- This topic has 40 replies, 31 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 7 months ago by
.
- Posts
As someone who is somewhat of a newcomer to the racing ‘scene’ in terms of age and experience, mine is rather new and from the last couple of years.
1) Rip Van Winkle not running in 12f race since The Derby. I wholeheartedly believe he would have relished this trip, but was never able to see my thoughts vindicated. I adore this horse and would have loved to see him go for either the King George or the Arc, emulating some great horses from Ballydoyle this decade in The Duke or Dylan Thomas.
Then a greedy and financial one was not Cape Blanco not running in the Derby (purely financial reasons, it was my biggest possible ante post return ever).
Nijinsky’s first defeat ( ’70 Arc ) left me numb. The whole of Britain and Ireland tuned in to see the triple crown winner make it twelve in a row. He failed by a whisker.
Financially, it has to be the Cheltenham ante-post treble I place in 1981. Sea Pigeon Champion Hurdle, Broadsword ( Triumph Hurdle ) and Little Owl ( Gold Cup ).
Broadsword (fav), who, if memory serves, had been undefeated over hurdles until the first race of the Cheltenham Festival on thursday. Three day meeting then. He was out-stayed up the hill by Martin Pipe’s Baron Blakeney @ 66/1
Gutted doesn’t even begin to cover it.
To make matters worse, Broadsword gained his revenge a few weeks later at Aintree.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
The lad in my avatar, without doubt, the radical decline within My Way De Solzen’s mental attitude towards racing.
A favourite of mine, a yard favourite, a very talented horse.
His wins at Cheltenham will long live in the memory. I will never forget the way he came sweeping around the bend into the run in, during his Arkle triumph, kicked up the gears, and jumped superbly well to run up the hill to victory.
I won’t ever forget him going toe-to-toe with the great Kauto Star, at Haydock, until the very heavy ground got the better of him and he went backwards rather quickly.
Then went to races like the Peterborough Chase, where he never went a yard, after being reverted previously over hurdles.
Then the lad couldn’t finish anywhere near the front in a handicap chase at Lingfield, and was left tailed off miles adrift from the field.
A very sad demise of an absolute favourite of mine, who had clearly just fallen out of love with the game. Always harder to comprehend when it is a horse you are close to and hold in such high regard.
Araglin being classified as a withdrawel in the Janet Lodge Birthday Handicap Hurdle (Class E) in 2005.
Absolutely sickening stuff.
When they found foot and mouth in Ireland and Aiden annonced that ISTABRAQ wouldn’t be running even if Cheltenham was on. I think he was 4/11 at the time to win his fourth champion hurdle , I was gutted for the horse but watching him fall twice at the same flight probably upset me as much as anything else in racing. How heartwarming to hear the cheer he got when Charlie pulled him up on his last run at Cheltenham
On the flat it would have to be Dayjur jumping the shadow in the 1990 Breeders Cup sprint. He had overcome all the difficult stuff like a wide draw, running on dirt & around a bend for the first time. In the straight he had the race won yet in the final strides he jumped the shadow and lost all momentum. I was absolutely gutted and I still cringe when I watch the replay now. Without doubt one of the greatest sprinters that has ever raced, certainly a contender for the greatest Europe has had.
Over the jumps it’s when Well Chief fell at the second fence in the 2007 Champion Chase. I know it sounds over the top but as soon as he hit the deck the rest of that years festival was ruined for me. Had he stayed on his feet I’m in no doubt he would have won the race that eluded him throughout his injury plagued career. Probably the best 2m chaser never to win the Champion Chase. His huge weight carrying victory in the 2005 Victor Chandler Handicap Chase & his tough battles with the great Moscow Flyer & Azertyuiop show that.
I was told a couple of years ago that Well Chief was the highest rated 2 miler not to win it. Agree about Dayjur. I wasn’t all that interested in flat racing but he really caught my imagination that season.Wasn’t the horse that beat Istabraq when he fell a certain Moscow Flyer? I was so relieved to see Istabraq at Cheltenham the year when he’d had a slight bleed and they weren’t sure whether to run him. I’d gone there specially to see him just walk round the paddock, and didn’t know till I arrived whether he would be there or not.
