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Thanks Red Rum and you just reminded me, why the hell have i not you on my Hall Of Fame horses list. 3 Grand Nationals will never be equalled never mind surpassed, You are on there now along with
Secretariat, Brigadier Gerard and Nijinsky who i also left out – Shocking stuff on my part ..They are all in now though
Its an excellent list although as always people would have differing opinions on who missed out that should be in their. In terms of pure Racehorses it was but i would have also added Northern Dancer and Sadlers Wells to the list not on racing ability but for the sheer scale of their stallion achievements, of which many horses on this list can bear testiment to.
Their legacy to the racing industry is incalcuable, however all
in all its a terrific list of horses to choose from
While Sea The Stars put up many stellar performances throuthout his career including breaking the track record in the Eclipse and in the International, i agree that his performance in the Arc remains his best. After 2 furlongs of the race i simply refused to believe that he could possibly win given how hard he had pulled for his head, after another 4 furlongs i was even more convinced as he continued to pull violently on the inside, surely in a race of this staure and quality it wud be impossible to winj doing this. then at the top of the false straight he got shuffled back past midfield and was trapped in a pocket ….At that stage i lost all hope that the great one could achieve the impossible, in a 0-75 handicap it would be icredible but to do it in an Arc after you have been racing in Classic and top level Group 1’s for 6 straight months and when the race goes wrong in every way thats possible, would be an astonishing performance and then …… Well the rest is history –
His greatest performance by a mile in my opinionIntersting to see the Horses that could have been added to The TRF Hall Of Fame since the thread was posted in Jan’09. Horses like Sea The Stars, Frankel, Zenyatta on the Flat and Big Bucks over hurdles, guess some will have to update their nominations, here are mine
Horses : Istabraq, Moscow Flyer, Arkle, Desert Orchid, Brave Inca, Sea Pigeon, Kauto Star, Inglis Drever, Big Bucks, Sea The Stars, Galileo, Zarkava, Yeats, Zenyatta, Giants Causeway, Dancing Brave, Montjeu, Rock Of Gibraltar, Goldikova, Makybe Diva
Trainers : Vincent O’Brien, Henry Cecil, Martin Pipe, David Nicholson, Aiden O’Brien
Jockeys : AP McCoy, Kieran Fallon, Lester Piggot
Commentators : O’Sullivan, Holt, Mc Cririck, Francome (Could be in both pundit and jockey category)Most looking forward to a safe run from Await The Dawn in his Classic Prep, this is O’briens best Classic chance with the Americans so weak and i reckon the nerves for this race and the next 2 months will be at an all time high. A Midday – Misty for Me rematch would have been nice but thats not going to happen now
The other race of interest is the Lowther to see if Gamilati can further strengthen the impression that this years crop of 2 yr old fillies are above average and notably that Godolphin have 2 of those fillies right up there with the best (Gamiliati and Discourse)
I wasnt suggesting Frankel wasnt an all time great miler – i wrote in my post that he was but nobody can justifyably say he is one of the Top 5 All Time Great Flat Horses based on what hes achieved so far. Whatever the various merits of form in different classic years, to be able to win Group 1’s over 1m, 1m 2f and 1m 4f takes a special horse and to do it consistently over a career however long that career may be marks out a horse as a true Champion.
Frankel has now proved himself a true champion at a mile but he is only setting out on the path to prove his true greatness and it will be by the end of his 4yr old career that we can judge if he is possibly one of the elite all time greats
For my money i believe he will prove to be unbeatable at any distance and will prove to be an all time great but he is some way off from being there yet
There can be no doubting now that Frankel has earned the right to be called one of the greatest Milers in history, now the big question is can he go on to mark himself down as one of the greatest horses of all time
In order to do that he has to become a middle distance Champion like Dancing Brave, Mill Reef, Sea The Stars etc, my own personal opinion is he has so much ability that even with his racing style he can achieve it. For some to be claiming he is already 1 of the all-time greats is premature until he proves it over 10 and 12f and it looks like we will have to wait until his 4yr old career to find out but barring injury that day will arrive and it will be glorious to see
Wonder of Wonders had every chance to beat Dancing Rain at Epsom but didnt. To my mind she along with DR got the run of the race and with a furlong to run she came upsides Dancing Rain and it looked like she had the winning of the race if she was good enough. To my mind DR outstayed her and i cannot see any reason to suggest Wonder of Wonders will reverse the form, also DR is likely to handle soft much better so it wouls surprise me if WoW beat her.
