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I shall go for
1) Desert Orchid – no explanation needed. Plus he could run in the King George even without being guaranteed to win beforehand.
2) Young Kenny – I will never forget his Becher Chase. It was just pure poetry all the way round. He should have won a national, an absolute tragedy.
3) Make a Stand – I had my biggest ever bet on him (at the time) in the Tote Gold Trophy and assumed I’d blown my money when he got swallowed up; amazing how he could kick back at the end of the race. I didn’t back him in the Champion but cheered him all the way home and then celebrated with a big bottle of Champagne I’d saved just in case. I don’t give a monkeys that he’s considered a poor CH winner.<br>
(Edited by RichK at 6:27 pm on Dec. 22, 2003)
good to see so many votes for dessie…sometimes knocked abit by "experts" who resentedhis public image
So, yes…
1. desert Orchid. real star quality and one i saw many times around the sw london courses
2. dayjur. Dont normally like sprinters and not keen on this ones connections…but what a sprinter! wow
3. Reference Point. Epitomised Cauthen and cecil at their best
But there are so many…
Can i vte again tomorrow?
Tough call but here goes.
1) Swain – incredibly gutsy and his defeat of Pilsudski, Singspiel and Helissio is one of the great races IMO
2) Baracouda – never got the recognition he deserves (because he’s French) but possibly the best twighopper I have had the privilege of watching.
3) Quito – unfashionable horse from an unfashionable yard, effective from 5f to 1m, turf or sand, magnificent beast!
4) Dancing Brave – not really old enough to fully appreciate his Arc win at the time but the way he finished that day was majestic.
My favourite flat horse is Dandy Nicholls Goodwood ace Zuhair. I’ve backed him everytime at Glorious Goodwood, even sending my Dad’s mate up the bookies when I was on holiday in America one year.
National Hunt it was Flagship Uberalles when trained by Paul Nicholls. His performance when beaten by Nordance Prince in the Victor Chandler Chase was nothing short of heroic. I was gutted when he lost at Cheltenham that year. Marlborough has spent a while as my favourite horse in training as well. I was gutted when he just failed in lat years King George. With him on the wane the mantle is open at the moment and could well be filled by Strong Flow. It has nothing to do with my 14/1 for the R&SA though!
<br>A very personal choice that I wont be bothering to nominate officially.
Charlottown – I saw him win the Solario Stakes at Sandown by 8 lengths and announced he would win the Derby next June. When he did, my father accepted that I might have a chance of making racing pay and stopped giving me the ‘never saw a poor bookie’ speech.
Little Earwig – won a 1m 5f handicap at Alexandra Palace in the spring of 1969 (?), rewarding a mad loss chasing bet of £100/30 and allowing me to return the money I’d taken from the house deposit fund shared with my then fiancee.
Va Utu – the sixth winner on the Lingfield card on Friday March 19th 1993 and the final leg of a Tote Jackpot that paid me £39k and gave me the breathing space to continue as a full time punter.
Life changing horses aren’t always the stars, and I’d be going round in circles trying to nominate three from the many great athletes I’ve been privileged to see from Nijinsky to Falbrav or Arkle to Baracouda.
AP
Yavana’s Pace, Fruits of Love, Double Trigger, Fight Your Corner, One Man, Sir Peter Lely…plus many many more!
Gawd, there are so many. But I think the ones that made my heart skip a beat are (in reverse order :biggrin: )
5. Brigidier Gerard<br>4. Tingle Creek<br>3. Night Nurse<br>2. Desert Orchid<br>1. Shergar
But there are so many more that would make up a top 20.
<br>One obvious one and two more obscure ones for me.
Arkle – Sheer brilliance. There hasn’t been a better chaser in my lifetime. I was a Mill house ‘fan’ as a youngster and hated Arkle because he always beat my favourite. However over time I learnt to appreciate the true quality of ‘himself’. I’ve got the Irish Independent video about Arkle and I don’t tire of watching it.
Hops And Pops – I took my wife racing at Ascot in the mid 90’s and she selected Hops And Pops in a novices’ chase. Things started on a slightly sour note as the mare kicked out and broke Carl Llewellyn’s leg. Once the race started there was only one horse in it as Hops And Pops took the lead and, with a superb display of jumping, just went farther and farther away. Her form afterwards was rather up and down and Robert Alner eventually retired her to stud. We are now looking out for her sons and daughters, Rio Pops, Hops Trouble and Double Pops being the ones I know of.
Minus Man – I spotted Bill Holden as a trainer who generally landed a few decent winners every season, and I got to know his pattern of training. Minus Man ran until the age of 11 and was never more than a moderate handicapper, but won a few races and it gave me great pleasure to follow his career. I remember on particular day when he won by a head in a tight finish at Kempton, with my brother and I yelling our heads off.
Rob
Having watched racing for 40+ years there are many candidates.<br>One that will always stay with me is a horse called Royal Toss, trained by Mr. H.Handel some where in the West Country.<br>I was at Chepstow one day and this animal won an ordinary staying handicap hurdle, hanging around after the last waiting for the traffic to ease I noticed a horse going out to do a circuit of the track, being inquisitive I had a word the chap who seemed to be the one in charge of the horse, it turned out to be the said Mr. Handel and the horse doing the circuit was the 15-y-o mother of Royal Toss ( Spinning Coin, if my memory serves).<br>As you can imagine the rest of the career of this horse was followed with great interest.<br>And very rewarding it proved to be, with a brave place in the Gold Cup at Chelters and a victory in the Whitbread at Sandown.<br>As the memory is not what it was, I’d be interseted to know if anyone else remebers RT and if they can fill in the details of whose GC did he get placed in (it was around the time of Pendil and The Dikler) and who he beat at Sandown.
seabird
Try these old warriors for size:
Spartan Missile<br>Mole Board<br>Peaty Sandy
I’ve deliberately left out Dawn Run, as I don’t want to start Ian off on one :biggrin:
Nashwan, first horse to win the Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and King George.<br>Dancing Brave, winner of the Guineas, Eclipse, King George and the Arc and deprived of his Derby win because of his jockey’s misjudgement<br>Desrt Orchid, ’nuff said.<br>Persian Punch, for sheer guts and for bring so much pleasure to racing fans.<br>richard
It’s impossible to pick 3, most of them are from when I was still at school!
National Hunt:
Crystal Spirit<br>Uncle Ernie<br>Run and Skip<br>Stearsby<br>Door Latch (Saw him at Newbury when I was about 5 years old, gorgeous horse)<br>Vulrory’s Clown<br>Dessie (of course)
Flat:
Paris House<br>Mind Games<br>Linpac West<br>Dawns Delight<br>Jokist (first horse I had money on at Yarmouth in 1992, I was 11, 50p win)<br>Bob’s Return<br>Persian Punch
If I had to have 3, well I guess it would go something like:
1) Dessie<br>2) Persian Punch<br>3) Door Latch
How can you say that Black Stallion – Desert Orchid was the epitome of a NH horse – a supreme jumper, versatile regards trip and ground – and the sort of horse you should be privileged to see in action.
I have seen the horse in the flesh but sadly it was many years after he retired.
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