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Look what I spotted

Quixall Crossett said:
Apologies for hijacking the thread about dear old Tanlic and Teeside Park but can i just go back to racing (as against ranting) and recall some memories of the place.

First of all there was a spell between the mid 70's and late 80's when a few horses were aimed at breaking the record for the number of wins in their two year old season.
The first one to try it was a filly called Nagwa who won 13 of her 20 starts and one of those was at Stockton/Teeside Park. She was trained by Barry Hills and if i remember rightly, ridden in a few of her races by a young Ray Cochrane who was still claiming at the time.

Then Spindrifter came along and he also won 13 races in his two year old season. I remember being there when he won at Stockton/Teeside Park and also when he won at Catterick and Pontefract. I remember the horse loved those latter two.
He was trained by Sir Mark Prescott and George Duffield was riding for him then.

Then Bill O'Gorman took over and trained two even more prolific winners. Provideo was the first and he was a very useful animal. I remember he won quite a few listed races that season and what a long season it was. I know he won the Brocklesby at Donny at the start of the season and i was at Redcar for their final meeting of the season in November and he won that day as well.
He won 16 races in total that year.
And then O'Gorman brought along Timeless Times who should really have broken the winningmost record for a two year old but for an injury in the September. By then he had already won 15 races but he was then off until late October where he won his last start of the season.
The striking thing about the two O'Gorman horses is that neither won again as a three year old. That hard season obviously took its toll.

The other thing about Teeside Park that stands out is that the future Gold Cup winner, Alverton, ran there in a two horse race with, i think, Jonjo on top. It was just a prep race but he managed to fall but in doing so, brought down the other one.. But in those days you could remount and Jonjo got back on first and went and won the race.
But as most of you know, poor old Alverton met a very sad and sorry end. After winning the Gold Cup he went straight to the Grand National where the poor lad was killed at Bechers.
Sad.

Thats enough for now. Have a good day all.
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Brings back painful memories reading about Alverton.
I backed it for the Gold Cup but thought it was too young to be aimed at the National and consequently did not back it.
The race has been tarnished for me ever since.
I seem to recall that Peter Easterby was quizzed about the horses participation in the National when the weights came out and he stated that the horse would never get as low a weight.
How right he was proved!!!

Several years later I took out Peter Easterby's autobiography from the local library.
The most entertaining part of the book was the constant abuse written by a previous reader directed at Easterby!!!
 
My turn for a morning rant. Instead of spending their time trying to attract yoof through the gates with all sorts of non-racing delights why do they not reflect that chasing the money led to the the absence of horse racing on the BBC which was continual free advertising for the “product” which, in turn, piqued the interest of the casual viewer. (Mind you, that doesn’t excuse the BBC for an almost total absence of horse racing - the second most attended sport - in their sports news and one can only assume they are full of woolly hatted animal rights campaigners). Full marks to ITV for keeping it afloat - I’m quite happy to stand a bit of dumbing down in the interests of free coverage)
 
Barnestormer said:
Brings back painful memories reading about Alverton.
I backed it for the Gold Cup but thought it was too young to be aimed at the National and consequently did not back it.
The race has been tarnished for me ever since.
I seem to recall that Peter Easterby was quizzed about the horses participation in the National when the weights came out and he stated that the horse would never get as low a weight.
How right he was proved!!!

Several years later I took out Peter Easterby's autobiography from the local library.
The most entertaining part of the book was the constant abuse written by a previous reader directed at Easterby!!!
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Painful indeed mate. I did back it for the National but losing a few quid paled into insignificance when the horse met a very sad end.

Perhaps there is an opening for a "Painful Memories" thread. I'm sure everyone on here has got plenty of those.
 
Quixall Crossett said:
I couldnt agree more. There were many more examples of the top class horses carrying big weights around aside from the two you mentioned. I remember Bregawn especially because i had a fair bet on him when he won his Gold Cup.

I think the game has lost a hell of a lot in the way it is structured now. We probably dont want to see horses lumping 12-7 round in bad ground in this day and age but many carry 12-0 these days and limited handicaps at the top end of the scale wouldnt be such a bad idea.
But even with those big weights, the likes of the aforementioned two plus the likes of Righthand Man, Broncho, Gay Spartan etc etc all came back year after year to strut their stuff.

