TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE AYR 1974

Apologies for the blurry page which are a bit hard to read. Horses and trainers and jockeys seem readable.

Any questions about anything unreadable, I`ll consult the original racecard.

I`m not certain but I think the big race winner Kingfisher Blue was in the region of 33/1+

Homefield won the race the year before. What a tough wee horse he was. Used go clear at the front and was always tough to catch, Flat and Hurdles.

The first thing I noticed was that the racecard numbers are not 1,2,3 etc
I presume they are the numbers allotted to the horses pre final decs and were kept when printing the racecard?
About the time I started going racing, 1974,but I don't recall that

That is correct Reg. They kept their initial numbers.

Mighty I seemed to remember Kingfisher Blue winning the Irish 2,000 gns for some reason ridden by a Aussie jockey , maybe I'm totally wrong..

David Robinson had a runner in the big race too!

Parnell had ran well in the King George previously but the weight concession to Kingfisher Blue, who was a very good handicapper in his own right, proved far too much of a task.

Workrider... Aussie jockey... Scobie Breasley, Ron Hutchinson?

Your memory is playing tricks on you workrider.

I double checked my stats and no record of a horse named that winning the 2000 Guineas at the Curragh.

The Kingfisher Blue here, ran with great credence on the Northern circuit and was ridden a lot by Lyndsey Charnock or John Lowe. I actually thought John Lowe rode him when he won here but according to the racecard it has G Mullin?

... hope you are well mate and skinning the Irish bookies!

... some very good jockeys in the big race. Willie Carson, Johnny Seagrave, Tony Murray, Steve Perks, Taffy Thomas and the Aussie Mick Goreham.

.... and the English bookies on your travels around England`s excellent courses!

Disaster of a weekend my friend never backed a winner either day, was in Cheltenham the previous Sat and never backed a winner either. Punchestown tomorrow Fairyhouse Wed, Thurles Thursday and Newbury on Sat a busy few days, I hope you are well and good to see you posting again..

Horse I was thinking of ridden by a Aussie jockey was called Atherstone Wood 1967 Irish 2,000 gns winners as you can see they sound similar ... ..

Workrider.. Google says the jockey was Buster Parnell, an Irish jockey

Thanks workrider. Thinking of changing my nom de plume to Lazarus, lol.

Hope your luck changes soon my friend!

Little bit early for me Mac but I remember going to that meeting in early 80s
to see the mighty Sea Pigeon win that race (I think) was a small field
and he started at a surprisingly generous 7/2 and won easy.

First time I went to Ayr was for a Scottish Grand National meeting in 1980 with two friends and my Dad for my 18th birthday
Salkeld won and my old man backed it - tenner each way at 12/1 - then couldnt find his winning ticket those cards all looked same didnt they?
Eventually found it - happy days made even better that Aberdeen won 3-1 at Kilmarnock that day and Dundee beat Celtic 5-1 at Dens Park
few weeks later we clinched the league at Easter Road and the career of a certain Alex Ferguson took off!

Actually found a racecard in the shed at my folks place recently when I clearing it out - for a Tingle Creek meeting 1982
only 3 runners but what a race! Unfortunately the card was a bit grotty/damp but it certainly rekindled memories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0cwQdex75s

Did that race become the Scottish Derby..saw Jalmood winning that in 82,having been well beaten at Epsom behind Golden Fleece?

about 2 yrs early for me but surprised i dont recall a single horse from those cards

What stands out is the weight carried in the handicaps, unbelievable how they managed to get down so low.

themightymac 04 Feb 24 23:04 
Homefield won the race the year before. What a tough wee horse he was. Used go clear at the front and was always tough to catch, Flat and Hurdles.



I remember this horse very well and I think he was trained by Peter Poston who always ran his horses in Scotland to take advantage of a scheme that paid travel expenses.

Remember that great old sprinter  Le Gor Dor I think that's how it was spelt , winning in Scotland when he was 14 ...

Kingfisher Blue was a grand horse. His owner, Leonard Garrington, bought him out of Geoffrey Brookes' stable as a 2yo for 485gns. He then didn't run as a 3yo or as a 4yo, but went on a run of 6 wins from 8 races as a 5yo. He won that Tennent Trophy (his 13th win) as a 10yo, making the running, as he usually did. He was passed by Secret Ace a furlong out, but fought back to win by a neck. He was still running as a 13yo, though no longer winning.

