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It’s more simple than that. Certain ARO races, designated as ‘Open’, allow pure Thoroughbreds to enter alongside the Arabians and Anglos.
There are rules & regulations which stipulate in what conditions a TB can run in an Open race, along the same lines as point-to-point eligibility e.g. they have to be in the care of an ARO registered trainer, mustn’t have run under Rules for a certain period of time etc. But it’s not that their breeding fundamentally changes.
The ‘who’ is Sir Henry and you have Gunner B right as one of the three horses, but that’s not the connection.
Very early 1980s for the other two.
Thanks for the heads-up. I’m used to people indicating in some way that they want/need a clue, not complete radio silence.
The “who” is pretty easy…who do you think of when you think of Royal Ascot during the 1980s in particular?
There was plenty made of the fact that Camelot was reserved as a name before he ultimately did the Guineas/Derby double.
Sue Magnier reserves dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of names per year, far more than the size of even Coolmore’s foal crop so “the lads” have always got a list of names waiting for the right horse. Every year names that were previously protected by virtue of the existence of an older horse of that name become available with the passage of time; certain owners and breeders are notified when this ‘unprotection’ happens and there is an unseemly scramble to see who can reserve the best ones first.
I’m always bemused by those who seem to believe that television presenters have some magical “talent” which isn’t simply the ability to talk and the luck to get the job in the first place. Almost anybody can do the job.
Judging by the criticism levelled at virtually every TV presenter ever, it would appear that the ability to do the job well is more elusive.
I was lucky enough to be shown round Warren Place during the reign of Frankel, and one thing I’ll never forget was Sir Henry explaining how he chose the bedding for the stables.
He requested samples from at least half a dozen suppliers and spent an hour in a loose box, throwing handfuls of them into the air in turn to see how much dust each one gave off (too much dust being bad for a horse’s respiratory system and so having a potentially adverse affect on its performance). The least dusty one was the one he ordered.
That level of attention to detail is one of the things that made him so great.
My turn then.
A Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner of the 1970s, a Queen Anne Stakes winner of the 1980s, a Hardwicke winner of the 1980s.
Who did they have in common, and what did they have in common (apart from all having won at Royal Ascot)?
OK, I got one.
Can you find a connection between the 1983 Nassau Stakes (Goodwood) winner and a non-winning mare named ‘Mountain Flower’, born almost twenty years earlier in California?
Google will make it easy if you can’t work it out!
They both had a daughter called Wishing Well.
Okay, I’m obviously better at answering questions than asking them. It was all there on the RP results for you though.
They all won the first race on a card which included a Group/Grade 1 temporarily moved from another track.
Fabalu won the first race at Wetherby in Dec 2008, the day the Yorkshire track hosted the Fighting Fifth, rearranged from an abandoned Newcastle.
Sudden Victory won the first race at Ayr on the day in 1989 that the St Leger was run in Scotland, following the abandonment of the Doncaster meeting due to an unsafe track.
And Anice Stellato won the opener on the day in August 2008 that Newmarket played host to the Nunthorpe, moved from a washed-out York Ebor meeting.
Okay, I’ll have a bash.
What is the precise link between Fabalu, Sudden Victory and Anice Stellato?
The Stubbs painting of The Godolphin Arabian shows him with a cat called Graymalkin, also the name of one of the witches’ familiars.
He’s had his accreditation removed. Apparently they’re all given a briefing before racing starts not to lean on or duck under the rail. Although I suppose technically he wasn’t leaning on it since he appeared to back into it. Why bother positioning yourself there if you’re going to turn your back as the field comes by? Twonk.
I’m comprehensively stumped.
I think we’re gonna need a bigger clue.
Yup!
