slip Anchor, Pebbles, Dancing Brave, Bering, Commanche Run.
Going back a bit 1964-66 with Sea Bird and Arkle, arguably the two single greatest horses under each code, both around at the same time. Perhaps that qualifies those years as the pinnacle.
That list of horses that raced in 2000 catches the eye too. With top class Derby winners around in 2001 and 2002 and the emergence of Best Mate plus the great Istabraq that surely has to be the greatest three year period since the mid-80’s at least.
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