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Excellent to see PaulO getting some well-deserved peer approval outwith the four of us who went racing with him last week. Be assured he is decent, knowledgeable, forthright and genial company as much in real life as in print!
gc
And he allegedly has a wife, which I find slightly hard to believe…….
Indeed.
I thought I did a lot of mad travelling in order to go racing but it pales into insignificance with Paul who seems to travel almost daily all over the country to go racing.
Fair play to him.
Horse of the year: Ravens Pass for getting the win at Ascot after being 2nd so much.
Villain of the year: My big mouth, for telling the whole pub that Ravens Pass would never win a Group 1 after being beaten in the Craven Stakes.
Okay here are my nominations.
Flat Horse, Duke of Marmalade, Top 1m2f-1m4f horse and his win in the King George VI at Ascot was exceptional and for me one of the best performances of the season.
NH Horse, Inglis Drever, This is a tough one to call as i already deleted Our Vic and Denman but his 3rd win in the World Hurdle was the highlight of the festival and in particular his loyal stable lass with her "Whats that coming over the hill is it a monster? No its Inglis Drever" was brilliant and all being well he could be back for his 4th attempt at the crown
Flat Jockey, Hayley Turner for being a competent rider and getting good quality rides notably on Redford and The Betchworth Kid for Michael Bell who inturn has had his faith in Hayley repaid.
NH Jockey, Timmy Murphy, I was delighted at the Spring time for him with his Festival win on Our Vic in the Ryanair (other airlines available) and at Aintree when taking the scalp of Kauto in the Bowl and then to get his first Grand National on Comply or Die when holding on from the threat of King Johns Castle who had been laid out for a big pot.
Flat Trainer, Aidan O’Brien, Training all 5 Irish Classics and getting numerous Group and Grade One races over Europe was a grand achievement and made the summer flat season worth following.
NH Trainer, Philip Hobbs, Quite an odd selection i guess for some people but after losing Detroit City at Ascot many people including myself thought that the end of the season had basically begun but Monkerhostin winning the Gold Cup at Sandown was a fine reward and with horses like Tarablaze and Librettist in the stable a much better season should be up coming.
Owner, So tricky but i will plump for Clive Smith who was so gracious in defeat after Kauto Star lost to Denman in the Gold Cup compared to Harry Findlay who has a touch of arrogance about him, Clive is a proper gentleman.
Racecourse, Sandown Park, First ever visit in April for the Gold Cup meeting and it is one of the best racecourses in the country with great facilites and a lovley view of the course plus one of the best 2m Chase tracks in the country and to see Top Staying Chasers in the country followed by potential Derby and Classic winning horses on the same day was fantastic.
Commentator, Mark Slater, One of the few who goes anywhere to call racing, In the early autumn he was at Ayr,Aintree,Kelso,Brighton,Warwick,Doncaster plus doing the likes of York in the summer and also part of the rescheduled International Day at Newmarket working with Mark Johnson, A quality commentator and deserves more of the bigger racedays.
Ride Of the Year, Hayley Turner on Gee Dee Nen at Ascot in the Shergar Cup was a quality ride againts some of the worlds best and if only Willie had kept his mouth shut instead of being patronising.
Broadcaster, Alex Steedman, mainly for showing his Scottish Patronage by wearing his Kilt at Ayr for Ayr Gold Cup Day but a good host and has no ego.
Journalist, Sir Clement Freud, A fine witty and excellent wordsmith whose coloumn is based mainly around food and racing with some great humour and very funny jokes, long may he continue.
One to Watch, Kelly Harrison, A very good upcoming claimer and can easily follow Hayley Turner and Kirsty Milczarek in riding out her claim before the end of 2009, Shamefully denied the Cambridgshire on Nanton but Jim Goldie has complete faith in her the same way that Michael Bell does with Hayley Turner.
Villain of the Year, C4 for easing Big Mac from the team, Sure he is not everyones favourite but the man loves his job and does a lot for the sport and is one of the few people that gets recognized which is what the spor needs at times to get into the public domain.
Hero of the Year, The Galeforce Wind, Quite an odd selection here but the wind meant we had a Three Day Cheltenham Festival which i bet everyone was glad about and 2 bloody brilliant days of 10 and 9 race jumping cards of pure emotion which makes you realise why we love racing in the first place.
Poster of the Year, For me it is GC who apart from doing a good article in Racing Ahead is very much a man after my own heart as regarding races like the Festival Four Miler and the Cross Country Chases.
