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RIP Lorna Brooke, desperately sad news. It certainly sounds like she lived life to the full, and will be much missed.
Mr Maxwell is an adult and if he wants to race then that is up to him. Obviously if he or any other jockey were regularly causing dangerous incidents on racecourses then that would be different, but he isn’t. Quite why people are trying to deter someone who is passionate about the sport and puts a lot into it is beyond me.
Obviously whether you want to put your life savings on one of his mounts is another matter…
Agree Golden Miller. Has Mastermind got easier?! Was expecting rather more obscure questions than those, and for there to be scarcely anything from post-World War II.
Not sure if you bothered with the rest of the episode, but the guy who won it was a machine! Very impressive knowledge.
I will definitely be taking a visit to your site Golden Miller, looking forward to it.
My goodness Gamble, I never imagined the tale of Rubio would end up taking us on that journey through the decades, but an interesting deviation it certainly was. Glad to hear you were out enjoying the sunshine.
Just announced on ITV that Theinval has been retired after today’s victory at Ayr. Wishing him a long and happy retirement.
Jimmy Gimini, more time used to be spent on looking at the runners in the paddock and on the way down to the start. Nowadays the non-specialist broadcasters prefer to show more interviews etc., presumably in an attempt to highlight the human side of the sport and make it more “relatable”.
I’d like to see the balance shift back somewhat the other way. Nowadays pre-race coverage of the runners is often rushed or sometimes virtually non-existant. To be fair to ITV Racing, this trend had started long before they came into being. Ultimately horse racing is about the horses, and there needs to be a bit more confidence in the core product.
VtC, although I do enjoy ITV Racing, your script at the end did make me chuckle!
Re Alice and the paddock commentaries, I agree they are not overly insightful, but think anyone performing that role would struggle. ITV spend scarcely any time on them. At Aintree they were so rushed it sounded like the poor woman was commentating on the race she was having to speak so quickly, and the very limited time they are afforded hardly lends itself to detailed analysis.
As I say though, I’d prefer to see her in the anchorperson role that Francesca tends to take as that is where her enthusiasm and love of the sport could shine more.
I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one, but good to understand where you are coming from.
Thank you Golden Miller and Gamble, interesting stuff. I look forward to seeing your Grand National site in due course Golden Miller, it sounds like a real labour of love.
I also rate Richard Hoiles.
Tony McCoy is a tricky one. His riding career was the stuff of legend, and he is the regular presenter who will be best known to the general public by far. But he is not a natural broadcaster, and does not look at ease in the role. The single-mindedness and seriousness that served him so well while riding has not translated to someone who can easily draw people in as a presenter. I do like that he is willing to give a divergent view and speak his mind, as this is somewhat of a rarity in the modern media, though he does come across as bordering on grumpy sometimes. His past career will probably mean his place on the team remains safe, but he really does need to up his game. Perhaps the recent competition from Ruby Walsh might help spur that on.
VtC, you may recall I defended Alice Plunkett when you criticised her before. To explain my opinion, I find her enthusiasm and clear love of the horses themselves adds to my enjoyment of the programme, and she brings a different dimension to a lot of the other team members. I think she’s a perfectly capable and eloquent presenter too. Would actually prefer she was given a more prominent role than Francesca for the Jumps, as Francesca is clearly more interested in the Flat.
Oh no, how very sad. His Sun Alliance Chase win really was something. RIP Presenting Percy
I like those ideas Quelle Farce.
This will obviously never happen, but perhaps we could also have a race with 40 Red Rum clones ridden by various jockey greats, so we can see who the simulation identifies as the best Grand National jockey.
Apparently the nickname originates from when childhood friends couldn’t pronounce her name correctly. I’m none too keen on it either; doesn’t exactly inspire thoughts of health and cleanliness, which are what I’d want to be associated with if training elite equine athletes!
Agree dashingcustomer, this particular achievement has not had the attention it might have got in other years! Off the top of my head, I can’t even think of any other trainer who has had two horses in the first four in the same year, let alone the first two. Would have thought at least the former of these would have been achieved in the race’s long history.
Evan Williams had a placed horse seven years in a row from 2009-2015 which is quite an achievement. State Of Play, Cappa Bleu and Alvarado were the horses.
Thanks Ian, I did indeed enjoy that.
Had not heard of Tromos before, but that performance at Ascot was stunning and well worth a watch. Shame his career fizzled out after such an impressive start.
From some quick searching online, I see he was trained by Bruce Hobbs, this being the same Bruce Hobbs who was youngest jockey to ever win the Grand National. Sure you know that already, but it was quite interesting to me anyway!
Farclas ran really well on Saturday and I think there could still be some improvement to come. However, this will no doubt be offset by him being higher in the weights, and I have a suspicion that if he didn’t win on Saturday he’s unlikely to next year.
The last horse to win the National after failing to win it in a prior attempt was Mon Mome back in 2009, so recent trends are also against Farclas in this respect. I certainly wouldn’t rule out another bold showing from him, but he doesn’t fit the profile of a modern National winner.
The news that Bez has his own racing club had passed me by until this post, but there’s something very cheering about this incongruous development. Having their first runner on a Monday allowed the news headlines to write themselves whichever way things went.
OK, so this trainer is clearly not very good. I’m a bit puzzled by these comments about “greed” though. Nobody is going to get rich running horses in sellers.
If we look at the Melbourne Cup’s recent injury rates, I’d say there was rather more obvious evidence to accuse connections who allow their horse to run in that race of “greed” than what we are seeing here. It would be interesting to understand connections’ motivations and the background to how this horse returned to racing after a 5-year layoff, but I think it’s very harsh to judge without knowing the facts.
I agree there should be safeguards such as trainers needing to demonstrate certain levels of competence in order to be licensed, and horses passing veterinary inspections before being raced but, beyond that, I believe racehorses should be allowed to race.
Anyway, one thing we can all agree on is RIP Mindurownbusiness, a very sad loss.
