To pick just 5 racing
highlights from 2012 is like picking your favourite member of Girls Aloud – not
fair!! If I was to go through everything I’ve enjoyed in racing during the past
year you would be celebrating the start of 2014 by the time you had finished
reading it, so I’ve picked out 5 that were probably the most enjoyable or
admirable:
Those of you who read this
blog will already know I’m a member of Cheltenham Racing Club, and I must
include having a winner as an “owner” in my racing highlights for 2012. Though
only very small time, it is still a great buzz when one of the horses wins and
we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy 4 this year! We had Kings Story at Newton
Abbot, Keltic Crisis at Bangor, Is It Me at Perth, and Old Magic at Chepstow,
but I’d have to say Old Magic (pictured below with us in the winners enclosure!) was the one I enjoyed most as I’d missed the
first 3 through work and a holiday!! To be on course cheering one home is a
fantastic feeling and I’ll never forget that day. Seeing him being saddled up (he
looked in great nick!), chatting to jockey/trainer in the parade ring (avoiding
one of his rivals who was trying to kick anything he could!), cheering him on
and being presented the winners prize, before supping the complimentary
champagne post-race (thanks Chepstow!). We had an amazing day from start to
finish and I hope to enjoy a few more similar days in the (not too distant)
future!
Another 2012 highlight has
to be the “black aeroplane” that goes by the name of Sprinter Sacre! He always
looked a chaser in the making but until he proved it we were always going to be
watching closely – and boy did he prove it! Having won on debut and then again
at Christmas, the superstar from Seven Barrows was always going to be high in
the Arkle Chase market and he soon became the short priced favourite after
demolishing a reasonable bunch of established horses in the Game Spirit at
Newbury. Still, he had his doubters for March, most of whom claimed he wouldn’t
get up the hill. Barry Geraghty rather coyly suggested that his only worry about
the hill was if he would have enough room at the top of it to stop his mount! As
expected by many, he duly hacked up and was arguably the most impressive winner
of the week (and the first of many for the Henderson team!). Sprinter Sacre (pictured below) is a
hugely talented horse and it would appear the sky is the limit, so you flat fans
can cling onto your Frankel memories, we have our own machine!!
It doesn’t take a genius to
realise that Paul Nicholls is a superb trainer of racehorses, but 2012 has
shown yet again how unbelievable he really is. At the beginning of the year,
the Master of Ditcheat had never won the Champion Hurdle, Grand National or
PaddyPower Gold Cup – he’s now won all 3! Noel Fehily and Rock On Ruby stormed
up the hill to become Champions before that old boy Neptune Collonges got up by
a whisker to land the ultimate prize in racing under Daryl Jacob in April; with
Ruby Walsh partnering Al Ferof to another big Cheltenham pot in the November showpiece.
What a year the Champion Trainer has enjoyed, and wins like this help quantify
how successful he really is. However, one of the highlights of my year was the
rejuvenation of Tidal Bay (in a similar way to Kauto Star last year!), turning
him into one of the biggest names in jump racing (well, nearly). For a horse
who won an Arkle in his younger days it is fair to say he somewhat disappointed
thereafter, but his move to Ditcheat has seen him win the Bet365 Gold Cup (a
Gr3 chase), win the John Smith’s Hurdle (a Gr2), finish runner up to Gold Cup
favourite Bobs Worth (giving him 6lb) in Newbury’s Hennessy Gold Cup (a Gr3
chase), and then win arguably the race of the season in the Lexus (a Gr1 chase)
at Leopardstown last week!! All this
from a horse who had won just once in his last 15 races before joining the
Nicholls camp following the ban given to former trainer Howard Johnson. It
makes you wonder what heights Tidal Bay (pictured below) may have scaled had he been in the right hands
from the start.... To turn a horse around in such tremendous fashion is almost
unheard of and we are truly lucky to be blessed to enjoy such expertise in our
sport and the training performance has been one of my highlights of the year!
Though not one of my
favourite horses, the meteoric rise of Hunt Ball is one of my favourite racing
highlights for the year as he really is the racing equivalent of the “rags to
riches” philosophy! Rated a mere 69 at the beginning of last season and still
only 102 at the turn of the year, seeing this horse win at the Cheltenham
Festival (with plenty in hand too!) was a real fairytale and provided his charismatic
owner (pictured below celebrating the victory) with the result he had told everyone would happen. Hunt Ball improved a
total of 88lbs from the start of the season to the end and gives hope to anyone
who owns any horse – you never know how good they may turn out! At the Festival
he won the final race of the day on a card that hosted the Supreme, the Arkle
and the Champion Hurdle; yet he still received the greatest cheer on his return
to the parade ring and winners enclosure which really does epitomise how
closely the Hunt Ball story touched the hearts of racing fans.
Last of my 5 racing highlights
in 2012 was seeing Silviniaco Conti (pictured below) justify the faith and optimism I have had
in him since seeing him win at Chepstow on just his 2nd British
start. Those of you who know me personally will have heard me go on and on
about this horse and how good I think he will be, so it was great to see him
show everyone else the talent he has to offer. He was clearly not the finished
article when disappointing around the middle of last season but returned to win
impressively at Aintree after skipping Cheltenham in March. After a nice long
summer break he returned to take the Gr2 Charlie Hall Chase in his first run
outside of novice company, showing in the process that he had improved and was
now looking more the finished article. His next run, however, was the real acid
test as he was upped in class to take on former King George (now twice) and
Gold Cup winner Long Run in the Gr1 Betfair Chase at Haydock, seeing off that rival
and all others to confirm he is a serious Gold Cup contender. He’s not the
biggest horse but in my (biased) opinion he is certainly one to be reckoned
with and is one of the best jumpers around. Hopefully he will go on to enjoy
more Gr1 success and make my 2013 racing highlights this time next year!
Well that’s 5, but as said
above I could sit here all week listing my racing highlights over the past year.
I’ve no doubt 2013 will be even better and I hope you enjoy following this blog
( give us a tweet with your 2013 racing highlights @kingofthejumps ), particularly as we draw closer to March!
Happy New Year to you all and I hope you enjoy the racing ahead as much as I
know I will!!
