frodon: soon we have to say goodbye.

​Frodon will attempt to win Wincanton’s Badger Beer Chase for the second time tomorrow. He is not only my favourite horse in training, and has been for the best part of 5-years – when did he win that handicap chase at Cheltenham, when Ruby Walsh paid Bryony the ultimate compliment – he is my second favourite horse of my lifetime, with only Spanish Steps above him in my heart, though I may have to reassess my order of affection if Frodon should defy all that is against him tomorrow.
He has to carry 12-stone tomorrow, on soft ground, giving weight to a better-class field that he faced 12-months ago. He will give 100% as always and we can be certain that Bryony will look after him when chance of victory slips away. I love him dearly but I cannot see him winning as there are at least 7 horses in the race superior to those that took part last year.
Though I would never tip or bet against Frodon as I could never be disloyal to him, I think Ashtown Lad is well-treated at the weights for a horse who won the Becher Chase last season, stays well, likes soft-ground and is young enough to have improved from last season.
Also, Paul Nicholl’s runs Threeunderthrufive, the favourite at the moment, though it can be expected that Frodon’s loyal West-Country fans will bet him into favouritism, and is a horse the trainer continues to believe has a big race in him in.
The Big Breakaway was considered a Gold Cup horse by the Tizzards until his form proved otherwise and I had enough faith in his ability to back him each-way in the Grand National last season. He is too good a horse to be receiving so much weight from Frodon.
Blackjack Magic, Certainly Red, Ballygriffin Cottage and Sam Brown are others in the race, I fear.
Why do I admire Frodon so much? It is not because I believe he is the best chaser I have had the pleasure of watching during my life. Even when he was in his pomp, he was not the best chaser in training. He is not a Denman and certainly not a Kauto Star. He is though the equal of Spanish Steps, not that ability has anything to do with how the heart feels about a horse, friend, family member or woman.
Anyone reading this who believes horse racing should be banned or who believes horses run and jump only because ‘we’ force them to do so, should go argue the point with Frodon. They should spend a day shadowing him. In fact, ‘Animal Rising’ activists and those who sympathise with their cause would learn a great deal by spending a day with Frodon.
As Paul Nicholls stated only recently, now aged 11 rising 12, Frodon has the same level of enthusiasm for the life he leads as he had when he was a young horse. He is described by his down-to-earth trainer as ‘naughty and mischievous’ and I have read that when the string is being boring and quiet, Frodon has the habit of throwing in a buck and a squeal just to liven-up proceedings, receiving loving rebukes by the riders of the other horses sent sideways and upwards, and he continues to bowl up that famous Ditcheat hill and school with the flamboyance that is his trademark.
I will not mind if Frodon does not win tomorrow. I expect him to run a good, honest race and that win or lose the crowd will show their appreciation for the joy he has given us over the years. What I want more than anything is that he finishes the race sound and happy and sooner rather than later he will be retired and has the good fortune to enjoy a happy retirement. How he will be amused without steeplechase fences, though, is a problem in need of a thoughtful answer.
One final wish I have. If anyone knows Bryony – in fact I may pen a letter to her via Ditcheat –ask her to consider writing a book about her association with Frodon, along the lines of Pat Taaffe’s ‘My Life and Arkle’s’. She is an intelligent girl, so she’ll be up to the task, and who would be better positioned to tell his story?