Jan 14, 2019 -- 10:21PM, screaming from beneaththewaves wrote:

I took the photo in the pre-parade ring at Ascot, just before Christmas 1990. The horse was a 10yo then, and making his seasonal debut in the Long Walk Hurdle, after yet another injury lay-off. He went on to win, making all as usual. I was determined to get one good photo of him, because pictures of any but the very best horses were hard to come by in those days. I had £1,000 to £80 each way, which was a hell of a bet in my circumstances back then.I loved Floyd more than I've loved any other horse, even my own. He was simply inspirational. The way he battled back again and again to win races was unreal. David Elsworth had a couple of similarly courageous and enthusiastic front-runners, in Desert Orchid and Persian Punch, and Floyd was never absolutely top-class like those two. But, as Elsworth said, Floyd was the one you'd want in the trenches with you. And then there was the sheer speed of his hurdling. He actually appeared to jump faster than he galloped. Make A Stand is the only other hurdler I've seen with a technique like that, but Floyd somehow did it while jumping out to his right at every hurdle.

Good read that, was my first real horse racing star that i followed.