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The Greatest Hurdler of all time
The Greatest Hurdler of all time
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BULA
MONKSFIELD LANZAROTE COMEDY OF ERRORS POLLARDSTOWN BIRDS NEST ISTABRAQ PENDIL CAPTAIN CHRISTY KILLINEY SEA PIDGEON NIGHT NURSE SEE YOU THEN EASBY ABBEY |
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Hurricane Fly, the Grade 1 races won and the date of their inauguration.
Morgiana Hurdle Grade 1 2006 (2) Rabobank Hurdle Grade 1 1999 (2) Festival Hurdle Grade 1 2002 (2) Hattons Grace Hurdle Grade 1 1994. (1) Ryanair Hurdle Grde 1. New. (3) Irish Champion Hurdle (3) Champion Novice Hurdle (2) 1996 The last champion hurdler to win the Irish Champion Hurdle since the 60's was Dawn Run in 1984 so I don't see how important a race it was then to the 70's Champion Hurdlers. That accounts for at least 15 of Hurricane Fly's Grade 1 wins and shows the races weren't available for the great hurdlers of the past. A bit of perspective required by the racing press as usual. |
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brigust, Collier Bay won the Irish Champion before his CH win in 1996.
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I did say the '70s Sage.
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I mean't anything before Dawn Run.
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Gay George the best not to win Champion Hurdle????
No Contest Birds Nest |
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For me Night Nurse @ his peak was the best ive seen a superb jumper of a hurdle quick and efficient beating subsequent dual champions Monksfield and Sea Pigeon(who for likeability nothing will match)
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I would choose Big Bucks as the best hurdler never to win the CH.
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Sage I think the Stayers is a weak uncompetitive ace with generally only one or two possible winners.
Would Nichols have stayed chasing with him if he didn't stable Denman and Kauto Star at the same time I wonder. |
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Here's my opinion for what it's worth.
Bula. This one had a blistering turn of foot. That's not an opinion or a rating. That's a fact. If he came to the final flight still on the bridle it was all over. That's why I'd make him my greatest. |
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Useless fact of the day
Bula was a beaten fav in ALL of the following races Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup, Champion Chase and King George........ |
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Bula was a great horse.
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Gay George, Golden Cygnet and Noddy`s Ryde - three great hurdlers that met a terrible ending. RIP
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not one mention of sir ken....
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alleged22, see posts 29/12/13 10:06 pm and 30/12/13 8:31 pm and then as a New Year present to yourself, make an appointment at Specsavers...!
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Northern Lad should have the final say on who the greatest is.
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I will when I decipher the wheat from the chaff corkie boy
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It was this thread that inspired my thread.
The Greatest Hurdler of all time "Hurricane Fly It is indisputable" No disrespect but who is the greatest hurdler of all time can only be deduced by putting all the greatest on the table and picking through their careers. I think most of us would accept that to be the greatest hurdler you have to win the Champion Hurdle, Chaser (staying) Gold Cup. Chaser 2m speed Champion. These races are all at level weights so if you just fall into a period were you are clearly the best you can win these major prizes for several years. Possibly many of these champions had they met each other would have had a few lengths between them at their peak, but how many of them could also win the Irish & French equivalents in the same season? And show enough versatility to be capable of going on to win a Gold Cup. Dawn Run. |
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Personally I think Persian War was the best I've seen.There have been a few others that weren't too shabby including the often underrated Night Nurse.Its a shame but you cannot bring the "old" champs back to face the new(er) ones so some questions will never be answered.Happy New Year all
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Ed Moses
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deadbrain59 31 Dec 13 08:00
ap,70+, grade 1 wins.wonder how many he wasbtn in,thats a negative,d jacobs about 9 grade 1s, wonder how many he was btn on . Nobody can knock Ruby Walsh's record in Grade 1 races and they would be daft to if trying but it's still far more about the horses than jockeys, as shown when plenty of them have had success in Walsh's absences when replacing him. I would also suggest that there are several other jockeys who could have ridden the Nicholls and Mullins horses for a decade and more and have had a similar level of success as Walsh too. Daryl Jacob is a few years younger than Walsh, hasn't been as established for as long and only just starting to get on some decent horses on a regular basis so you aren't exactly comparing like with like when looking at their numbers. It might also be worth tallying up Jacob's numbers in around 4-5 years time when he's the same age as Walsh is now and then making any comparisons. sparrow 31 Dec 13 08:05 Why do people insist on calling him Jacobs, when they know full well that is not his name? Probably because unfortunately they don't. |
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Persian War,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_War_(horse),Brigust were you present wnen Dick had persian war in younger days?
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I like these threads....nice to see racing fans offering an opinion,no matter how misguided it may be...
 My own personal top five would be:See you Then.........Istabraq.......Persian War......Night Nurse........Sea Pigeon. |
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I would go for Istabraq. Would have won four CH without those blasted sheep!
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Persian War for me.As with Arkle,won handicaps conceding lots of weight.Todays top Chasers and Hurdlers have it too easy.
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Yep, Persian War.
Golden Cygnet had all the attributes to be the best. |
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Indisputable
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Sea Pigeon was a magical horse
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Farewell to the greatest. Enjoy the pipe and slippers buddy
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Persian War was undoubtedly the bravest hurdler I've seen race and it is such a shame he was owned by the dreadful Alper who seemed to care so little for the horse's welfare. Not only did he win the 3 champion hurdles against top opposition, but his victory under top weight at Newbury really underlines what a magnificent hurdler he was.
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Golden Cygnet for me - To win the Supreme Novices as he did was special and at Ayr he was cantering over Sea Pigeon when he fell. How much better would the Golden Age of hurdling have been if he had been allowed to make his contribution? Perhaps the biggest if only in racing history.
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Golden Cygnet's claim rests on the visual memory of him cruising alongside Sea Pigeon in the Scottish Champion Hurdle - admittedly he'd also looked terrific in the Supreme Novices ( jockey on the runner up Western Rose, the late John Burke, said something similar to ' I thought I was gonna win them all of a sudden this horse came upside looking as if he had just joined in.He was pulling so hard there was blood..') but so have many others. He might have been the best ever but the evidence is so limited I'd rather have it from those doing it regularly, Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon -I suppose you could be sceptical and question whether they were overrated considering in reality how unlikely it would be for three all times greats to be around at the same time.Anyway, I'll stick with them and not just because I seen all three race in the flesh plenty of times - there is plenty of substantial form to support them.
Reg See You Then, hard to assess as we never saw too much of him but he was so difficult to train. In his final CH victory the horse he beat Flatterer, is widely regarded as the best US National Hunt horse ever. As they were coming back off the course some character was standing unnoticed amongst the racegoers, looking genuinely happy, clapping, smiling and shouting Bo***cks - it was Bernard Manning ! |