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I,m gonna bend the rules a bit lol…My fave 3 NH horses in no particular order are…Desert Orchid,Best Mate and Durham Edition.
My 3 fave flat horses are….Generous,Dubai Millenium and Asiatic Boy
My 3 fave American flat horses are…Lava Man,Barbaro and Affirmed.
Basically though there is too many favs to really mention
Could only be 2:
Red Rum
-First horse I ever backed,ok I was three at the time, but managed to persuade my father to put 10p e/way on him in 1975. Didn’t start my gambling career off with a winner as he came in 3rd
Barton
– Saw him win his bumper, only to be disqualified, but something really struck me about the way he moved. Backed him in every single race he ran in after that (including a massive bet on him at Cheltenham when he won one of the novice races at the festival), and enjoyed every minute of his racing. Deeply saddened when he was put down.
Flat
1. DANCING BRAVE ( by a mile )
2. Pebbles
3. Warning
4. Marling
5. PilsudskiNH
1. Desert Orchid
2. Barton bank
3. Florida Pearl
4. Monksfield
5. BindareeNot saying they are the best (apart from the "BRAVE"), just my favs.
DANCING BRAVE, spotted him as a 2yo and backed him for the Guineas at 16/1, proved my judgement was bang on the whole of his career! The best horse i have ever seen!
PEBBLES, named after my little sister, backed her to win the 84 1000gns
at 14/1, and proved my judgement was right again!
DUKE OF MARMALADE, I always thought this horse would stay 11/2m
so backed him at 16/1 to win the King George after finishing 2nd to Dylan Thomas, proved yet again what a star he was!
PETONG, what a sprinter, backed him to win the "Wokingham"at16/1 and the "Stewards cup"at 16/1, he then progressed to win the Group 1 Sprint cup at haydock, i of course remained loyal to the price of 16/1! fond memories!
RAISE A PRINCE, my biggest ever single winner, won a very prestigious
handicap at Ascot,one sunday in September 98 returned at 8/1, i backed him the day before at 16/1, i went to Nottingham races on the Saturday
just to speak to a young Neill Callan who rode him, he was excited about
his ride but said he really needed a bit of cut! it duly rained! and they won like the grand sort he was! what a feeling!
MIESQUE, i backed her for the 1000gns at 16/1, she duly obliged at 2/1fav, she went on to prove a superstar, as i expected!!
MASTERCRAFTSMAN, we shall see if i"m setting myself up for a fall!!
but i am certainly expecting a comfortable 2000gns win, it would be no surprise if he ran in the Derby either!From a purely personal point of view my particular favourites are from the very early 1960’s when my interest in horse racing first began.
1 Nicolaus Silver
2 Miralgo
3 DamredubAlthough these horses are not that well known to the present day horse racing enthusiast, they hold very special memories for me and I shall never forget the immense pleasure I derived from watching them in action.
1
Dancing Brave.
The ultimate racehorse. Nothing more to be said.
2.
Sir Percy
. Criminally underrated Derby winner who won the Blue Riband with a unique burst of acceleration, turning certain defeat into an unlikely victory and beating a high class multiple Group One winner in the process. Did this when carrying a crippling injury sustained in firm ground Guineas defeat where well drawn winner raced on a golden highway (and never repeated the performance). Game as a pebble, but trained off just like his mother and should have been retired straight after Epsom.
3.
Chaplin’s Club
. The summer when this record breaking horse won sprint handicap after sprint handicap is a Sea Biscuit style story worth writing. Battling little sprinter who brought racing on to the front pages.
4.
Dayjur
Like the Brave, jilted at the altar on his big day by fate and circumstance. Has there been a better sprinter this past thirty years? Nah, course not.
5.
Desert Orchid
Poetry in motion before the last at Kempton or Ascot, but his Gold Cup winning performance was the most memorable jumps result ever. Unbelievable, tear jerking, bloody minded triumph against adversity for the most charismatic chaser there has ever been. Arkle? Arkle
Who
?
6.
Lough Derg
Never, ever knows when he’s beaten. A tenacious battler who loves to win: a UFC championship contender of a horse and a slow burning crowd favourite.
7.
Oh So Sharp
Triple crown winning mortgage filly who filled you with confidence in every race she ran in. A classy filly and a real nugget for a punter.
8.
Rough Quest
Personal choice. Tipped this in the National to everyone from my best friend to the newsagent up the road at 7/1. I even accosted an old lady in a flowery hat walking to market and marked her pension book. The biggest certainty I have ever seen on a racecourse and the Quest delivered this bold statement with no fuss whatsoever. If only the game was so simple every day.
9.
Salsabil
Fast, game, determined, brilliantly campaigned. A filly who made life worth living in that glorious Oaks winning summer.
and finally…
10.
Reference Point
Multiple classic winning grinder who won his races by demoralised the opposition with relentless, arrogant, dominating pace. Ridden by the best front running jockey there has ever been and trained by Europe’s best ever trainer. Simply marvellous times.
