May 1st 1971. The Mayday Massacre.

agree brigust

Wrong thread SS. That's been done. It would also mean that Dubawi Gold would win by 4 lengths. Silly boy.

Those horses took on the best not like Frankel. A cotton wool job.

Certainly one of the best, but with hindsight, not so great as it appeared beforehand.

Mill Reef subsequently showed he was best over 10f-12f, and that 10f was barely far enough for him.
My Swallow never won another race, and had been a big, very precocious 2yo, and had been distinctly unimpressive in his only 3yo win in the Usher Stakes against ordinary opposition.
Minsky never won above Group 3, was blinkered, temperamental, and had his d1ck hanging out in the parade ring beforehand.

Can't fault the Brigadier though.

Arkle2 - I guess he was, but considering he was surrounded by colts at the time, one wonders what, exactly.

Thanks for the Daily Mail clip Metro, I hadn't seen that one I will get a copy for the scrapbook.

I don't agree with the Mill Ref thing though. His breeder said before the Guineas that Mill Reef would only stay 12f over his dead body. He won the Gimcrack by 10 and the Coventry by 6 and won over 5 furlongs first time out. Obviously the Derby was the race to go for after the Guineas and he was such class he would have won at any distance. BG won from 5f to 12f. Nijinsky had that kind of class and so did Dancing Brave. It was such a pity Henry was so tight with Frankel. He could have been a true great in my opinion. I prefer to see horses do it, not be told they would have done it. Tudor Minstrel was long odds on for the Derby but got stuffed. Had he not run they would be saying he would have walked it. And the same applies to Camelot in the St Leger. But they did run and lost.

Terrific race i am biased having backed BG and won a fair bit of money on him for those days.

Had an ante post voucher on Mill Reef from October , totally gutted on the day , but steamed in on the Derby (I was there) got 4/1 off John Banks on course , he was still paying out after the last , great days.

Me too Bob. I backed Mill Reef throughout. No doubts, except Epsom Coronation Cup.

After the close call in the St James Palace I had a real good bet at 6/4 for the Sussex. I saw him on the track on the morning of the race and rang the bookies from the security gate phone you should have seen their faces.

I'll never forget that race. Neither will I forget the vital moment that possibly decided the outcome, a few minutes before the start. Brigadier Gerard did an absolutely enormous dump pre-race, which can only have helped the horse's well-being. It actually happened, yet there is an almost Omertà attitude amongst the racing media and connections about it. No-one who saw it will forget it.