One of the biggest and best handicaps, and one of the best for punting in, was the Victor Chandler Chase. A top class field every year with some of the beat two milers around and solving it was like trying to do a 2000 piece jigsaw. But it was fun. And it was always a great race. You only have to look at some of the winners to guage what a great handicap it was. Desert Orchid, Waterloo Boy, Call Equiname. Marthas Son, Well Chief. Plus many more.
And what happened ????? The Ascot board decided they wanted to go down the conditions race route and now we are stuck with a race that usually has a very small field and more often than not, a long odds on favourite. And from a betting angle, which is what keeps racing going, it is just a non event. .
Clever thinking eh !!! :rolleyes::mad::(
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I long for the days when horses like Tingle Creek would shoulder 12 st 7 lbs in handicaps and run 6 or 7 times a season in such races.
There are too many easy picking races these days which are poorly contested depriving the public of seeing the top horses in competitive fields outside of Cheltenham.
I was looking back through the record books earlier and saw that Tingle Creek won his final race at Sandown in 1978 with the official going described as hard!!
I had to read it 3 times to make sure I wasn't dreaming🤣
 
Desijo said:
I long for the days when horses like Tingle Creek would shoulder 12 st 7 lbs in handicaps and run 6 or 7 times a season in such races.
There are too many easy picking races these days which are poorly contested depriving the public of seeing the top horses in competitive fields outside of Cheltenham.
I was looking back through the record books earlier and saw that Tingle Creek won his final race at Sandown in 1978 with the official going described as hard!!
I had to read it 3 times to make sure I wasn't dreaming🤣
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Good stuff mate.
Nobody wants to see horses get injured or worse. It sickens me and i would imagine everyone else on here. But i remember when "Hard" for the going description was the norm back in the 70's and 80's. When jumps racing had its break between the end of May and the beginning or August, it would kick off again with plenty of meetings at Newton Abbot and also Devon and Exeter which it was known as in those days. And the same old horses turned up each August and September to plunder the races, the likes of Pine Lodge, Allied Newcastle and a few others whose names escape me at the moment.

Horse welfare is the number one priority but i do think that some trainers overdo it and one or two not only wrap them in cotton wool, they also cover them in bubble wrap, duvets and puffer jackets.

And as for Tingle Creek carrying 12-7. That takes us back to an earlier post about the top class horses running in handicaps. Some well thought out limited handicaps, spaced sensibly apart and at the right times would not go amiss.
IMO of course.
 
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Desijo said:
I long for the days when horses like Tingle Creek would shoulder 12 st 7 lbs in handicaps and run 6 or 7 times a season in such races.
There are too many easy picking races these days which are poorly contested depriving the public of seeing the top horses in competitive fields outside of Cheltenham.
I was looking back through the record books earlier and saw that Tingle Creek won his final race at Sandown in 1978 with the official going described as hard!!
I had to read it 3 times to make sure I wasn't dreaming🤣
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1763725595830.png

Tingle Creek, Crisp and L'Escargot all in the same race, plus Big Valley ( Toby Balding ) and Young Ash Leaf ( Ken Oliver ). Going and the distance of the race were against Tingle Creek.
 
Amazing how I can look back at that field and remember most of them yet I could look back at a race last Saturday and not recognise any of them.

Do we just have far too many horses in training?
 
Desert Orchid said:
Amazing how I can look back at that field and remember most of them yet I could look back at a race last Saturday and not recognise any of them.

Do we just have far too many horses in training?
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I know the feeling mate. :(

Everybody and his dog will know about Tingle Creek, Crisp, L'Escargot etc but maybe not so much about the others. I definitely have a soft spot for Young Ash Leaf because i backed her when she won the Scottish National.
I also remember her running in the Triumph Hurdle and you wont find many racehorses who have gone down the Triumph Hurdle/Colonial Cup/ Scottish National route.
I remember she bred Young Ash Linn and probably a whole lot more but the memory aint what it used to be.
 
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