A few from the other end of the spectrum –
1) Lygeton Lad – for a couple of years the best horse around Lingfield at 7f winning 9 times. A real battler like Lough Derg and just like Kauto Star confused the commentators with pronunciation problems. Put the wind up the local bookies when I asked for a price when it was sent to a listed snow race in Sweden
2) Palawan – a good Lingfield sprinter getting me out of trouble twice and in the space of 3 months popped up at 25/1 and 16/1 twice on the turf. Never won again after that but never had to
3) Tarawan – not as good as Palawan but it sounded like him and that’s the only reason I followed it, I thought they might be related. It’s good to have horses to follow even for the wrong reason and if they don’t win for you
4) Dusty Dazzler – another good fast Lingfield sprinter and I was there and backing it when it broke the course record – great performance, great day. Don’t remember it winning much after that but I remember that race
5) Fulvio – another reliable polytrack horse, from what I remember it was one for the placepot every time, it ran loads and placed lots but I can never remember why I started following it
6) Mission To Mars – a bully of a horse over a mile and half on the polytrack winning 7 races in a year mostly with contemptible ease, confidence inspiring to back and watch, handicapper put it up 3 stone in a year
7) Cold Turkey – another horse you could put your shirt on over a mile and half at Lingfield and elsewhere. Helped pay for my membership at Lingfield for a couple of years
and finally my new favourite AW horse
Matsunosuke – possibly the best sprinter on the AW of recent times if not ever, has already won 4 times this year and up to 112 now. Fast over 5 and can win over 6 and the new year’s ‘full bank job’ horse
My own personal favourites are posted elsewhere in The Racing Forum,but if we are talking about the very best horses I have seen in action over the past 47 years then there is simply no contest. Chasers: Arkle and Flyingbolt. Hurdlers: Persian War ( even those associated with Night Nurse and Sea Pigeon- Peter Easterby and John Francome have freely admitted that Persian War was the greatest hurdler they’d ever seen).
Flat: Sea Bird. No superlatives ever written can ever do justice to this supreme champion of the turf. As a 2-year old he was overshadowed by his stable companion Grey Dawn II, but by the start of his 3 year old career he was very much the complete racehorse. The way he disposed of Meadow Court ( who would go on to win the Irish Derby and The King GeorgeVI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes) was simply breathtaking and he did this on the bridle. Later in the year he made 5 Derby winners look positively pedestrian when , again on the bridle, he coasted to victory in the 1965 Prix de l’arc de Triomphe. Diatome who finished 11 lengths behind Sea Bird would then frank the Arc form by pulverizing the Americans in the Washington D.C International at Laurel Park.
I have been waiting 44 years to see the emergence of another Sea Bird; suffice it to say that I’m still waiting.My personal favourites are:
Red Rum
The Minstrel
DanehillI thought that Danehill was such a nice looking, powerful horse, and extremely talented over six and seven furlongs. He got beat on the only occasion that I actually backed him though which was in the July Cup. I was really pleased about how well he later did at stud.
The Minstrel was the first Derby winner that I saw in the flesh. I was nine and already mad on racing when my father took me to the ’77 King George. Again, The Minstrel was a nice looking individual, who as we all know received some firm handling during his top races. We left after the King George, and as we made our way back to our car The Minstrel was stood just outside the gates, beyond the old pre-parade ring, being washed down, waiting to be tested. We had a fantastic view of a real racing superstar, never to be seen again on a racecourse.
But I could make a list of favourites containing just one horse. That would easily be Red Rum. As much as I have enjoyed horse racing over the last thirty years, it’s never been quite the same for me since Red Rum was retired. Nothing for me has quite matched the excitement of looking out for his white noseband, or Tommy Stack’s yellow cap as he made his way over each of those mighty National fences. Hoping that he could win it yet again. There was something almost unrealistic about the way he was so consistant in so tough a race. It bordered on fantasy stuff. Real horse racing isn’t like that is it?
1.BEST MATE
2.BARATHEA
3.VIKING FLAGSHIP
4.KAUTO STAR
5.COOL GROUND
6.DUBAI MILLENIUM
7.BARTON BANK
8.INGLIS DREVER
9.DOUBLE TRIGGER
10.LOCHSONGJust missing out is ZAFONIC……just cos he dared beat BARATHEA in the 2,000guineas
My favorites so far are Comply or Die, Cloudy Lane and Mon Mome. I might change over the time, but so far these 3 are my favorites.
Kauto Star really gets my heart pumping ever time he races and is my number one by a mile and who knows how much more he can achieve.
Other favourites being Brave Inca, Dylan Thomas and Ouija Board.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Kauto Star is a great horse. I finally get to see some of his races, and I must say it is a very impressive horse. Another one on my list. Sea The Stars was great in Epsom too, he might be one of my favorites too.
Kauto Star is a great horse. I finally get to see some of his races, and I must say it is a very impressive horse. Another one on my list. Sea The Stars was great in Epsom too, he might be one of my favorites too.
Kauto Star is a great horse. I finally get to see some of his races, and I must say it is a very impressive horse. Another one on my list. Sea The Stars was great in Epsom too, he might be one of my favorites too.
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