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I know I have not posted for ages, but I would love to meet up again with some forumites.  <br>The five I have met so far seemed pleasant enough, not a serial killer amongst them.  Besides, I am sure some still owe me a gin and tonic.<br>
So Ian, are you trying to say that all of these wealthy Arabs just race their horses over here because they want to be popular with the public? <br>If i had horses in Japan, Outer Mongolia, Timbuctoo or whereever i would want the name to one that i could say. The natives may struggle but ultimately it will be the owner who has to say the horse’s name most frequently.
I remember once reading an interview with Prince Khaled Abdullah who said that he always allowed his stud staff to name his home bred horses. <br>Nebvertheless, he did remark that he himself had problems with the pronunciation of some of these English names. So it does work both ways.<br>
Cheltenham does seem to have worked the media oracle in making everyone believe that to win there is the ultimate accolade.  If a horse is not capable of winning at the Festival then the media will class them as just short of top class. <br>One Man seemed to always get awfully bad press after each of his Gold Cup failures.  Yet after his Queen Mother Champion Chase triumph all was forgiven.
On another front, I do always feel a little sad that come mid June four of the five Classics have already been run.  Yes, there is Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, York etc and the excitement of seeing the three year olds take on the older horses. But all too often it is a case of watching those equines below top class slowly slip down the grades. ÂÂÂ
No one can say that The November Handicap is as great a finale to a season as the Attheraces Gold Cup at Sandown.  So maybe the flat schedule is the one with the real problem…
(Edited by Pocket Rocket at 7:48 pm on Sep. 17, 2003)
Personally, i find NH interesting because its season is geared towards its Cheltenham climax.  <br>As a child, i found flat racing far more exciting. Admittedly, this could have had something to do with flat race jockeys being infinitely more pleasing on the eye than the NH jockeys of the time.  (No jokes about Seamus Durack, Rory; times change!)<br>There was also always the added interest of the horse’s breeding.  I found it intriguing having watched a horse’s parents race to then see their progeny on the track.<br>I would often watch the big NH races & the great horses, but still always be waiting with anticipation for the flat season to begin at Doncaster.
However, the 2000-2001 season really converted me to the fact that the NH season over the winter is absolutely fantastic.  Possible Cheltenham winners are not going to appear at every run if the mill meeting but there is always the possibilty that you may have seen a horse good enough for a race at the Festival.<br>I was devastated that there was no festival that year. For me as the end of the NH season becomes more fascinating every year, the Doncaster Lincoln meeting becomes more of a damp squib.
PS.  Mesh, on behalf of any donkeys out there, I put it to you that AW racing would be a LOT more exciting if it actually were donkeys that were racing.  You cannot beat a donkey for it’s sense of humour.
Hawk Wing does seem to have as much spin surrounding him as New Labour. This is all well and good but where does the real Hawk Wing begin and this mythical creature that warms the cockles of Aidan o’Briens heart every morning end. <br>The big concern for me is that if he has so many problems in his hindquarters and shoulders that he can only run one unbelieveable race before hurting himself is he a horse that should be bred from at all?
Oh Ian you are so right, Steve Cauthen was peerless when it came to judging pace. I had a crush on him too; although his mid atlantic accent did used to grate a little. <br> <br>It might have been a height thing at the time, I was a bit smaller then. However, a man’s talents on horseback used to count for a lot in my book.  If they were young with a full head of hair all the better! ÂÂÂ
For your information though Ian, now that I am fully grown i do prefer my men to be tall & with a full head of hair.  Only one of us needs to be good at riding.
(Edited by Pocket Rocket at 3:32 pm on June 6, 2003)
Having had a schoolgirl crush on Walter Swinburn, i’ll not hear a bad word said against him.<br>I particularly liked his win on Shahrastani. The fact that i had tipped the horse to win before he won theDante made it all the sweeter.<br>I would have been mortified if Dancing Brave had got up to win.  After all, post race interviews with Greville Starkey were never a reason to rush home from school; once you had seen the barking dog impression there was little to keep a young girls’ interest. WR Swinburn on the other hand used to send my heart racing…
PS. Ian – from your story, it sounds to me as though Mr Swinburn was pulling your leg a little… <br>Or were you the reason he rode the miler Doyoun in the manner he did in the 1988 Derby?
Having looked after a lot of horses that have been retired from active competition.  There is nothing sadder than to see them lose their fitness and muscle tone.  Watch them go berserk as they see other horses go off to be ridden, loaded to travel to events and competed. <br> <br>Rightly or wrongly lots of horses enjoy their work.  For a National Hunt racehorse that work is galloping and jumping.  A lot of horses have far worse lives and have far worse ends than Dorans Pride. <br> After all, Dorans Pride died doing what he loved doing best.  Would we all not like to meet our end in that manner rather than spend our final years just waiting to die?
Ooh, the lone sniper strikes again!
For your information Ian, I would never hurt our Rory or his conkers. I was also of the opinion that Rory was a fellow animal scientist and so more than likely understood where my tongue was during my post.
After all, was there ever any doubt that the horse was not going to be sent off to stud? Had he not already appeared on the list of Coolmore stallions for next year?
Thanks for that information. Understandably, the suspense had been killing me. I shall sleep easy now.
Lasix also has a diuretic effect in horses though.  The great lasix debate surrounds the argument of whether the drug is only helping the horse to breathe during the race or is it actually harmful to the horse’s systems through water loss.  Studies in the universities of Ohio and Pennsylvania have shown that Lasix not only enhances performance but it also masks the presence of other drugs.
Another interesting fact (or not, depending on your perspective) the administration of bute could have a detrimental effect on a horse’s performance.  This is because bute inhibits the formation of nitric oxide.  Nitric oxide(NO) is itself a gaseous molecule that is essential in regulating the heart, lung and muscular systems. It dilates the blood vessels and increases the blood flow.  During intense exercise (galloping) the horse’s body uses up large amounts of NO in order to prevent fatigue through heat building up in the muscles.  For optimum performance the horse’s ability to produce NO should not be compromised in any way. This will not necessarily be the case if the horse has been fed bute, although you would have to weigh this up against its pain-killing properties.
The key words in John’s argument appear to be "smart jockey". I would dearly love to know just how many of those there are in the weighing room…
As far as the draw goes surely what is more important is where the pace in the race comes from. If it is all drawn low then one could assume the advantage would be for those horses drawn near it and vice versa.
I hope Hawk Wing does get a chance to make it as a four year old, it certainly hasn’t done Golan any harm.<br>If the worst comes to the worst maybe Rory has a point, HW could just be the next Arkle-in-the-making! :laugh:
Many people seem to forget that AP won his first senior championship(95-96) whilst riding for Toby Balding too. Wasn’t it David Bridgewater who rode for Mr Pipe that season? It is not always the Nicholashayne bandwagon alone that guarantees a jockey a championship. <br>AP is definitely far better than Scu in all areas and has appeared to be far more natural a horseman. Such empathy is not a skill that can be taught. <br> He is also the first to praise those that work for him behind the scenes. It this self effacing nature that makes him stand out, a quality seen very rarely in other champions. He seems very aware of those riders in the mid ranks, whom he acknowledges work far harder than him and are rewarded far less. <br> He should be appreciated whilst he is around as it will be a long time before we see another of his kind. (Thought i’d go for an Alistair Down like ending, hope no-one minds.)