Parnell was trying to give him 3 stone, and was 2 lengths away in 3rd. He was a class horse over staying trips, who was a bit unlucky not to win the KG&QE - Brigadier Gerard took his nose off as he started to run out of stamina and drifted on to the rail, and Parnell had to switch and come round him and was closing all the way to the line, although really the 12f was too short for him, just as it was too far for the Brig. Parnell had some fine colours too - flame with black seams.

Here's the Ascot race, though the picture quality is poor...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFaIjzcJZMo

Thanks for that info Ged. Lochranza won a lot of races at Ayr at a later date. 1980s I think.

NEC I went to all the races back then and I remember the Salkeld GN. Course was heaving and we were in centre of racetrack at second last fence. I`m pretty sure it was a photo finish and I bet the 2nd - can`t remember it`s name but something Valley, I think.

Sparrow you are 100% correct. Homefield was trained by Peter Poston.

The Dealer, you are right regards the weights. The concessions from the class horses were immense. Parnell was a top class horse but trying to give 3st to Kingfisher Blue that day was an impossible feat.

Tennant Trophy was a big race back then and attracted some very good horses from the South. I think you are right lead on, I`m pretty sure it became the Scottish Derby in 1979. Perhaps ged can confirm.

Scottish Derby Winners

1979 Serge Lifar (Brian Taylor) Ryan Price    
1980 Prince Roland (Steve Cauthen) Barry Hills   
1981 Little Wolf (Graham Sexton) Dick Hern   
1982 Jalmood (Steve Cauthen) John Dunlop   
1983 Dazari (Walter Swinburn) Michael Stoute   
1984 Raami (Tony Ives) Bill O'Gorman   
1985 Eagling (Paul Eddery) Henry Cecil   
1986 Moon Madness (Tony Ives) John Dunlop   
1987 Ascot Knight (Walter Swinburn) Michael Stoute
1988 Kefaah (Ray Cochrane) Luca Cumani
1989 Scenic (Michael Hills) Barry Hills
1990 Husyan (Willie Carson) Peter Walwyn
1991 Zoman (Alan Munro) Paul Cole
1992 Sharpitor (John Reid) William Jarvis
1993 River North (Kevin Darley) Lady Herries
1994 Beneficial (Michael Hills) Geoff Wragg
1995 Baron Ferdinand (Kevin Darley) Roger Charlton
1996 Montjoy (Richard Quinn) Paul Cole
1997 Crystal Hearted (Tony McGlone) Henry Candy
1998 Winter Romance (Kieren Fallon) Ed Dunlop
1999 Prolix (Richard Hughes) Barry Hills
2000 Endless Hall (Jamie Spencer) Luca Cumani
2001 Carnival Dancer (Kieren Fallon) Sir Michael Stoute
2002 Imperial Dancer (Chris Catlin) Mick Channon
2003 Princely Venture (Kieren Fallon) Sir Michael Stoute
2004 Oriental Magic (Kieren Fallon) Sir Michael Stoute
2005 Imperial Stride (Richard Hills) Sir Michael Stoute

Was a good race but discontinued 2005. Initially was for 3-y-o only.

Mecca were first sponsors and was also known as the Mecca Classic

Tennent Trophy was last run at Ayr in 1999 (though after 1995, it was run as the Tennent Caledonian Breweries Trophy).

Hamilton ran the Velvet Handicap (For the Tennent Trophy) ... in July from 2001 to 2005, but it was over 13f, not 15f.

hi mac yes it was a photo finish Salkeld led virtually all the way and just held on from Silent Valley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MWsTnFGx0

can you see yourself ?

Thanks Ged for the info.

Cheers NEC - Silent Valley indeed, at least I remembered half it`s name. I would have remembered it`s full name of it had won

And thanks for the link of the race! Just going to watch it. I should be easy to spot. I`m the guy with the two page 3 girls on each arm

Think it was the Tennet Trophy where the legendary Sea Pigeon got beat by around a head/neck by that great stayer dual Ascot Gold Cup winner Le Moss .
Think Pigeon gave the subsequent Leger winner that year around 26lbs.
Le Moss 8-2
Sea Pigeon 10-0

Crikey geoff that's amazing , seems crazy to think any horse on any planet would be asked to give Le Moss 26lb.

Wow that is a great piece of trivia Geoff. Right up there with Crisp trying to give Red Rum 23lbs over 4.5 miles in the Grand National.

They used to get a good crowd at Ayr:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_aBfCNFikk

.... and before anybody asks, NO I WASN`T THERE THAT DAY

Feb 5, 2024 -- 12:03PM, workrider wrote:

Remember that great old sprinter

As far as I know the second most interesting thing from that card would be that Dance All Night went on to breed the Lockinge winner, Scottish Reel.

