Author: G C

Posted on

Which horse was the first to complete the Mackeson Gold Cup – Hennessy Gold Cup double?

It’s been a funny old year.  Well 18 months to be precise. For a while  racing was off the agenda totally, and we even lost our beloved Grand National – a rare event in itself. Of course ‘life goes on’ and we had a (not entirely convincing) Virtual version of the event in its place, as well as of course more respected online real money casinos which have always had a high level of interest regardless of external circumstances. Racing is very much back on the agenda now though, and two particular races that grab my attention are the Mackeson Gold Cup and Hennessy Gold Cup.

The Mackeson Gold Cup, now the Paddy Power Gold Cup, is a Grade 3 handicap chase run over 2 miles 4 furlongs at Cheltenham in mid-November each year. The Hennessy Gold Cup, now the Ladbrokes Trophy, is a similar, albeit longer, race run over 3 miles 2 furlongs at Newbury in late November or early December.

Both races are prestigious and valuable contests in their own right, but the first horse to complete the double in the same season was Bachelor’s Hall, owned jointly by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Harris, trained by Peter Cundell in Compton, Berkshire and ridden by Martin O’Halloran. A diminutive individual, but a capable jumper blessed with a potent turn of foot, Bachelor’s Hall went on to complete a notable treble when outpointing Uncle Bing and defending champion Royal Marshal in a driving finish to the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

Indeed, according to his trainer, Bachelor’s Hall may well have gone on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup had it not been postponed until April because of snow. Shortly after the postponment, Bachelor’s Hall won the Welsh Champion Chase at Chepstow with any amount in hand; he eventually took his chance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but the good to soft going was no longer to his liking and, while he ran creditably, he could manage no better than a well-beaten fourth behind Midnight Court. The peaks and troughs of fortune are inescapable for us all,  whether we’re spinning reels on best online casino usa of attempting to be first past the post. But you can certainly nudge the dial in one direction or another at times – as the saying goes ‘you make your own luck’.

Posted on

How many winners did Pat Taafe ride at the Cheltenham Festival?

The late Pat Taaffe, who died in 1992, aged 62, following a heart transplant the previous year, will always be remembered for his association with Arkle, arguably the greatest steeplechaser of all time. As far as the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, Taaffe rode Arkle to win the Broadway Novices’ Chase, now the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, in 1963 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years running, in 1964, 1965 and 1966. A record that if translated to any other sphere, such as the real money casino world, would see you running away with riches!

Taaffe won the Cheltenham Gold Cup again in 1968 on Fort Leney, trained, like Arkle, by Tom Dreaper. He remains the most successful jockey in the history of the ‘Blue Riband’ event, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, which he won five times between 1960 and 1970 and the aforementioned Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, which he also won five times between 1953 and 1970. Indeed, Taaffe won the Queen Champion Chase in 1966 on Flyingbolt, who was rated inferior only to Arkle, according to Timeform.

All told, Pat Taaffe rode 25 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, all bar two of which were over fences; five decades after his retirement from the saddle, he remains fourth in the all-time list, behind only Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty and Tony McCoy. Of course, Taaffe was also Irish Champion National Hunt jockey nine times and won the Grand National twice, on Quare Times, trained by Vincent O’Brien, in 1955 and Gay Trip, trained by Fred Rimell, in 1970. With a championship standard demonstrated in both Ireland and England he had little else to prove.  This was long before the best usa online casino era, but if it had been you can bet the reels would be bringing in three sevens for Pat! The man had a winning way about him. That can certainly not be denied.

 

Posted on

Was the Derby ever won by a four-year-old?

Although it was originally run over the ‘last mile of the course’, the Derby is, and always has been, restricted to three-year-old colts and fillies. Consequently, the Epsom Classic cannot ever have been won, at least not legitimately, by a four-year-old.

However, in 1844, inveterate gambler Abraham Levi Goodman attempted what the Solicitor-General later described as ‘a gross and scandalous fraud’, by substituting the four-year-old Maccabeus for the three-year-old Running Rein in the Derby.  Just looking at the year alone, it’s fascinating to see that today’s appetite for casino games online, horse racing and the like is nothing new. The swindle was initiated some 18 months earlier, when Maccabeus was saddled, as ‘Running Rein’, to land a gamble in a juvenile race at Newmarket.

Turf reformer Lord George Bentinck had suspected, at that stage, that the horse purporting to be Running Rein was an impostor. However, a subsequent inquiry collapsed when ‘Running Rein’ was postively identified by Northamptonshire farmer George Worley as the horse he had looked after in the winter of 1841/42. In the Derby, ‘Running Rein’ beat Orlando, bred and owned by Colonel Jonathan Peel, brother of Prime Minister Sir Rober Peel, by three-quarters of a length.

However, Lord Bentinck filed suit on behalf of Peel and, after a lengthy court case, lawyers for the connections of ‘Running Rein’ admitted that the horse had vanished and that ‘some fraud had been practiced’. The subtefuge was laid bare, ‘Running Rein’ was disqualified and the race was awarded to Orlando. It’s a relief that such behaviour was called out then as it often is now. Nowadays the hallmarks of a reliable betting environment, whether it’s a casino related one like www.bestusacasinosites.com , or the racing world, is that it’s above board and regulated to the point that those putting down their hard earned money can have faith in it.

Posted on

Cheltenham Festival Fun

As home of Racing Festivals from the UK and abroad, here at racingfestivals.net we’re brimming over with excitement for the Cheltenham Festival, which appeared to sneak up on us from out of nowhere! The event, one of the most highly anticipated in UK racing (and watched live all around the world), is welcome relief from a difficult year and although there won’t be crowds of cheering racing fans, even that won’t take away from the atmosphere and feast of top tier racing. Let’s ease into the festival with an amusing quiz from Betway with some of West Ham’s finest, to see exact what they know about Cheltenham and indeed racing in general.