Horses you never forgave and couldn’t like

I still think that the comparison to GDC is valid because the latter's only 'out' performances have been at Punchestown with two of those over an inadequate trip first time out and the other two when probably not over the Gold Cup.

Wayward Lad, sadly, did not quite get the Gold Cup trip at that level.

I was a huge fan of Wayward Lad and kept backing him at Cheltenham, convinced that his class would eventually get him home first.

For me. he never lost anything in defeat there.
 
I don't think anyone could ever seriously suggest DO was an 'in and out' performer. He was brilliant nearly every time and just couldn't show his best at Cheltenham, which seems to be the case with some horses.

Wayward Lad was another who struggled there despite giving his all.
I think Colin Brown was the "in and out" factor regarding Desert Orchid.
Simon Sherwood was a proper horse man who helped improve the horse with every run.
The same could be said for Falbrav with Frankie as opposed to "the Dazzler"; his Hong Kong win after a long tough season was electric.
 
Connections said that Dessie had an ongoing back problem so perhaps that’s why he never performed well at Cheltenham. They said that, had he ran in the National, he wouldn’t have coped with the Canal Turn.
 
Good thread this.

Not sure the 'forgave' part is overly true for me, but I never warmed to Master Minded or Big Bucks.

Voy Por Ustedes was a beauty and I was a huge fan of him, and I remember Master Minded absolutely trouncing him at Cheltenham, so that may have something to do with it! Big Bucks, not sure why I didn't liken to him as reverting him back to hurdles was a master stroke, but I just didn't warm to him for whatever reason.
 
Good thread this.

Not sure the 'forgave' part is overly true for me, but I never warmed to Master Minded or Big Bucks.

Voy Por Ustedes was a beauty and I was a huge fan of him, and I remember Master Minded absolutely trouncing him at Cheltenham, so that may have something to do with it! Big Bucks, not sure why I didn't liken to him as reverting him back to hurdles was a master stroke, but I just didn't warm to him for whatever reason.
Not having love for Big Buck's is absolutely criminal. He was an absolute dude.
You need to go sit in the corner and have a serious word with yourself!
 
Don’t mention that mares’ allowance !
After she won the Gold Cup Dawn Run beat Buck House off level weights at Punchestown with Tommy Carmody looking as polished as any jockey over the last 50 years with Tony Mullins looking distinctly agricultural.
I'm not sure what difference the mares allowance made to Dawn Run -I think she was game beyond all belief -from running twice in 24 hours at Aintree, an incredible Champion Hurdle season and her incredible battling win in the Gold Cup.
It will be a look time before we see a Champion Hurdler win at Kempton,Leopardstown,Aintree and Auteuil in addition to Cheltenham.Also even though it is not impossible not many Gold Cup winners would have it in them to beat a reigning Champion Chaser.
 
Dawn Run has to be my all time fav. I was there when she won both her Champion Hurdle and again the Gold Cup....the most amazing atmosphere I’ve ever witnessed on a racecourse. It was pretty decent opposition too and she’s still the only horse to have done the double. I wept buckets when I heard she’d been killed.
 
Dawn Run has to be my all time fav. I was there when she won both her Champion Hurdle and again the Gold Cup....the most amazing atmosphere I’ve ever witnessed on a racecourse. It was pretty decent opposition too and she’s still the only horse to have done the double. I wept buckets when I heard she’d been killed.
She was locally owned and definitely lifted the mood during a time when Ireland was permanently in recession.To put her fatal fall into perspective -she won the Cheltenham Gold up -then went on to Aintree and Punchestown and was having her second run in France when she was killed in the French Champion Hurdle.She was killed on the Friday of Royal Ascot -it was a sad day for sure.
 
I was a great story that suddenly turned very sour in 1986, especially when we found out Jonjo was being treated for cancer too.
I think the Mullins family have kept a lid on what they really think for the best part of 40 years.The story definitely turned sour with Dawn Run getting killed,Jonjo getting cancer and Buck House who was also a big part of the story failing to survive a bad dose of colic.
 
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