Cheltenham 2010 Follow-up

Before I get stuck in to the meat of this edition we'll have a quick quiz question. George Nympton finished eighth in the Fred Winter this week, is the horse named after a place or a person? Answer at the bottom of this post.

Racing Abroad

The Velka Pardubice takes place on the second Sunday in October. Charlie Mann won the race in 1995 with It's a Snip. Pardubice is 65 miles from Prague - they make Semtex there!

Among Auteuil's big races are the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris held in May (First Gold and The Fellow have won this in the past), the Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil (French Champion Hurdle - Dawn Run won in 1984 but lost her life there in 1986) in June and the Prix La Haye Jousselin in November, a race also won by the Fellow and First Gold and seven times in a row in the nineties by Al Capone II.

Shorts

The Tingle Creek Chase was a Limited Handicap when Desert Orchid won the race in 1988. I believe it became a Grade 1 in 1994.

Sorry Cod, but I can find no record of an organisation called the Foxhunters Trust. The Point-to-Point Authority (PPA) is the body responsible for the administration, management, promotion and development (governance and strategy) of Point-to-Point racing. Robert Waley-Cohen is the current Chairman of the PPA.

The last 10 year-old to win the Gold Cup was Cool Dawn in 1998. Cool Ground was another 10 y-o winner in 1992 as were Desert Orchid in 1989 and Charter Party the year before. Silver Buck (1982) is the only other in the last 30 years, The Dikler (1973) the only other in the last 40.

The King George VI is even worse for horses in the double figure age bracket with only Edredon Bleu (2003), Desert Orchid (1989 & 90) and Wayward Lad (1985) managing the feat in the last fifty years.

Desert Orchid

As Dessie got mentions in two of the above 'shorts' I thought I'd share an extraordinary sequence of runs by the great grey.

27 Oct 1988 - Wins the 2m 5f Terry Biddlecombe Challenge Trophy Chase at Wincanton. Beats Bishops Yarn and three others off level weight of 11st 8lb.
03 Dec 1988 - Wins the 2m Tingle Creek. Carrying 12st and conceding 20lb to Jim Thorpe who finishes a 12 length second, Panto Prince (receiving 18lb) was half a length back in third
26 Dec 1988 - Wins the 3m King George. Beats Kildimo by four lengths, five further lengths back to Vodkatini.
14 Jan 1989 - Wins the 2m Victor Chandler Handicap Chase at Ascot. Managing to beat Panto Prince by a head despite conceding 22lbs.
4 Feb 1989 - Wins the Gainsborough Chase over 3m 1/2f at Sandown. Beats Pegwell Bay by 3/4 length despite conceding 18lbs.
16 Mar 1989 - Wins the Gold Cup.

Six top quality wins in 140 days if my maths is right. And still fit enough to tackle the Martell Cup (where he fell) three weeks later. They made them tough in those days!

Quiz Answer

George Nympton is in Devon. If you're driving from Barnstaple to Tiverton head south through South Molton.