Didn`t know that DD. Seven The Quadrant was a decent stayer too.

Le Garcon D`or was a great old sprinter but Musselburgh was his track. So good they named the Bar after him.



Le Garcon D`Or with the great Alec Russell up.

What a magnificent sight of a good old boy   

Mighty, I did say he was still winning in Scotland at the age of 14 how remarkably was that...Super photo of the old boy..

themightymac.

Great memories of Ayr. Thanks again.
The Tennant Trophy was previously run in the early sixties under the name of the Usher/Vaux Gold Tankard over 1m7f on Glasgow Fair Monday.It was won by a good horse of Johnson Houghtons which I can't recall the name of. A favourite of mine called First Phase trained by J. Mulhall also won.
I think the Scottish Derby was originally a 1m3f race sponsored by Mecca and don't think it was to replace the Tennant Trophy race.
Mac. You mentioned Lochranza and I notice that his trainer E J Carr (Hambleton) trained the winner of the Tam o Shanter Stakes.You've ticked it off hope you backed it. I think your comment of Lochranza winning lots of races is very accurate and I believe a Bookie from Johnstone owned him. Certainly did me several good turns. As I write this I'm thinking Lochranza may have been a mare.

Love these threads. I note at a time when his racing ‘empire’ was coming to an end, TV renting tycoon David Robinson had runners on the card with both his former private trainer Michael Jarvis and R.P Davey.

Wirral trainer Con Crossley another blast from the past. Not surprisingly used to support the Chester and Haydock cards. Don’t remember him having too many decent horses though he did have  Dibbinsdale Lad  who won the valuable Stones Best Bitter Handicap at Haydock four years later.

And another of the Tennant Trophy field, Seven The Quadrant, finished runner up to the classy Jeremy Tree performer John Cherry in the following year’s Chester Cup, when Ladbrokes sponsored the race..

Lochranza was a gelding, named after a village on Arran (I camped on the golf course there once - the weekend Last Suspect won the Grand National - it rained the whole time I was there, 2 days and nights). He won 26 races, 8 over hurdles. He always seemed to win early in the flat season at Ayr, fit from hurdling, in the mud, anywhere from 11 to 15f, making the running. He was owned by bookmaker Henry Michael.

Tommy - I'm reluctant to disagree with you on matters Scottish, because your memory is so good, but I see the Usher-Vaux being run on a Saturday in May (usually the same day as the Lingfield Oaks trial). It was run over 1m7f until 1970, when it was cut to a mile. Aegean Blue won it in 1966, which is probably the Johnson-Houghton horse you're thinking of. He'd won the Chester Cup by 5 lengths 10 days earlier, at 22/1, under Lester(!), making all bar the first 2f, and he hardly touched him. At Ayr, he had just 8-3 to carry (no extra penalty - he already had 10lb extra at Chester for winning the Queen's Prize at Kempton), so I presume there was overweight, and this time he was 6/4. First Phase won it in 1968. The cards began with the Usher-Vaux Scottish Champion Hunters Chase, over 3m3f.

Talking about Robinson/Davey one horse in particular dragged me into getting involved in the sport , Deep Diver   

Hayden did he also own Green God another fantastic sprinter from yesteryear..

Fairly sure Green God was Robinson workrider but not sure about Davey , stretching my memory bank that one mate and one of the guys required here to confirm or otherwise.

Vernons Sprint Cup winner at Haydock 1971.

1971    Green God    3    Lester Piggott    Michael Jarvis    David Robinson

Thanks sparrow 

Ah so the old memory is still active and doing ok..

Great stuff guys. Great memories. Great input by all.

As stated earlier Robinson made his fortune from tvs. Think he owned Radio Rentals and was in from the start when tv became popular but I may be wrong. He gave away millions to charity and built a wing at either Cambridge or Oxford University in memory of his late wife, but I can`t remember which one. He owned a lot of good horses 60s and 70s as mentioned in this thread. My Swallow was leading 2-y-o of 1970 ahead of Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard which was quite a feat. Beat Mill Reef in the Prix Robert Papin at Maisons Lafitte in 1970. Probably the best he ever owned.

1971 2000 Guineas arguably the greatest ever race for the Classic and I never tire of watching it. Here is the link for the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es28rlQXdiI

Is pacemaker magazine still going workrider? I used to get it all the time.

..... or is it just available on a computer?

No finished a long time ago now ...

Great to see the 1971 2000 guineas again and has to be the best field of all time with those three brilliant horses fighting out the finish.  A proper classic field and thanks for posting, mac.

