On This Day In (Racing) History

My favourite Brad memory is of him coasting home on French Ballerina in the Supreme, with His Song trailing in his wake.
 
Merry Gale at Aintree 2005 another favourite especially Jim Dreaper saying after the race " You would not want to have Bradley riding for you everyday !"
Cavies Clown in 88 Pillar Chase another classic the way he had him pinging the fences, the list goes on and on.
 
On this day in 1992 Jamie Osborne ended the THREE day Festival with 5 winners equalling the record set by Fred Winter in 1959.
 
On this day in 1989 jockey Doug Smith passed away.Amazing but true, he had ridden a winner at every British racecourse by the time he was twenty years old.
 
On this day 31st May 1970, the greatest National Hunt horse of all time Arkle, lay his head down and passed away.
 
On this day in 1982 Dawn Run,who won both the Champion Hurdle and the Gold Cup, scored her first victory,a £572 flat race at Tralee,ridden by her owner Charmian Hill,62.
 
After-timing

On the 20th June 1969 the Derek Candy trained, Brian Jenks owned, Song won the Kings Stand Stakes (then the premier RA sprint) at Royal Ascot as a 3yo. He had won the New Stakes at the 1968 meeting.
 
On this day in 1965 Newmarket became first British racecourse to use starting stalls, the first race being the Chesterfield Stakes over 5 furlongs for 2-year-olds.
 
On this day in !978 Gunner B won the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. Though he'd won the Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot it wasn't then a Group 1 so this was the first Group 1 of the Cecil/Mercer partnership.
Gunner B was a 5yo who joined Cecil that season. He'd previously been trained by George Toft In Yorkshire The Eclipse was his 4th win of the season from 4 runs.
 
Geoff Toft, ED, not George.

Typically, HRAC was generous in his praise for Toft's handling of the horse.

Gunner B was the epitome of toughness and genuineness. He went on from the Eclipse to York for the Benson & Hedges. My mate and I found ourselves behind Cecil in the queue at a confectionery stall and my mate plucked up the courage to ask the great man if he thought Gunner B would win. As affable and friendly as ever, he left us in no doubt that he didn't think his horse could beat Hawaiian Sound (Piggott, replacing Shoemaker) and so it proved.
 
I was trying to remember who he was 2nd to in that race. Thanks and thanks for the correction. I've made that mistake before.

For some reason Mercer had ridden Gunner B in many of his earlier triumph's for Toft (he trained him to win 10 races). I suppose his best performance had been his 2nd in the Dante, but he'd won the Doonside Cup and Diomed Stakes. I heard the reason for moving him as a 5yo was that Toft just didn't have the calibre of horse to work him with.
 
Sire of course of Royal Gait, an equally tough Champion Hurdle/ Ascot Gold Cup winner (though Disqualified in latter ).
Thanks for the memories all, those races I remember listening to on the radio as RTE did not show an Eclipse Stakes owing to Wimbledon tennis until Dickens Hill in 1979.
 
On this day in 1971 Dick Hern trained Sun Prince to win the Prix Robert Papin at Maisons Lafitte. This was the trainers first Group 1 winner for Sobell and Weinstock who had that year taken over the ownership of the West Ilsley Stable from Jakie Astor. Sun Prince had won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot and beat his fellow Ascot winner Deep Diver (New Stakes).

Sun Prince didn't win again as a 2yo but won the 1972 St James Palace Stakes after finishing 3rd in the Two Thousand Guineas. As a 4yo he completed a Royal Ascot treble when winning the Queen Anne.
 
On this day in 1967 The Regency Stand (now Sussex Stand) was opened at Plumpton racecourse, Ryan Price turned out three winners including What A Myth.
 
On this day in 1965 Arkle carrying 12st 7lbs won the Gallaher Gold Cup at Sandown by 20 lengths and broke the course record by 17 seconds.
 
A great story by Ted Walsh on Morning Line a few years ago of Paddy Woods exercising Arkle at Sandown the day before that day and when Tom Dreaper asked how the horse worked he replied "better than the express train I just overtook !"
 
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On this day in 2000, Istabraq falls at the last to leave Moscow through
 

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I think you're a bit previous, PJ. Surely it was after Christmas?

Painful looking fall, by the way.
 
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