NOW here’s a good pub quiz question. Apart from Kauto Star and Imperial Commander, which two horses have won the Betfair Chase? Not easy, is it? So you’d better read on… There have only been seven runnings of the Betfair but the Grade One contest is firmly established as one of the major early season …[Read More]
12
Nov 2012
Memory Lane: The Paddy Power Gold Cup
IT WAS November 1977. I was only a kid but I vividly remember Peter O’Sullevan’s dulcet tones calling home Bachelor’s Hall in the Mackeson Gold Cup. What I didn’t realise at the time was that this was the start of my love affair with this great race. Now called the Paddy Power Gold Cup, for …[Read More]
18
Oct 2012
Frankel: All his races on video
Sometimes words are not enough. They certainly don’t do justice to the equine phenomenon that is Frankel. This Saturday he runs in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot and it is 99.9% certain to be his 14th and final race. Below is footage of all 13 of his races, from his narrow Newmarket maiden victory …[Read More]
10
Oct 2012
Famous horses: Classic Dewhurst footage
Trainers dream of winning the Dewhurst. Why? It means they probably have the best two-year-old in the land ensconced in their yard and a wonderful chance of classic glory the following year. The Group One race over seven furlongs of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile has traditionally been the unofficial blue riband of the juvenile season and …[Read More]
03
Oct 2012
Famous horses: The electrifying Dancing Brave
SUNDAY’S Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe will bring back a host of memories. Who can forget the famous horses that have lit up Longchamp including Alleged, Sagace, Lammtarra and Sea The Stars. But when you think of the Arc, one horse stands out… Dancing Brave was the best racehorse I’ve ever seen and his …[Read More]
19
Sep 2012
Famous horses: The Mill Reef story
MILL Reef didn’t look like a champion. He was small: “diminutive” was the usual description. He was also unlucky because he was foaled in the same year as another equine great in Brigadier Gerard. But he was totally brilliant, especially when upped in distance. This Saturday sees the 41st running of the Mill Reef Stakes …[Read More]
14
Sep 2012
Famous horses: The Oh So Sharp story
CAMELOT could be about to write himself into the pantheon of racing history. But let’s pause for a moment and think of the fairer sex. Now we all know that the Triple Crown hasn’t been done since Nijinsky in 1970. But what about the Fillies’ Triple Crown? If there was a Fillies’ Equality Council it …[Read More]
05
Sep 2012
Famous horses: the riddle of Gorytus…
I REMEMBER the hyperbole as if it was yesterday. Gorytus. Two runs. Two wins. But they weren’t just wins. In those juvenile races he massacred the opposition in a way that caused him to be hailed as some sort of Pegasus. This, according to the racing world, was a wonder horse like we had never …[Read More]