... thought as much. Misunderstood your post earlier. Apologies mate.

You`re welcome Sparrow. Picture quality is not great but still glad it can still be seen. I think My Swallow started fav, Mill Reef 2nd fav and the Brigadier next. But not sure.

The race was generally billed as a match between the 6/4 favourite Mill Reef and the 2/1 second favourite My Swallow. Brigadier Gerard was relatively overlooked at 11/2, Minsky, a full brother to Nijinsky and Irish champion 2-y-o in 1970 at 15/2, Good Bond at 16/1 and Indian Ruler the complete outsider at 100/1.

Mill Reef’s trainer Ian Balding described the 1971 2000 Guineas as ‘Probably the Best of them all’. The quality field of 6 included the leading three two-year-olds of 1970, My Swallow, Brigadier Gerard, and his own Mill Reef.


Another interesting runner was the Irish raider Minsky, a full brother to the 1970 Triple Crown winner Nijinsky who was ridden by Lester Piggott. In total the six colts who lined up at the Rowley mile had won 27 of their 33 races.

The race was generally billed as a match between the 6/4 favourite Mill Reef and the 2/1 second favourite My Swallow. Brigadier Gerard was relatively overlooked at 11/2, Minsky, a full brother to Nijinsky and Irish champion 2-y-o in 1970 at 15/2, Good Bond at 16/1 and Indian Ruler the complete outsider at 100/1.

Themightymac

Did you ever put a tanna in the back of David Robinsons tvs i bet plenty on here did.
Hope you are well.
Ronnie.
.

Think it was usually 2 bob Ronnie..

Yes indeed Ronnie! Those were the days. I Wish we could go back to then. Hope you are well too mate.

Thanks for clarification guys on the betting for that wonderful race. Memory can play tricks on us.

Robinsons crack sprinter Green God finished 2nd to  Mill Reef in the 1970 Gimcrack. WEll i say  2nd i think daylight was 2nd. Mill Reef absolutely pulverised the Gimcrack field that day. Well worth a watch on you tube if you havent seen it before.

I know My Swallow was a top 2yo, but he didn't do a great deal in his second season. Deep Diver was very busy, but top class for two seasons. I remember him being turned over by Stilvi at Goodwood before he reversed that form at York. She only won up to Group 3 level, but given the horses she beat I think she was a bit better than that.

I remember her with affection differentdrum, think Bruce Hobbs trained her black with white spots were her colours if I remember correctly..

Great thread again All by usual contributors.Been out on Grandad duties all night (girls football).

Ged-Thanks for the info on Lochranza ( gelding). I may be getting mixed up with another Joe Carr horse Make Believe.
Aegean Blue was indeed the Johnson Houghton horse I was thinking about.
As I've said many times here, I don't have the Horses in Training or form books for those years anymore.
Interesting that you camped on Arran for two nights and it rained.So whats new in these parts. I'm ashamed to say that I've never been to Arran. Going back to the Usher/Vaux races- Ushers was one of the worst beers sold in Scotland in the sixties but Vaux could be described as vile. We used to drink in a pub in Lanark called The Black Bull which was Vaux, may have been brewer owned and was good for under age entry. Lots of stable lads lodged there and us 16 year olds were giants by comparison. JP Yeomans and Postons lads used the rooms upstairs.

verbotene liebe- Colin Crossley if I remember was quite shrewd placing his horses I think he trained Scoria to win the Cesarewitch. He also trained one for Paul McCartney's dad Drakes Drum. Another one was for an Everton player Brian Labone excuse spelling, which always had a blue noseband, think it began with a B.

Mention of Paul Davey. I think His father Ernie Davey trained a mare called Granville Greta which ran against the Jack Ormston trained Le Garcon D'Or who appears on many threads.

She was Workrider. However her exploits off the track as broodmare far exceeded those on the track.She was probably the most influential broodmare of the mid/late 70s & early 80s.Producing the following top class racehorses:
Tolmi:      Coronation Stakes/2nd in Guineas
Tromos:     Dewhurst/flopped as 3 yr old.
Taxiarchos: I think he ran 2nd to Formidable(Middle Park winner) @ Leger meeting
Tyrnavos:   2nd Dewhurst/ Irish Derby
Tacypous:   Middle Park

Thank you very much for that heads up on Scoria Tommy West of Lanark - did not know he’d trained a Cesarwitch winner, a meritable feat considering he trained strings of under 20 in number.

