Jim Wilson winning jockey of the 1981 Cheltenham Gold Cup has passed

It is frightening how time flies storm,remember him having a nightmare on Little Owl one day,good amateur though.

Sad news 

Remember when he pulled up Little Owl in a 3 horse race leaving Venture to Cognac to beat the total rag Great Dean.

That changed the way the forecasts were calculated and was instrumental in ending the s/f chart you used to see on the bookmakers wall.


RIP Jim

I was surprised that he was never champion amateur. He seemed in a different class at the time. RIP.

Why would someone post the self-evident "We all die" on this thread?  Very strange.

Think it might have been 1980?

I think I might have backed Little Owl, but it was before I started keeping records. Presumably, Little Owl was subsequently injured. Had beaten Lesley Ann prior to the Gold Cup. 

I watched the 1979 Coral Hurdle back this afternoon, and the 1980 Sun Alliance where Little Owl fell. Conditions looked horrific, and these days they would probably have abandoned. Horses were exhausted.

Taberna Lord, another one I am pretty sure I backed. 

RIP

Form....  If this is your defence for posting a "we all die" on a tribute thread, without explanation or qualification, I am sad for you.

are we supposed to post rip every day of the week when a person passes,unless you know the person personally what’s the point we can all pass a thought on reading this sad news,but come on!

formoftheace - are we supposed to post rip every day of the week when a person passes,unless you know the person personally what’s the point we can all pass a thought on reading this sad news,but come on!

The point of the thread (in the horse racing  forum) is to reminisce on a bygone age and a few contributors have. It seems good manners to put RIP for somebody recently deceased.

If your not interested, just pass-over the thread, instead of cluttering it up.

Mark Coton's account:-

"The 1982 Fulwell Chase at Kempton Park appeared
a mundane contest. True, the Gold Cup winner
Little Owl was in attendance but he faced only
two rivals in Venture To Cognac and Great Dean.

"Venture To Cognac had some useful form to his
credit but had become injury-prone and was
considered to need the run. As for Great Dean,
he had been pulled up at lowly Fontwell and
needed a miracle if he was to win such
a valuable prize.

"Little Owl was sent off the 4-11 favourite,
Venture To Cognac 5-2 with Great Dean appearing
for all the world a lost cause at 66-1.

"As far as winning the race was concerned,
Great Dean was virtually friendless.
On the course and in the betting shops it was
only the odd `just-for-fun' merchant and
habitues of the `outsider-of-three' system who
gave him even a moment's consideration.

"Or so it seemed. But dotted about the country
were a handful of shrewd punters who had spotted
the chance to make a killing on the race.
A chance, that's all. Those shrewdies didn't
_expect_ to pickup but knew exceptional value
when they saw it.

"And what a killing! Not only were these punters
expecting to receive odds of around 150-1 on
their bet, they were also gleefully awaiting
the chance to make fools of the big bookmakers.

"For once, the bookmakers had made a `rick' and
a mighty serious one at that.

"The mistake was in the format for the then
relatively new Computerised Straight Forecast
(CSF), which allowed for inflated dividends should
a long-priced outsider make the frame in a small
field.

"The Fulwell Chase offered an ideal chance to
exploit this loophole. All it needed was for
Little Owl to fail to complete the course (as
he had done at Cheltenham on his previous start)
and this would enable Venture To Cognac to win
with Great Dean hopefully putting in a clear round
to come second.

"The race went entirely to script for these
backers. Little Owl leading and seemingly
going well, swerved and was pulled up by
jockey and part-owner Jim Wilson at the 10th.

"This left Venture To Cognac clear of the already
tailed-off Great Dean. The former sauntered round
to win by a distance and Great Dean, with forecast
backers holding their breath, completed in his own
time to earn a place in the history books.

"Little Owl's bit had reportedly slipped, but
the bookmakers were not happy, especially when
they realised the extent of their liabilities.

"Payment was held back while BOLA and the racing
authorities carried out an investigation into
the race. No evidence of any misdemeanour was
produced and the bookmakers, suitably chastened,
paid out.

"They also called in their computer people to
change the format of the CSF to avoid such inflated
dividends in small fields in the future, and
the result was what is disingenuously referred
to as the `Harmonic formula' for producing CSF
dividends. Today, if Venture To Cognac were to
beat Great Dean in identical circumstances, backers
would receive odds of only 15-1.

"This was a blatant over-correction and the few
punters who were on were crying foul after
after the 1989 Eclipse in which Nashwan at 2-5
beat 200-1 shot Opening Verse. Those that had
the combination were dismayed to receive odds
of only 24-1 (the Tote paid over 50% better at
38-1), which provides a fine indication of
the high level of profit bookmakers build into
the CSF."

The Fulwell Chase at Kempton in January 1982 - Timeform comment "Starting at 11/4 on, Little Owl was pulled up at halfway, the bit having slipped through his mouth. Venture to Cognac finished a distance in front of the 66/1 shot Great Dean, the CSF paying odds in excess of 141/1."

Many thanks lad,think somebody mentioned this race as changing how the csf was worked out.Must be the race I was thinking of,have a vague recollection of the commentator wondering if he had tried to run out but your replies explain it.