Cheltenham Legends

As is often repeated, Arkle is the benchmark by which every steeplechaser since the mid-Sixties has been measured. If his Timeform Annual Rating of 212 is to be believed, of the hundreds of thousands of steeplechasers to have raced in the last five decades or more, only stable companion Flyingbolt came with 30lb of Arkle.

Arkle was owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, in whose iconic yellow and black colours he raced, and trained by Tom Dreaper in Ashbourne, Co. Meath. He was ridden in all 26 steeplechases, of which he won 22, by the late Pat Taaffe. As far as the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, Arkle won the Broadway Novices’ Chase – now the RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase – as a six-year-old in 1963, but will aways be best remembered for winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years running in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

On the first occasion, Arkle beat defending champion Mill House – potentially the best steeplechaser since the legendary Golden Miller, according to his trainer Fulke Walwyn – by five lengths and broke the course record by four seconds. On the second occasion, Arkle beat the same horse by twenty lengths and, on the third, in the absence of Mill House, sidelined with tendon trouble, beat Dormant and three other rivals by thirty lengths and upwards at prohibitive odds of 1/10; in so doing, he became the shortest-priced winner in the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Whether or not his Timeform Annual Rating was exaggerated is debatable, but such was his superiority over his contemporaries that, had his career not been ended prematurely – by an injury sustained in the King George VI Chase at Kempton – in 1966, it is not difficult to envisage Arkle having added to his Cheltenham Gold Cup tally.

Awarded a Timeform Annual Rating of 171, achieved when winning the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2011, Hurricane Fly fell 4lb short of the 175 required to be considered one of the truly outstanding hurdlers of the Timeform era. Nevertheless, between May, 2008 and August, 2015, the son of Montjeu won 24 of his 32 races over hurdles, including a then-record 22 at the highest, Grade One level, and is widely regarded as one of the best Irish hurdlers of modern times. At the time of his retirement, his trainer Willie Mullins said, ‘What can you say about him? He’s a legend of a horse.’

Blessed with a slick jumping style a potent turn of foot, Hurricane won the Champion Hurdle at the first attempt, as a seven-year-old, in 2011. In 2012, despite starting odds-on, he lost his two-mile hurdling crown when only third behind Rock On Ruby, but regained it in 2013, reversing the form with Rock On Ruby to the tune of eight lengths. Thus, he became only the second horse, after Comedy Of Errors 38 years earlier, to do so.

In 2014, as a ten-year-old, Hurricane Fly was sent off favourite for the Champion Hurdle for the fourth year running. Ridden by Ruby Walsh, as he had been in his three previous attempts, he challenged at the second last flight, but was ultimately found wanting in the closing stages and finished fourth, beaten five lengths, behind Jezki. In 2015, on his fifth and final attempt to win the two-mile hurdling championship, Hurricane Fly was passed over by Ruby Walsh in favour of stable companion, and eventual winner, Faugheen. Hurricane Fly could not match the pace of Faugheen, or lesser-fancied stablemate Arctic Fire, in the closing stages, but nevertheless finished a creditable third, beaten 6½ lengths.

At the time of writing, Willie Mullins has been leading trainer at the Cheltenham Festival four times in the last five years and six times in all. Altogether, he has saddled 54 winners at the Festival but, over 20 years ago, when he had saddled just two, he introduced a horse that would eventually become one of his most successful steeplechasers. That horse was, of course, Florida Pearl, a bay gelding by Florida Son, who announced his arrival at Prestbury Park with a ready, 5-length win in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 1997.

He was back again in 1998, justifying 11/8 favouritism in the RSA Chase, and was placed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, finishing third behind See More Business in 1999 and second behind Looks Like Trouble in 2000. On Boxing Day, 2001, he also beat Best Mate in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

All in all, Florida Pearl won 16 of his 33 races, including nine at the highest level, and had the distinction of winning the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown four times, in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2004. Following his victory in 2004, which turned out to be his last race, Mullins said, “That’s given me more pleasure than I’ve ever had in my training career.”

John Francome MBE took the racing world – including your correspondent, who had just turned 20 – when he announced his immediate retirement from the saddle, at the age of just 32, at Chepstow in April 1985. However, Francome later explained, “I was riding The Reject [a faller at the open ditch]…and my foot went through the iron and the leather twisted round stopping it from coming out. Luckily, I grabbed the reins before he could go anywhere, otherwise it would have been good night. I quit there and then.”

 

Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, Francome joined Fred Winter at his Uplands stables in Lambourn, Berkshire as a 16-year-old conditional jockey. He subsequently rode 1,138 winners and became National Hunt Champion Jockey seven times. Francome won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Midnight Court, trained by Fred Winter, in 1978, but perhaps one his finest moments came three years later, when he won the Champion Hurdle on the ‘old man’ of the party, the 11-year-old Sea Pigeon.

 

Already victorious in 1980 under Jonjo O’Neill, Sea Pigeon was sent off 7/4 favourite for the 1981 renewal. Francome rode the perfect waiting race, delaying his challenge until halfway up the run-in, at which point he produced Sea Pigeon perfectly under hands and heels riding to overhaul Pollardstown and Daring Run and win comfortably. In typical, self-deprecating style, Francome remembers the race more for avoiding “what could so easily have been a first flight disaster” when Irish challenger Ivan King came down.

 

Since calling time on his riding career, Francome has been a successful trainer, TV presenter, author and builder. Personally, I still find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that “The Greatest Jockey”, as John McCririck used to call him, turned 65 in December 2017. Apparently his secret is, “Mixing with young people and plenty of sleep.”