Shergar

[Guest]

Dunno if some of you on here are really into this but I thought I'd mention this legendary horse, the 'greatest 3 year old' in the history of horse racing, arguably.

The way Shergar's life ended is heart wrenching.

Watch this clip. He literally 'exploded' in the final straight there.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uf0B02SXNs"]YouTube- SHERGAR 1981 DERBY EPSOM HORSE RACING[/ame]

[Guest]

Just watched the final straight again. What a ****ing horse.

[Natman]

His Stable hand lives just down the road from me he is always asked to do interviews about it he only gave one recently.

[Shaggy]

There is something overwhelmingly beautiful about witnessing a superhorse demolish a top class field. I used to be right into racing before I had to sever my ties with the sport. Shergar was before my time but that's a famous clip, and it's amazing to see him zoom away from a top class field like that. I saw some greats in my time (Swain, Lammtarra, Daylami etc) and there's been one this year who has arguably eclipsed them all, in Sea The Stars.

[Guest]

There is something overwhelmingly beautiful about witnessing a superhorse demolish a top class field. I used to be right into racing before I had to sever my ties with the sport. Shergar was before my time but that's a famous clip, and it's amazing to see him zoom away from a top class field like that. I saw some greats in my time (Swain, Lammtarra, Daylami etc) and there's been one this year who has arguably eclipsed them all, in Sea The Stars.

Why did you have to 'sever your ties' to the sport mate, if you don't mind me asking of course?

I was an avid follower when I was a kid, my dad was really into it and he got me hooked. Actually, back in Mauritius, we've got one of the world's oldest racecourse, the 'Champ de Mars', where many a famous jockey came to ply their trade there, allegedly because they were at the twilight of their careers. I remember Walter Swinburne riding there when he was still a young jockey, went with my dad. Then there was Piggot, Yves St. Martin, Michael Roberts etc ...

Back to Shergar though, he was an incredible horse but I've read an article about someone recently, I think it was in the Independent, where he stated that there's a horse who eclipsed the feat of Shergar, Lamtarra & al this year, and it wasn't 'Sea The Stars' as far as I remember.

[Shaggy]

Mouse Roberts!

Definitely Sea The Stars. Won something like eight Group 1 races in the calendar year, every single one he ran in. Won the Derby, Irish Derby, 2000 Guineas...the ****ing works. Many are calling him the greatest of all time.

I had to turn my back on the sport completely cos I was hopelessly addicted to gambling. I loved the sport itself and initially tried to keep following it, but I just wanted a punt on everything I fancied, so I had to **** it off completely. For a while, if I was reading someone's paper in a pub or something, I'd have to take the racing section out before I got sucked in.

[Shaggy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_the_Stars

Amazing reading.

[Hollowman]

My uncle used to run a stud farm in Kildare. He was always banging on about Sea Bird. Shat the Arc de Triomphe by sixth lengths in the sixties. Timeform gave it a rating of something like 145. Ridiculous.

[Hollowman]

Here.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w6l4dycjDE"]YouTube- Sea-Bird - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe 1965[/ame]

****ing made **** difficult by crossing the track on the home straight too. Still blew the field away.

[Guest]

My uncle used to run a stud farm in Kildare. He was always banging on about Sea Bird. Shat the Arc de Triomphe by sixth lengths in the sixties. Timeform gave it a rating of something like 145. Ridiculous.

That's the latest ratings allegedly, as it's not taken from timeform itself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A56811666

I remember my father's uncle at the time banging on about how good Mill Reef was, and he's in that list, with a rating of 141.

[Hollowman]

Here's an all time list.

http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/timeform_highweights.htm

Missing quite a few yank nags, so Secretariat isn't there.

[Shaggy]

Here.

YouTube- Sea-Bird - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe 1965

****ing made **** difficult by crossing the track on the home straight too. Still blew the field away.

Awesome acceleration

That's the latest ratings allegedly, as it's not taken from timeform itself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A56811666

I remember my father's uncle at the time banging on about how good Mill Reef was, and he's in that list, with a rating of 141.

Ah good list. I used to drink with an old fella who eulogised about Brigadier Gerard a lot, increasingly so the more pissed he got. He used to say "every ****er guz on abaht Mill Reef but Dancing Brave fookin' destroyed him in the Guineas". Other horses, such as Mill Reef, Dancing Brave, Sea Pigeon and others somehow seem to have a greater reputation.

[Guest]

Not sure about the timeform ratings though, though I can't really dispute its correctness, who am I to do that, but I am not sure how they arrive to this number. And what of the American horses, as Hollowman pointed out, Secretariat was a fabulous horse too and he won races on many shores, which surely makes him eligible enough for that list?

[Shaggy]

Here's an all time list.

http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/timeform_highweights.htm

Missing quite a few yank nags, so Secretariat isn't there.

Wow what a list. Some ****ing greats in there, from my time, that I'd completely forgotten about. Cigar! Yank nag right there.

Celtic Swing was almost a household name if I remember rightly, but never quite lived up to its towering reputation (despite the subsequent high Timeform rating) - that was about the time I got into racing. Peintre Celebre, Montjeu, Royal Anthem and Mark of Esteem were all horses I took great pleasure in backing, back in the day....

[Hollowman]

There was a Trip Crown stallion in the States after the war called Citation who they raced until he was six. Probably the only reason it isn't remembered as the greatest flat runner ever (or, at least, the greatest colonial flat runner). Won fifteen straight major stakes as a three year old, and something like 28 of its first 30 races. Should have put him to stud then.