Would like to give a special mention to Christine Dunnet who after i e-mailed her to offer support after being so sickly written to by Mark Johnstone who said he would like to see less smaller trainers took the time to e-mail me back to say thank you which was a wonderful and lovley gesture and such a sweet thing to do.
Ok thats my entries for 2009, Good Luck to all.
It was very generous of Nathan to mention me earlier, especially after I ballsed up on swapping phone numbers ahead of the Taunton visit such that none of the rest of us could find him on the day
Not generous at all, your posts are always a joy.
Taunton balls up was as much my fault GC, was going to PM you my mobile but never got around to doing it, then such as my shambolic organisation left my 1978 Somerset scarf at home which no one in the world owns apart from me not even the cricket museum, i am a wally.
Blackbeard to conquer the World
The communal backslapping on here regarding the ‘Poster of the Year’ has been positively nauseating. It is best summed up by dave jay on a thread in the lounge and I hope he will allow me to borrow his words ‘What a forum needs for me, is decent, robust debate. A forum is only as good as it’s posters. If we all agreed on everything we would just have a list of ‘wots ur favourite … ???’, ‘wot shoesize ru .. ??’ .. and so on and so forth.. Anyone nominated for such, is only as good as the person he has disagreed with, so for me it really is a waste of time.
Poster of the year Irish Stamp
I have been more of a lurker than a poster here but a few thoughts.
AP has to be on the shortlist for jockey of the year …he should also be on the hero of the year list for efforts he made to get fit for the festival ( though I would also endorse Mick Fitz for hero) .
I would like to suggest Conor Clarkson as owner of the year . Dont think he has too many but he had his second Cheltenham winner with Finger on the pulse and more significantly did the right thing with Kicking King – gave him his chance but also made the decent decision to retire him when he saw he would not be a grade 1 horse again.
Excellent to see PaulO getting some well-deserved peer approval outwith the four of us who went racing with him last week. Be assured he is decent, knowledgeable, forthright and genial company as much in real life as in print!
gc
Thank you – but there are many more knowledgable and entertaining posters on the forum than myself
The communal backslapping on here regarding the ‘Poster of the Year’ has been positively nauseating.
‘Tis what award ceremonies are all about DJ – hushed tones, earnest speeches, mock humility, crocodile tears, cheesy grins and a slap-up meal. The public love ’em evidenced by what seems to be a weekly gong-bash of some sort. It really is time there was an Award Ceremony for the Best Award Ceremony
GH&GC
I think you’re marvellous and I love you allBtw as TRF is rapidly approaching its tenth birthday isn’t it time that passport to the nursing home for the has-been-likely-isn’t-now – the Lifetime Achievement Award – was instigated: JimJTS and Ian Davies take a bow
a larf a minnit innit
Others I would like to mention:
Robert99 – a comprehensive understanding of and possibly unique interpretation of speed figures, pace and shape. Explained in clear English
Seagull – for his fascinating and illuminating ‘Old Boy’ thread in ‘Systems’ diligently updated
Sean Rua – a healthy scepticism for received wisdom. Asks difficult questions
Fist of Fury – a Jekyll and Hyde who when sober is capable of some thoughtful and useful posts
The Cheekster – a hands-on knowledge of the thoroughbred, few others on here seem to share
"What a forum needs for me, is decent, robust debate"
Don’t think we’ve been exactly short of these this last 12 months DJ. In fact, some have been more ‘robust’ than I’d care for!
I’d like to indulge in some more back-slapping and put in a word for Alexander whose contributions to the Systems section of the site are always excellent. His recent thread on ‘Biorhythms’ is fascinating..
Agree with lots of the views already given but just four more names for the pot:
Broadcaster of the Year – surely the irrepressiable Matt Chapman at least deserves to be on the long list.
Commentator of the Year – Iain Mackenzie always pleases me with his wit and accuracy.
One to watch – probably already too well known but I think Richard Kingscote deserves consideration because he could ride even more big winners if given the chance in 2009 although I’ll probably actually vote for one of the up and coming jumps lads.
Trainer of the year – I’d like to see Ralph Beckett on the list – an Oaks winner and Breeders Cup winner made for an excellent season for the capable handler.
Oops just seen the Ralph was mentioned in opening post – sorry.
Anyway I’ve been giving some thought to ride of the year. If I trawled through the form book I’d probably come up with quite a few but the one that sticks in the memory is Nick Scholfield winning at Wincanton on Cornish Sett on 8th November. Brought this horse – who didn’t seem too keen – through with a perfect run and then did everything he could to cajole him into catching Island Flyer on the line.
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