thoughts on racing post sat. nov 14th.

​To incentivise readers into going out into the rain to purchase the Sunday copy of the paper – I find it a bit of a spoiler, to be honest – there is always a heads-up in the Saturday paper on what is to be the headline act in the Sunday edition. Ted Walsh, as is it would be if any of the Walsh family were to be the subject to be interviewed, is always worth listening to. In fact, I wish Ted would write his autobiography; it would be some controversial read. I doubt if he would need to ask Ruby for any helpful suggestions on how to write it or how to get it published. Nevertheless, not even someone as knowledgeable and erudite as Ted Walsh can be right every time he opens his mouth or puts pen to paper. Not that I would have the strength of conviction to tell him straight to his face. He would make quick work of me and no mistake.
But he will be wrong in one respect, believe me, though I respect his right to express his opinion and his nerve for going so far out on a limb. Flyingbolt, a true legend of National Hunt racing, a horse who could match Arkle’s extraordinary ability to give away humungous amount of weight to good horses and still beat them with authority, was not superior to Arkle. And the reason I know that to be true is the man who knew both horses best said so. Pat Taaffe made his position clear in his wonderful autobiography ‘My Life and Arkle’s’. In giving his opinion on which of the two was the superior, he wrote. ‘Although I would have been reluctant to discuss it in my riding days, I never had any doubts at all about the winner of such a race … Arkle with a bit in hand. He would have broken Flyingbolt’s heart. Please don’t misunderstand me. I had great respect for Flyingbolt. He was the third best I ever rode, ranked behind (but only just) Mill House and in front of Royal Approach.’
And, Ted, if Ruby tells you Kauto Star was better than any of them, and given the long list of top races Kauto won Ruby would have a basis for his belief, he is wrong, too. Kauto was the best since those halcyon days of Arkle, Mill House and Flyingbolt. Though when at his best, Denman had the beating of Kauto. Denman was the second-coming, only for ill-health, as it was to be with Flyingbolt, to nip his elevation to the very summit of the sport in the bud.
In Saturday’s Post there was a poor headline regarding Tiger Roll. ‘Tiger Roll future looks uncertain after flop’. We all know what was meant, yet the truth is no horse has a better future than Tiger Roll. Say what you like about the O’Leary’s but Tiger Roll will be cared for and treasured for the rest of his days. It is possible he may not race again, and no horse deserves a quiet retirement more than the most remarkable racehorse of modern times, but his future, the gods willing, has nothing but green grass and a golden future ahead of him.
That said, I hope they do persevere with him a little while longer. His connections have become a little obsessed with the Cross-Country race and perhaps Tiger Roll has got a bit fed-up with it. Remember, this horse achieves what seemingly is out-of-reach of most horses. He was bred for the flat. He won the Triumph Hurdle as a 4-year-old. Disappeared off the radar for a while. Reappeared to win the 4-mile National Hunt Chase. No horse will do that particular double again, I assure you. Wins 2 Cross-Country races and 2 Grand Nationals. And another thing, as Bryony Frost says about Frodon, he loves to be noticed and appreciated. Cheltenham was soulless last Friday and he had a jockey on board who he had never seen before. Great horses, and make no mistake Tiger Roll is one of the great horses of our sport, are intelligent; he knew last Friday that something was amiss and he fretted about it. To him, I suggest, it was just a strange sort of exercise gallop. I dare say on the way home he gave the matter a good deal of thought. As Gordon Elliott would have done. If I were asked, I would suggest forgetting about the Glenfarclas and give Tiger Roll his warm-up for a third Grand National in the Gold Cup or even a handicap chase on home soil. Tiger Roll’s stature and public affection is built on his exploits at Aintree, not his affinity with the Glenfarclas. Tiger Roll should not on all known form win a Gold Cup. Thus far, though, the great horse has always achieved the seemingly implausible.
Finally, the excellent David Jennings in praise of the expert analysis of Ruby Walsh also made passing reference to the modern-day commentator. I think the most controversial opinion I have expressed is that though the voice of racing for many decades and still, quite rightly revered to this day, Peter O’Sullevan was far from being a great commentator. It is, though, because of him that we have such a mighty battalion of race commentators both here and in Ireland, everyone of which is the equal of O’Sullevan or his superior. Peter O’Sullevan was one of the great men of racing but his reputation must be constructed on his humanity, character and charity work and not on his competence as a commentator. For what it is worth, and this is just my personal bias and I find no complaint with any commentator of the modern era, but I rate Hoiles and Holt at the top of a wonderfully vibrant tree.