Watching Latalomne about to hand out major butt-kickings to firstly Flagship Uberalles then Moscow Flyer in subsequent Champions. Fences got in the way on both occasions.
Gotta jump ’em.
Mike
I have had many dissapointments with horses,
Dancing Brave
should have been unbeaten and it still makes me angry when i see Grevilles antics in the parade ring before the race! In Racing without a doubt its the gross incompetency of Stewards they are a liability,to say they are supposed to sing off the same song sheet,half of them dont even know the words!I have no confidence in them at all and when i see a stewards enquiry called that involves one of my horses i think well it could go either way this! Mind you as bad as our lot of Gin slingin dodderers are the French are worse! Half an hour to realise
Workforce
had done nothing wrong in the Arc!
Duh!That Kempton decided to dig up its turf course and introduce the abhorrent all weather surface.
When Jim Crowley decided to move from riding over jumps to the flat.
The BBC cutting back on its racing coverage.
Channel 4 cutting back on the appearances of John McCririck, and instead inflicting us with Tom Lee.
Sacred Kingdom failing at Ascot is up there.
The best sprinter in the world by miles and Hong Kong’s best ever, but everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Ground was classified as good but would have been yielding or good-to-yielding in HK (Sacred Kingdom had only raced on good surfaces), uncharacteristically got very worked up before the race, missed the start, got squeezed up, put up on the speed when the principals came from basically dead last (Art Connoisseur, Cannonball), etc.The last 4 honestly wouldn’t have even mattered if the ground was firmer, but on the ground he needed things to go his way and nothing did. Still ran 5th but that hurt.
Rip not getting the good or firm surfaces he needs this year was disappointing too, although it was bound to happen. Last year he never encountered cut in the ground. He would have had quite a decent season this year if the weather went his way, Juddmonte International and QEII wins plus a 2nd to Canford Cliffs, and I think the Irish Champion would have been very different. Don’t know if he could have won, but he was barely grinding past Twice Over when in the International he blew past that one like he was standing still
EDIT:
I’m with Aidan O’Brien on RVW’s distances. He said Rip’s a miler who gets 10f on good ground, and I just can’t imagine that the man and Murtagh are so far off that RVW is best over 12f. Rip ran on well in the Derby but it was run at an absolute crawl.
He looked like he might’ve been looking for further in the Juddmonte, but I think that’s just his racing pattern when ridden from off the pace. In all of his hold-up races except for perhaps the Eclipse (but like the Derby, International, Guineas) I’m sure you’ve noticed he takes a lot of urging and time before he actually gets going. I’m sure this is why they ride him forward and kick early when running over distances they think he’s best at and know he’ll get.
- Total Posts 17716
Engaging John Lowe to ride for my old partner and I when we had gone for a touch. Trainer gave him specific instructions to hold the horse up midfield. For some reason known only to himself he bounced the horse out of the stalls and went straight into a 3 length and set a scorching pace. She collapsed in a heap a furlong from home. Lyndsay Charnock, Paul Burke, J Carter and Ray Cochrane all won on her later but Lowe never rode for the trainer again.
- Total Posts 17716
Azertyuiop’s career ultimately being cut short by greed.
War Emblem losing the Belmont
Funny Cide losing the Belmont
Smarty Jones losing the Belmont
Big Brown losing the BelmontThe lack of competition during Best Mate’s reign over fences.
Monsignor’s career was of course cut terribly short before he could even jump a fence and Barton regressed badly with his degenerative foot problem. What might have been…
- Total Posts 438
On the racecourse: the fact that Carobee didn’t run again after his imperious novice season. In my opinion, he could have been one of the all-time greats.
Off the racecourse: they’re an easy target, but why have millions of pounds been spent on Racing For Change?
Duh!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.