Of the others Banimpire is interesting, she seems to improve with racing and showed she handled cut in the ground in Ribblesdale, i see her running Dancing Rain close but perhaps just falling short.
Blue Bunting would look to have outstanding claims considering where she came from in the Oaks and the Curragh is likely to suit her better but im not so sure that she will relish the conditions as much as other believe, thats just my opinion but on ability alone she should be in the first 3.1st. Dancing Rain
2nd. Banimpire
3rd. Blue Bunting
Whats the Over/under on Consecutive Irish Derby wins for Ballydoyle. 8.5? And on 1-2-3 Derby finishes until O’Brien retires 9.5? I know no bookies will give you odds but with their amazing middle distance breeding system and the fact a lot of the other big yards in Ireland are stuggling for credible Derby candidates year in year out it looks like Coolmore/Ballydoyle/O’Brien will continue to dominate this race for years to come Clearly the evidence is there for all to see the Ballydoyle horses improve immensely in their 2nd outing of the year, its happened time and again this season, this weekend being no exception
When you consider the amount of improvement found by most of their top horses then it makes the run of Seville in the Dante all the more appealing as a Derby prospect. On the face of it there seems little evidence as to why he should reverse placings with Carlton House but if he even finds half the improvement his stablemates have been finding then surely he must go closeIm on at 8/1 and i feel happier by the day
Ignoring Ballydoyle first time out performances seems to be the way to go this season, you only have to see the improvement Together and Wild Wind showed from run 1 to 2 to show the improvement the horses make as the season progresses
On that basis im willing to give Misty For Me a chance to show she has trained on. Desperately disappointing in the Guineas there is no obvious reason to fancy her except the Stable Trend is for huge improvement to be made in Run 2 of the season and that will do for me – she is surely an e/w steal but im hopeful
she can win thisGalileo is such a poor sire of Milers thats hes only had
the English 2000, Irish 2000 and French 1000 Guineas
winners this season, its obvious for all to see that he cant
produce Milers !!!! …… Please give us a breakAt least the argument about him producing top class milers is
now well and truly redundantSecond time its happened to him in a short space of time.
One mistake can be forgiven as hes a young lad but for him to be that careless so soon is worrying for his future prospectsShould have got a 3 month ban minimum and a 3rd such offence at least a year. He cannot let it happen again or serious questions will have to be asked
Um Let me see now …. What did i think of that?
Ah, astonishing, breathtaking, magnificent, incredible
scarcely believable. We all knew he was special but i
dont think any of us quite knew he was THAT Special A FREAK OF NATURE
Guess we will find out in a few hours whether Ballydoyle have a credible Derby Candidate to challenge Frankel. I know Seville is highly thought of but you get the sense that they are pinning there hopes on Recital to be there main hope this year. He has looked impressive so far, now he has to step up and do it as a 3 year old. I await the result with anticipation!
Next Years National run over 4m 1f 65yards and Big Fella Thanks surely his time has come, absolute certainty! Came there cruising at the 2nd last, looked like it was a case of how far and didnt get home for 3rd year in a row. Oh Well he gave me a good run for my money and my other bets Dont Push It and State Of Play made the frame so it was enjoyable from a betting point of view
The Sadness is for the horses that died and the scene of that horse lying with just a tarp covering him as the field bypassed the 1 before Becehers. Seemed like he died quickly which at least spared him some pain. The race was memorable, exciting and thrilling if tinged with a degree of sadness afterwards
PS. Peter Toole, my thoughts and prayers are with you
Just thought id have a look at Dunwoodys Tip as a matter of interest only to discover the mans a genius! Picked the winner at 14/1, the 3rd at 9/1 and the 5th at 16/1. 3 tips and all of them placed depending on if you went with a bookie paying 5 places, pretty incredible
I thought my bets Big Fella Thanks, Dont Push It and State Of Play had given me a good run for my money but Dunwoodys tips blew me out of the water. Well done sir
