UK Horse Racing Tips

Archive for the ‘Jockeys / Horses’ Category

Introduction

If ever a name for a racehorse was more appropriate, we’ve yet to see it. Best Mate was an Irish-bred racehorse that went on to be one of the most impressive horses of its generation. With three wins at the Cheltenham Golf Cup, it’s a horse that holds a near-royal presence in the industry. Indeed, the horse was so beloved that at the time of its passing it got front page treatment!

Racking up an incredible 14 wins across 22 races, it claimed an armada of trophy wins to mark one of the most impressive careers in horse racing history.

Career Summary

Owned by Jim Lewis and trained by the brilliant Henrietta Knight, Best Mate roared onto the scene with a hat-trick of wins at the Cheltenham Golf Cup from 2002-2004. Jim Culloty was the jockey at the time, and in doing so matched the incredible record of Arkle. It also followed this up with wins at tournaments such as the King George VI Chase and the Ericsson Chase.

Achievements & Highlights

Incredibly, Best Mate treated its jockey like a best friend would – it never let them down. By never falling at a fence or a hurdle, it came 1^st in 14 of its races and 2^nd in 7 of them! In fact, the last race the horse ran in was the only that it pulled up in – and this came shortly before its highly publicized and tragic death.

It died on 1^st November, 2005, when it died of a heart attack after jockey Paul Carberry pulled it up at the Haddon Gold Cup. It was posthumously added to the Cheltenham Hall of Fame alongside Desert Orchid.

Wins – Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (2000), November Novices’ Chase (2000), Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase (2001), Haldon Gold Cup (2001), Cheltenham Gold Cup (2002, 2003, 2004), Peterborough Chase (2002), King George VI Chase (2002), Ericsson Chase (2003)

Associations – Jim Lewis, Jim Culloty and Henrietta Knight.

Earnings – Over £1m.

Introduction

To many, the name Postponed is a name that rings as one of the finest horses in British racing at this moment in time. a serial winner from 2014-2016, this is a horse that set an immediate tone in a career that has been incredibly impressive so far. Known for its powerful stride and incredible concentration, it managed to become a horse that was accustomed to smashing records and really getting people to notice.

With the biggest ever victory at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, it set the tone earl in its racing career as a beast that won big.

Career Summary

While it’s now retired – having retired in May of 2017 – the horse went through an incredible two-year spell. In that period of time, it won 9 of 20 races and had taken just shy of £5m in prize money across that time. with wins in Dubai’s various trophies as well as the likes of the Coronation Cup, this is a horse that experienced – and won – many different trophies. With so much to win across the world, though, it’s dominance of both Dubai-based racing and British racing is something to behold.

From that first big win at the Glasgow Stakes in 2014 to the final win at the International Stakes in 2016, this is a horse that managed to set the tone and standard for the modern requirements. With so much competition and challenge in racing today, the success of Postponed is even more impressive.

Achievements & Highlights

Wins – Glasgow Stakes (2014), Great Voltigeur Stakes (2014), King George VI & Q. Elizabeth Stakes (2015), Prix Foy (2015), Dubai City of Gold (2016), Dubai Sheema Classic (2016), Coronation Cup (2016), International Stakes (2016)

Associations – Mohammed Al Maktoum, Luca Cumani, Roger Varian, St Albans Bloodstock.

Earnings – £4.95m.

The late Greville Starkey, who died from cancer at his home near Newmarket in 2010, rode 1,989 winners on the Flat in an illustrious career lasting 33 years. In fact, Starkey is considered, by many, the most talented horseman never to be crowned champion jockey. However, despite his successes, which included five British Classics and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he is still best remembered for failing to win the Derby on Dancing Brave in 1986.

Having won the Craven Stakes and the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, Dancing Brave started hot favourite for the Epsom Classic but, despite making relentless progress from the rear of the field throughout the final half a mile, failed by an ever-diminishing half a length to overhaul Shahrastani, ridden by the late Walter Swinburn. Starkey was roundly criticised for setting Dancing Brave an impossible task, but Swinburn said, “It’s a fine line. Had he got up by a head or a neck then all those who came out and tried to hang him for his ride would have been shouting his name from the rooftops.” Starkey made amends for his Epsom display by steering Dancing Brave to a comfortable victory in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, but protracted criticism for his earlier failure was to over shadow the rest of his career.

Starkey rode his first winner, Russian Gold, at Pontefract in 1956 and became champion apprentice the following year. He was later retained by John Oxley and Henry Cecil, before becoming stable jockey to Guy Harwood at Pulborough, West Sussex. In 1978, he rode four Classic winners, Shirley Heights in the Derby and Irish Derby and Fair Salina in the Oaks and Irish Oaks.

At the time of writing, the 2018 Cheltenham Festival is less than a month away, and punters are eyeing up the latest Cheltenham tips, yet the most successful jockey at the Festival, Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh, has yet to return to the saddle. Walsh remains sidelined with the latest in a series of serious injuries, a fractured right tibia, sustained during a fall from Let’s Dance at Punchestown in November. Ironically, it was the victory of the same horse in the Trull House Stud Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle last year that took his Cheltenham Festival total to 56 winners.

Walsh, 38, rode his first Cheltenham Festival winner two decades ago, when Alexander Banquet, trained by Willie Mullins, ran on well to beat the favourite, Joe Mac, in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper. Two years later, aged just 20, he won the Grand National on Papillon, trained by his father Ted, a victory he describes as the “proudest moment of my career.”

In October 2002, Walsh became retained rider for Paul Nicholls and so began one of the most successful partnerships in National Hunt racing. Walsh was leading jockey at the Festival for the first time in 2004 and six more times before he split with Nicholls to spend more time in Ireland with his young family. He said at the time, “The future for me will be Naas instead of Newbury and Navan instead of Haydock, but it will also be home for dinner with Gillian and the girls [two daughters, both under five] rather than a quick coffee at breakfast.”

Having switched allegiance to his other major employer, County Carlow trainer Willie Mullins, Walsh has proved an even greater force to be reckoned with at the Cheltenham Festival, winning the leading jockey title in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Walsh is reportedly a week, or two, away from a return to race riding but, all being well, Footpad – currently 11/8 favourite for the Arkle Challenge Trophy on March 13 – may well provide him with winner number 57.