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I do agree Roberto was considered by his connections, who thought him to be the equal of Nijinsky and Sir Ivor, to be a far better horse than he was given credit for because he found himself in positions where he was unable to win from. In particular the Grand Criterium as a 2 year old and the...

Hi Luke. Hislop and Co, Brigadier Gerard's owners never had the publicity, being a single mare owner breeder. He was restricted to homebred mares producing foals not for sale and he was banned from being used by commercial breeders, which was suicide. He still did comparatively well even against...

Roberto was a reluctant racehorse. He had a lot of talent but often decided not to use it to the full. Lester was unique. The difference between him and most other jockeys was that he didn't lose races he should have won and did win races he shouldn't have won.

Hi Ardross, yes Jean Hislop was fiesty but in many cases all she was doing was defending the sport she loved and, in many cases her husband, John, who received a lot of abuse for his views about where British horseracing was going and the damage being done to existing, long-established...

Plus the two top breeding operations Coolmore and Godolphin have not managed to produce a single horse to get on the Timeform list in the last 25 years. Something else the racing media wont tell you.

You are right about Roberto but Timeform refused to give him a rating for York. It would have been far too high. What people dont understand about BG running in the King George is that it was his 5th top class race in 9 weeks. Frankel ran 5 races in 27 weeks and Sea Bird II in 24 weeks. It was a...

You could be right edgt but Hislop was adamant the number of US bred horses coming over would wreck the home-bred horses and it looks like he was right. I think there were about 40+ horses rated over 135 in the 25 years surrounding Brigadier Gerard yet the 25 years surrounding Frankel the number...

That is true Jayhawk, I don't know if you learned that from my book but what was odd about that statement by Vincent is that it was made in 2006 over 30 years after the race and when Vincent was about 90 and he died about 3 years later. That was the only time I found that comment or any comment...

Wow, Jayhawk. Who was the author? This really does smell of jealousy and hatred while not being able to get away from the fact that it is a very good book. Which, by the way is over 500 pages of which about 15 pages deals with the Queen Anne Stakes won by Frankel and how Timeform, I believe...

Hi Maureen. BG's temperament was perfect. In his early days his one quirk was he would doze standing up. He wouldn't let me near his head the first time I went to tie him up so I stood in the corner and waited for him to come to me. From then on I made a noise outside his box to make sure he...

Hi. Best horseracing book I ever read Passion in the Blood by Arabella Seymour.

Thank you, Len. Edgt. I cannot find any record of the lad you mentioned but if you could ask him a question I would be interested in the answer. The question is "Did Roberto do a stalls test the weekend before he went to York?" The reason I ask this is because Roberto was slowly away in his...

Hi everyone. While I am discussing Brigadier Gerard I have to add, that there is still one significant point that needs to be discussed but is often railroaded by the current media. And that is breeding performances. Firstly, for those who do not know, the Brigadier was banned by his owners...

Hi edgt I have directly behind me Mince Pies for starters. Yes Roberto and Boucher run the first 5 furlongs in the 1972 Arc faster than the Prix de l'Abbeye. No there was no large clot of mucus. I was holding him all of the time. He did have a mild virus and bled from the nose the week before...

I don't know what happened for certain Len but this is my nearest calculated guess. I couldn't keep saying I had no idea. I either take everything with me to the grave or put the information out there for others to assess.

Len this was in 2021.

Len. On its own it may not mean a lot but when you add it to the comments VOB made to the press directly after the race plus the owner lived and trained in the US it adds a little more perspective. These are a few of his quotes to the press. Roberto shot out of the stalls like a bullet. It...

Hi Len. I have no idea what happened at York, for certain. Roberto ran like a great horse on that one occasion. Even his trainer had no explanation. According to Jim McGrath of Timeform the third horse Gold Rod was beaten 17 lengths back in third place. Timeform refused to rate the race because...

Thank you so much everyone for the kind words. It never crossed my mind that I would be here writing books and making videos about the Brigadier as I approach my 8th decade, next year. I am so thankful I never missed it but I am equally sad for the lads I worked with in the 1960s and 70s who...

Hi Jinny, Len etc thank you for the kind messages. When I left stables in 1973, after Brigadier Gerard retired, I was told by a few of the senior lads that he had been robbed by Timeform, possibly because he was owned by a single mare owner/breeder. I never gave their comments a second thought...