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Oh no! So sad to see Capeland’s name here. He had become a real favourite of mine, especially since that crazy race at Ascot where he was disqualified when carried out by Diego Du Charmil who won that day. It was so good to see him get some justice in his next race a few weeks later. A consistent and classy horse who won 8 out of 32 starts and a very respectable £193k. RIP Capeland
Good old Cogry has been retired after not fancying racing much at Cheltenham today. He certainly had some jumping issues in his younger days, but developed into a very durable and tough chaser. Wishing him a long and happy retirement
That grand old frontrunner Loose Chips has been retired at the age of 14. Wishing him a long and happy retirement, it is certainly well-deserved
With fitting timing on the eve of the Scottish Grand National, the 2016 and 2017 winner Vicente has been retired. Wishing him a long and happy retirement.
Pacha Du Polder was retired after pulling up at Cheltenham
@BigG Thanks very much for your reply to my query all the way back on page 4 of this thread re why the equine flu outbreak had caused such a strong reaction.
Some of the comments Henrietta Knight has made in the article linked to below summarise what I was thinking rather more eloquently i.e. the reaction seemed to be as if the plague had been unleashed, whereas the flu is a problem that the human population copes with year round.
My terminology “normal flu” was also not very precise! What I was getting at was a flu virus that is not unusually severe in terms of harm to the infected and mortality rates i.e. the type of flu virus that tends to be seen fairly commonly from year to year. That’s not to say it is a minor ailment though, and the more vulnerable members of society are encouraged to vaccinate for good reason.
If there was any evidence that the type of equine flu observed recently was unusually contagious or harmful then I could understand the BHA reaction, though I haven’t seen much that suggests this was so.
I’ve not got much knowledge of equine health but, from what I’ve read today, equine flu doesn’t sound a lot worse than human flu. Obviously human society does not grind to a halt in the face of “normal” flu outbreaks. So my question is what is so bad about equine flu that it has caused what seems, at first glance, such an extreme reaction? Not trying to downplay things as it’s obviously very serious, I’m just not understanding why! If anyone can help shed some light that would be much appreciated.
Wishing Saint Are and Cue Card long and happy retirements. Two wonderfully durable performers who have both contributed a huge amount to jump racing. At his peak Cue Card really was up there with the all-time greats, while few horses can match Saint Are’s achievements at Aintree.
One other recent retirement with a little less fanfare is that of Nicky Henderson’s Sign Of A Victory. A very classy hurdler whose career was sadly curtailed by injury. More details here https://www.racingpost.com/news/burning-ambition-to-miss-aintree-foxhunters/326479
Thank you for posting this Simon. As much as I cringe at the antics of the reality TV version of John McCririck, there has always been a lot more to the man than that. It was good to see this other side of him to the fore here; a very interesting listen.
huddiespuddies and Ex RubyLight, I agree that Exotic Dancer probably wasn’t underrated from an official rating perspective. I was more meaning that I’m not sure it was widely appreciated quite how decent he was due to his more illustrious contemporaries. It’s good to hear you both rate him highly
I think a few other horses from the same era could be added to this group alongside Exotic Dancer and Neptune Collonges. Imperial Commander and Madison Du Berlais (2008/09 season) are two others that spring to mind.
Thanks very much for the reply Louise
I guess the way to look at it is that the wind op should sound a note of caution until there is evidence that it has worked, and this is especially the case in situations where there is likely to be more pressure on breathing such as when the going is heavy.As wind ops seem to be under discussion here, I’m hoping someone might be able to clarify an aspect that is confusing me. I’m sure I’ve heard it mentioned that horses who’ve had wind ops tend to be unsuited by heavy going afterwards. Why would this be? I’d have thought the whole point of the wind op would be to make life easier in situations where there is more pressure on breathing such as heavy ground.
Neptune Collonges for me. Very unlucky to be around at the same time as his more illustrious stablemates Kauto Star and Denman, and hence his classy and durable career went somewhat underappreciated. When he finally had his deserved day of glory in the 2012 Grand National it was cruelly overshadowed by the tragic deaths of Synchronised and According To Pete.
Another underrated horse from the same era was Exotic Dancer, one of the few chasers who could force a top-form Kauto Star to pull out all the stops. Both of the above horses had the ability to have been impressive Gold Cup winners in many recent years, but fate decreed that they would end up in supporting roles in what was a Golden Age of steeplechasing.
What a wonderful sight Menorah was today. What a horse
Another grand old Grade 1 winning chaser, First Lieutenant, was retired on Thursday after finishing 3rd in the La Touche Cup. He seemed to have been in the wilderness for a while, and it was good to see him go out on the back of a good performance as well.
His Grade 1 chase win was in the 2013 Betfred Bowl over none other than Menorah.
Have really enjoyed this meeting. Totally agree that Aintree should be massively congratulated on all the improvements they have made.
I thought they did a decent job of creating a sense of occasion today, which is what is needed for the much broader audience that the National brings. Loved the plentiful use of the theme from Champions which has been underused in recent years :)
Have still got big issues with the camera angles missing key action though. Also the commentary on the big race seemed somewhat error-strewn, especially the miscalling of Gas Line Boy as Wonderful Charm in the closing stages.
There was plenty to like about the coverage though, and I’m just pleased it’s still on one of the “big” free-to-air channels.
Great to hear of a number of old favourites finishing their careers on happy notes. Seemed like the right time for Silviniaco Conti as he was clearly not the horse of old.
Returning to the Pipe retirements mentioned recently, there is more detail on them here http://www.davidpipe.com/2014-02-27-07-37-23-1/2918-changing-of-the-guard.
It seems Gevrey Chambertin was injured in the Eider prompting his retirement. On a happier note it looks like we may not have seen the last of Shotavodka as he will be going pointing
