the opinion of others should always be respected.

​For the past week The Racing Post has run features on great Cheltenham Festival moments, with their brilliant stable of journalists taking it in turn to write about one their own favourites. I particularly enjoyed Lee Motteshead recalling the ‘golden hour’ when Bryony had Francesca Cumani in tears with her speech after winning the Ryanair with Frodon, “he grabbed my hand and said ‘don’t you dare think we can’t win this,’” followed by Paisley Park winning the Stayers Hurdle for Andrew Gemmell and Emma Lavelle. I will be in tears if he should win it again next week.
Peter Thomas took up the cudgels when recalling Sprinter Sacre’s 2016 Champion Chase success. I admit I am touchy about experts dumbing down this race as I suspect my last racing image to float through my mind as I pass from this world will be the 2016 Champion Chase. Until that day, I thought my last thought would be either Red Rum winning his third Grand National - not his first, even though I believe the 1973 renewal was the greatest race of all time as the sadness of Crisp losing the race in the final few yards remains a hard watch for me – or Desert Orchid winning the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
I will not name the horses Sprinter Sacre beat in 2016 as, with one exception, Un De Sceaux, the opposition that day pale into insignificance when compared to one of the true legends of the sport. Watch the race back and count the number of past and future Champion Chase winners who were in that race, plus a future Ryanair winner. I accept it was nowhere near as peerless a performance as when he took apart Sizing Europe in 2013 but the achievement of 2016 was not only about the overall quality of the opposition but the story of what went before, the long three-years in the wilderness when the shout was for him to be retired, only for Nicky Henderson’s and his team, veterinary and those employed at Seven Barrows, never-die-spirit and belief that the horse could return to something like his old self. 2016 was a win for hope over experience and defeat of the doomsayers.
I exchanged e-mails with Peter Thomas, something I have never done before as these people are diehard, whereas I remain on the naïve side of a fantasist at times, my heart usually overriding my head and the form. I have little favour for ratings; for example, I refer to ratings as ‘bollacks’, opinion based on pseudo-science and I admitted my position to Mr. Thomas. I doubt for one moment he agreed with me as ratings, official or Racing Post, are the lifeline his colleagues hold on to for dear life and I was making light of one of the basic tenets of punting and expert opinion.
As I would expert, Mr. Thomas was polite in his response to my perhaps wayward argument that Sprinter Sacre’s performance in 2016 should not be compared to 2013 when he was youthful and at the very peak of his ability. I must add that in his article Mr. Thomas did not disparage the great horse, believing the overall memory was the reception the horse received from the crowd. 2016 is one of his favourite Festival moments, its just that all the experts, not only Peter Thomas, repeat what ratings tell them. My ambivalence towards ratings would be the same to a racing journalist as the thoughts of an atheist said to a parish priest.
On this day in 2016, in my opinion, Sprinter Sacre put up one of the greatest performances of my lifetime. Yes, I have bias as I thought in 2013 he was perhaps the greatest steeplechaser since Arkle. If the race was run before ratings were imagined, the performance would be judged on the calibre of horse he defeated. Golden Miller’s place in the pantheon of champions is based on the races he won, the opposition he beat, not on what ratings might have been given to the beaten horses or indeed to himself. If ratings were awarded retrospectively, perhaps Golden Miller’s position in the pantheon might slip down to the level of a good handicapper.
I was flattered that Mr. Thomas took the time to bat away my thoughts in 3 e-mails as I am sure he had more important matters to attend to and I thank him publicly for his indulgence. I doubt, though, if I changed his opinion, especially as we agreed on every aspect of his article except the dumbing down of the 2016 race. Ratings, to my mind, are not a reliable measure of true ability and the example I will always refer to is Cyrname, one of the best chasers of modern times, if you believe the rating he received after beating Altior at Ascot, a horse with no form over the distance and no reliable form on heavy ground.
Enough. Peter Thomas is a greatly respected journalist and it is not my place to disparage his opinion or any of his rating worshipping colleagues.
On another note: there is a video on YouTube of Barry Geraghty reunited with Sprinter on the gallops at Seven Barrows. The delight on Barry’s face on riding the great horse again is for all to see. Sprinter is 18 now, yet does not look it and Barry had no doubt he felt the same as when he was in training. Whoever has the privilege of caring for the horse in his retirement is obviously doing a marvellous job and should be proud of how well the horse looked that day. It was also nice that when Barry returned to Seven Barrows from the gallops Nicky Henderson was there to greet the old horse, referring to him ‘old friend’. I hope Sprinter returned the endearment as without Barry pulling him up that day at Kempton and the dedication of his great trainer to restore him to health that wonderful 2016 success could never have happened.