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Thanks for the video rich_ie. I was only born in ’84 so seeing her there was a first for me. I have to agree with your there about her head carriage – uncanny to say the least! She looked spectacular though and unfortunate for such a tragic end.
Her final Coronation Cup win was really strange. It looked for the first couple of furlongs as if she would pull herself up. For a lot of the race it didn’t look like she would get into it, but in the end she actually wins snuggly. She liked to do things her way but I think by then she was probably getting fed up with all the travelling.
But it’s easy to get sentimental about the past. Hopefully Frankel and Dream Ahead will serve us up a vintage year next year.
In fairness to Triptych her ideal distance was 11 furlongs and she was definitely at her best on soft ground. I think her Champion Stakes win where she comes upsides Most Welcome then leaves him for dead was for me her most impressive victory.
I don’t think I’ve seen a better flat horse than Dancing Brave – I wasn’t around for Sea Bird – so finishing not far behind him in the Arc was far from disappointing.
Someone has posted a video of her win in the Fuji Stakes in Japan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAYuUKHl … re=related and that is just one of the many attributes that attracted me to her and to racing. The globetrotting, beating the colts in the Irish 2000, the high head carriage. She had a personality and, though it worked out for the worst with her untimely death at stud, she seemed to come back every year.
I think anyone who was around in the 80s will appreciate just how lucky we were to have had so many really good flat horses back then.
I can’t understand why they didn’t take a chance in the Abbaye, at wfa terms he would’ve had a chance at getting a group 1 win or place on his resume. If he’d been beat it wouldn’t have made much difference, if any, to his stud value.
He now goes to stud as a small, Gr.2 winner who was never tried at the top level and was thought unlikely by connections to train on at 3. It’s hardly a record to command much of a fee or attract top quality mares at stud, no matter how speedy he looked on the track.
Only just seen this. Watched back on atr player and from side on I’m surprised there was even an enquiry. Couldn’t see anything that would cause a change of result – and I’m a firm believer in French rules over Irish and UK ones.
Nothing surprises me with Irish stewards though. I was caught out twice this year by Galway stewards not applying their own rules. Is there not a stipe to guide amateur stewards? And anyways surely it isn’t that hard to read and apply their own rule book.
And while we’re on about Irish officials where do we get our starters from. Some of them would struggle to get a two runner race off without a false start. They are turning Irish racing into an even bigger joke than it was.
Other than Arazi and Celtic Swing, I’m struggling to remember a 2yo do anything so impressive. The opposition may not have been the strongest, but anyone who didn’t realise they were watching something special with the way he effortlessly came around the field on the bend should give up the sport.
Really hope he trains on and delighted for Henry Cecil. Great season for Khalid Abdullah too.
I would far rather see the French and American (though it doesn’t occur in all states) rules applied in Ireland and UK. It might annoy some punters but currently the rules take no account of horses who are interferred with and then dont finish in second and close enough to the winner. A jockey can knock out half the field and he’ll still keep the race if he wins by more than half a length, even if his actions have stopped horses which might have placed from finishing in the money. Why should the connections of those horses lose out on place money because of the actions of the winner. Sadly it looks like it will take a death or serious injury before racing’s rulers wake up to the fact that they’ve created a licence to "win at all costs".
Just read down through this blog and some of the posts afterwards concerning the Solwhit win, when attempts were made to prevent the jockey weighing in, and you will realise the disrepute this trainer brings to Irish racing.
http://www.irishracing.com/blog/blog/20 … -the-tide/
Irish racing reporters are usually unwilling to mention it, but I know there was something about it in the Guardian around that time.
I’ve no doubt Pittoni was not intended to win, if the Irish stewards took action it must have been extremely bad. As anyone who has watched an Irish bumper will know using the racecourse as a training ground is not uncommon. Indeed go to any Irish racecourse and you will hear the calls for trainers of tenderly ridden horses to go to the stewards room after nearly every race. However they very seldom take any action other than a quiet word.
I love the placepot, you can get decent returns for a very small stake. Personally I try not to do too many units, and to avoid favourites as much as possible. Unless I’m at a racecourse, I only do it at meetings where I think there is a good chance of getting a favourite or two out of the places. The likes of Royal Ascot and Cheltenham have huge pools so can pay out big, but my bigger wins have tended to be at the minor meetings.
I don’t do yankees or similar multiple bets, prefer to stick to singles or very occasionally an each way double.
The American’s really know how to give their horses funny names. At least their more memorable than the Arab names in the UK which all seem to sound the same.
Funny commentary but my fav is still
It was Tom O’Brien at Aintree and Paddy Merrigan at Haydock. I know he really liked that horse, losing the ride on him and Souffleur was one of the things that caused one of his departures.
Off topic, Merrigan could’ve been a top jockey but his temperament was always a little dodgy. He had another comeback in Ireland earlier this year but had a bad fall from Bobs Way in Down Royal on St Patricks Day. The last I heard he had put on weight recovering from injury and was doing some showjumping.
Sadly it was obvious a stride after the hurdle that Special Envoy had gone very badly wrong. He was a nice horse who never seemed to get the big win he deserved. I can remember him falling at the last in both Aintree and Haydock some years back, in both cases looking like the winner.
RIPWith all the rain we’ve had in Ireland this week it feels more like winter than summer. I don’t have a problem with summer jumps once the ground is safe, but then again I’d rather watch a small field selling chase than a flat race anyday.
If you want a specific one from the derby you could always try contacting healy racing photography they can get pictures from most Irish meetings, they have a website. I don’t know if links are allowed so I won’t include it but it’s easy enough to google it. If it the event doesn’t matter then racing post pix have quite a few of him.
Slightly off topic but if anyone knows where I could get a photograph of Triptych I would be eternally grateful.
I’ve seen a few races in Ireland where jockeys let a horse get a furlong or more clear and not be able to catch him, Kahuna at the Galway October meeting in 2008 springs to mind, but never anything like that.
Did the other jockeys forget he was in the race? They should all be given huge bans.
As the Irish stewards managed to ban Ronan Whelan today for excessive use of the whip, despite him having dropped it coming out of the stalls, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the standards over here aren’t very high. Watch most Irish bumpers, then compare the number of very obvious non-triers with the number that are actually done. It doesn’t inspire confidence.
People are complaining about the French stewards following their rules to the letter, yet at least they manage to do that. We could do with some of them over here.I’ve never taken to Mike Cattermole, I know he’s regarded as suave etc but his calls are poor, frequently miscalling horses – I remember him having a shocker mixing up one of the favourites with a rank outsider at Newbury a few years ago. He often misses fallers.
As for John Hunt, I’d gladly have him commentating everyday. Accurate and injects excitement into even the most rubbish of races. I know some people prefer quiet and boring but give me Hunt, Johnson, Owen and Hannon anytime.