Never seemed to be a trainer who spoke much to the press - at least in the second half of the 70’s when he had an apprentice named M.A Banner who I’m surprised to find could do 8st, as he looked a lanky type, like many modern day flat jocks.

Have found  that Labone owned the Ayrshire Handicap winner Goodison in the early 1970’s. The  Sangster family  were also listed owners - as you  probably know they had family home in  Hoylake  which is not too far from Neston, where Crossley trained.

Stilvi used to be my specialist subject. Full imformation on this thread:-

https://theracingforum.co.uk/forums/topic/ialysos-nice-to-see-the-old-colours-again/

Tree Fella was a Crossley horse that he bred, owned and trained. I saw him run a few times at Chester in the early 80s, usually at 6f. He looked quite a tall horse, but seemed to go round the bends well enough.

verbotene liebe- Goodison that was the one thanks.

David Robinson also built the Robinson Swimming Pool in my home town of Bedford (Radio Rentals was also based there).
The pool still bears his name to this day.

Goodison won a few times round Chester. I think he also won the race at Newcastle that was going on in the scene in the film Get Carter that was shot at the track while racing was taking place. You can here his name mentioned in the racecourse commentary.

You don't miss a thing ged, considering all the times I saw that film and never knew the winner of that race.

also ayr '74 sea pigeon 1st hurdle run         

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YbSBIgOOwk

* correction newcastle   but correct year !

Was a guy who uploaded loads of old Sea Pigeon stuff on You Tube, but sadly, all disappeared a few months ago. Was one of the best resources for old races.

this guy has a good copy of the sea pigeon v night nurse v golden cygnet  scottish champion. All the talk was of the latter but for me SP was always cruising and to pick up NN who got first run was outstanding.

Crossley was a good trainer. I remember Scoria but I was trying to remember the decent juvenile hurdler he had but it`s name escapes me. I`m pretty sure it ran in the Triumph. Who was it that trained Wovoka? Anybody remember. Early 70s.

I`m getting Crossley mixed up with Vernon Cross, I think he trained Wovoka.

The 8;30 Kempton winner Capstan.
I seem to remember D*ck Hern had a colt so named from the Hollingsworth family tree that all carried "nautical names". Recall it ran 4th to that great filly and even better broodmare Height Of Fashion @ Newmarket in the Princess Of Wales Stakes July  meeting .Think Ardross went of fav & was placed. Capstan then went on to win @ Goodwood later in the month.

Height Of Fashion(like Stilvi) produced some top class racehorses most notably:
Nashwan
Unfuwain
Nayef
Sarayir
and is also great/great /grandam of
Baeed

Sad when owner/breeders pass away and no one in the family wishes to continue the operation. With the Hollingsworths the nephew, Dixon, became involved for a shortwhile but the lines are now spread out all over the place but do throw a good one every now and then. In recent times dual G1 winner Dreamloper traces back to Bireme via Livia’s Dream, Brindisi and Genoa.

Seems Con Crossley emigrated to Australia in the mid 80’s. Have found that his wife was a qualified vet and they had the points to be accepted with immigrant status. He cited low prize money as the reason and planned to continue within the sport Down Under. Only just discovered this, hadn’t a clue what had happened and no idea what became of him after. To me he was the trainer of Dibbinsdale Lad, who won one of the most competitive first half of the season three year old handicaps outside of Royal Ascot - have now found that as well as Scoria, he trained a smart sprint handicapper called Moor Lane who was third behind Alphadamus and Home Guard in a vintage renewal of the  Stewards Cup.

Tree Fella is mentioned by Ged - I do remember him running at Chester and Haydock but could not have put a trainer’s name to him. Also found a curious piece from Pat Labone ( Brian Labone’s model wife). She recalled Goodson the horse, who it seems was destroyed after breaking a fetlock at Market Rasen. She says that both herself and her husband where not present on the day and were upset when they found out what had happened as they believed an owner had to be contacted to give their permission for a horse to be put down.Surely the husband can’t have believed that, and I’m guessing the proof reading went off the tracks here.

*should read Livia’s Dream, Brindisi,  Genoa, Yawl, Bireme.

Colin Crossley had a good horse called Tamorn in the 1960s (I don't remember it). It was bred by his father. It won the Beeswing hcap at Newcastle on the flat, and ran in the Scottish Champion Hurdle, and the Mildmay of Flete at Cheltenham.

Great post and thread. Noticed that we still have 2 trainers training today. If I am right, MW Easterby and G W Richards. 50 years later ! I may have missed one if anyone knows any better.

Reckon Richards would be current trainers dad brians.