1. Dublin Flyer - not only a brilliant leaper of a fence, but also the heart of a lion, as seen here when winning the 1995 Mackeson Gold Cup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXqev_-QYdc
2. Tingle Creek - the epitome of bold leaping on the sharp end.
A short clip here of TC winning at Sandown, then a lovely interview with 'The Don' and a 19 year old Tingle Creek.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0IVy1gEM_M
3. Desert Orchid
"This was HIS RACE...The King's in his counting house...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgp4h9QVwCA
4. Red Rum
Just to have got to Aintree fit, sound and well 5 consecutive times, would have been an achievement; then to have completed the course 5 consecutive times, given the real potential for bad luck and carnage, would be a truly magnificent feat; but to also win the race 3 times and finish 2nd twice in those 5 years, is almost beyond comprehension, and collectively is arguably the greatest sporting achievement of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DXR3FOA_o0
5. Pendil
"The best horse never to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup", wins his second King Geroge VI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDbmJV4vfUw
6. John Leeper Dunlop, dual Derby winning trainer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNuk3nxCao
7. Best Mate
Three Gold Cups, but hey, what did he beat, the form bores will ask! Well he beat what was put in front of him and provided some wonderful memories along the way. Here's his 3rd Gold Cup win, and after some argy bargy, another fantastic leap at the second last takes him to the front and on the way to emulating Arkle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZQhrccZKNw
8. Edredon Bleu, 2000 Queen Mother Champion Chase
Talk about putting your rivals to the sword, if ever leaping won a race, not to mention the small matter of sheer guts. One of the great races...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJHDivrhtRE
9. Denman, 2008 Gold Cup
An awesome display of leaping and galloping...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQTzaCWnmA
10. Crisp, 1973 Grand National
A magnificent display of leaping under a 'train-stopping' weight ends in heartbreak, but also maximum respect and glory at the same time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGaX0d_Pjk
11. Frankie Dettori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc3vDSPZ9I
I'm sure you will all agree, a thoroughly well researched, flawless Top 10, with no shocking emissions!
Mr Frisk was an inch perfect jumper, poetry in motion. In more recent times Hello Bud was sublime, never wasted time and energy jumping to high, just enough to clear each fence with the minimum effort, he was basically a slow horse but his economical jumping saved him many lengths. Going back donkeys years Frenchmans Cove was a superb jumper.
Mr Frisk was an inch perfect jumper, poetry in motion.In more recent times Hello Bud was sublime, never wasted time and energy jumping to high, just enough to clear each fence with the minimum effort, he was basically a slow horse but his economical
Wayward Lad after his novice season made it look effortless . Not the showy clearing fences by some distance , but rather slick gliding joust over the fence , Silver Buck jumped in the same manner.
Wayward Lad after his novice season made it look effortless .Not the showy clearing fences by some distance , but rather slick gliding joust over the fence , Silver Buck jumped in the same manner.
I was trying to find a clip of Stormyfairweather jumping in the last in the 2000 Cathcart, but disappointed to see it's not even on the RUK compilation for that year's festival.
I was trying to find a clip of Stormyfairweather jumping in the last in the 2000 Cathcart, but disappointed to see it's not even on the RUK compilation for that year's festival.
I started a thread a few years back looking for 'that' leap of Pendil's, with little success. This was one of the posts from said thread...
Anaglogs Daughter 23 Jan 11 23:28 This was wrote by Monty Court around 7 years ago.
Nearly 30 years ago, Ed Byrne took one of the truly great photographs of a racehorse
The date: February 24, 1973.
The horse: Pendil,
The jockey: Richard Pitman, a horseman with no pretensions as champion or stylist - and I am not being patronising because his ride on Crisp in the 1973 Grand National, for instance, still stirs the soul. By today's standards he should have had a pilot's licence.
A copy of Byrne's memorable image of Pendil soaring towards the fence from outside the wings has been hanging in my study for years. But last week it became a factor in a discussion over the jockeys' pay-rise that, from tomorrow, makes jump jockeys members of their own ton-up club, with a fee of pounds 100.25 a ride.
A visiting point-to-point friend exploded: "A hundred quid? For what? Jump racing has become as boring as Formula One."
I was aware that I was pouring petrol on the flames when I said: "Some people reckon we've got the best crop of jump jockeys ever."
What followed was a high-octane argument about the changes since the glory days of Pendil and Tingle Creek, who flew fences so fast that he broke the two-mile record at Sandown five times.
And then there was Dunkirk, Pas Seul, Bula, Arkle and Flyingbolt, to say nothing of hurdlers like Night Nurse, who also took off from outside the wings, and scores who can't be listed because of lack of space.
And their jockeys: Bryan Marshall, Tim and Martin Molony, Dick, Winter, Biddlecombe, King, Mould, Mellor, Francome, O'Neill, Stack, Brogan, Barry. . .
The evidence is there for all to see on TV clips and old films, showing today's horses getting in close to the fences in the manner of show-jumpers compared with the cavalier style of the past.
Old-timers like Fred Rimell would have turned purple at a field of chasers fiddling fence after fence from close in. And we are talking about a man (four Grand Nationals and two Gold Cups) who greeted his one-time amateur Jim Old with the words: "If the Lord rode his ass the way you rode that `orse then he deserved to be crucified."
So what's happened? What is undeniable is that in the cause of animal welfare, fences have been made easier, making nonsense of the assertion that the standard of jockeyship has never been higher. It's the A-level row all over again - the percentage of passes may be commendable, but the exams are nothing like as difficult. It is as futile and unprovable as the argument that tries to deprive Rock Of Gibraltar of a place in the pantheon of champions.
In addition, horses set off at a much faster rate than in the old days, when horses started slower but quickened as they approached the undeniably more challenging obstacles. Indeed, these days, one is quite likely to see a jockey taking a pull to make sure his horse gets in close to an easier fence.
Recently, at Uttoxeter, I watched a horse and jockey sail over the first two fences without a problem before the jockey appeared to be overcome with the obsession to get the horse in close. The result was indecision as they clambered over the next five or six fences before an inevitable and unnecessary parting.
And don't think I am arguing for every fence to be flown Pendil-style, because I have seen many races lost by jockeys obsessed with going for big ones and stumbling on landing - and being beaten by less spectacular rivals who have been quicker into their strides.
Another factor in the argument was the ever-increasing racing programme, causing my point-to-point friend to declare: "There is so much racing and money on offer that a jockey's priority is to keep himself on the road."
I dismissed this as an unfair slur. But what is undeniable is that high-profile operators like Tony McCoy can accomplish in a season what many old-timers would have seen as a not unsuccessful career - and we are talking of a man who bears comparison with any giant from the past, not least with his eye for a jump six or seven strides away from a fence.
Finally, with reluctance, I was forced to concede that there is so much racing, largely dominated by a few major yards, with lookalike horses and jockeys jumping lookalike fences in lookalike style, that jump racing has acquired a certain sameness.
Which is not to attack the skills of a group of professional sportsmen whom I number among my friends; more a lament that my grandchildren have been deprived of a spectacle guaranteed to make any heart pump faster
I started a thread a few years back looking for 'that' leap of Pendil's, with little success. This was one of the posts from said thread...Anaglogs Daughter 23 Jan 11 23:28 This was wrote by Monty Court around 7 years ago.Nearly 30 years ago, Ed