Richard Dunwoody chooses the Top 5 rides over jumps ever

Determining the best jump rides is a tough task, yet according to most racing scribes of a certain age, there was one that is a few lengths ahead of the rest...

1. MANDARIN - Fred Winter (Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, Auteuil, 1962)

Racing sage John Oaksey called it "an unparalleled feat of courage, skill and horsemanship" and there would be few who disagree with his judgement.

Soon after the start of the race on a humid day, the bit broke in Mandarin's mouth and Winter was left with no contact whatsoever with the horse's mouth or head. The vital counterbalance was gone completely. With no steering or brakes, and after a night of wasting and stomach cramps (to ride light on a later ride), Winter had to rely entirely on grip and balance around a strange, twisting track with no running rails.

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Brilliant Pendil tops for superstar trainer Winter

Determining the greatest Jump trainers to have saddled horses in my lifetime was an arduous task. There were so many good ones, each with different methods and talents.

Vincent O'Brien was the greatest trainer of jumpers before I was born - he went on to become the best Flat trainer - and is duly omitted from this list..

1. FRED WINTER A CHAMPION jockey four times, Fred Winter retired from the saddle in 1964 to take up training in Lambourn.

Uncertain that he could make the grade as a trainer, he soon answered his own questions, sending out Jay Trump and Anglo to win the Grand National in his first two seasons (1965 and 1966), the race he'd won twice as a jockey, partnering Sundew (1957) and Kilmore (1962).

Winter was champion trainer eight times between 1971 and 1985, with big-race victories that included the Champion Hurdle with Bula (1971-72), Lanzarote (1974), and Celtic Shot (1988), the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Midnight Court (1978) and the Champion Chase with Crisp (1971).

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:48:55 +0000

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The Greatest? Why it can only be that man McCoy

My Career, which started in 1983, spanned 16 years and only four champions, but I rode against hundreds of different jockeys.

There were a lot of changes in the sport and jockeys' attitudes along the way. Our generation saw the beginning of an increased professional outlook across the board. It is not straightforward to compare jockeys across generations who have never ridden against each other, and it is difficult to compare those who have done so at different stages of their career.

Compiling a list of the top 10 jump jockeys to have ridden in my lifetime was agonising, and only a handful were automatic choices..

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:10:43 +0000

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My top five Flat rides of all time:

One question that every ex-jockey is invariably asked is: Which was the greatest ride you have seen?

Compiling a list of my top five Flat rides was a painstaking task, made easier by the fact that Lester Piggott produced the bulk of them!

1. SIR IVOR - Lester Piggott (Derby, Epsom, 1968)

Sir Ivor was tough, honest, possessed brilliant speed, yet also a beautifully calm character.

Trainer Vincent O'Brien and Lester Piggott always found it hard to select the better between Sir Ivor and Nijinsky. A champion of a vintage crop of two-yearolds, Sir Ivor was ridden with supreme confidence to win the 2,000 Guineas, but it was at Epsom that Lester produced arguably his finest Derby ride.

He was spectacular, conserving the surge of what was really a great 10-furlong horse in a mileand-a-half race.

He was still tucked in behind 200 yards out with seemingly no shot of winning, yet he produced an extraordinary burst to beat Connaught by a length and a half.

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:26:25 +0000

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Richard Dunwoody's Top 10 flat trainers

Quantifying greatness in trainers is extremely difficult.

They come from different backgrounds, use different techniques and there are no common denominators aside from patience and attention to detail.

It can often be a harder task to win a seller with a bad horse than it can be to win a Classic with a champion thoroughbred.

This list of the greatest Flat trainers to have saddled horses in my lifetime, is sure to spark
some debate..
1. VINCENT O'BRIEN
In his 52-year career, Dr Michael Vincent O'Brien became both the greatest jump trainer and the greatest Flat trainer. He won three Grand Nationals, four Cheltenham Gold Cups, three Champion Hurdles, six Derbys and three Arc de Triomphes between 1943 and 1994.
By the age of 41, he had won 22 races at the Cheltenham Festival in 12 years before concentrating solely on the Flat.

His first champion was Ballymoss, who won the 1957 St Leger and proved himself the best horse in Europe the following year, winning the King George and Arc. He won his first
Derby in 1962 with Larkspur and became champion trainer in Britain for the first time four years later.

In his time at Ballydoyle greats such as Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, The Minstrel, Try My Best, Storm
Bird, El Gran Senor, Lomond, Sadler's Wells, Roberto, Thatch, Golden Fleece and Alleged were trained.

O'Brien will always be remembered for his association with Lester Piggott. In the autumn of their careers, who could forget their popular victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile at
Belmont Park in 1990 with Royal Academy?

Vincent O'Brien, whose eye for a yearling was perhaps unmatched, retired at the end of 1994.
Best horse: Nijinsky

2. SIR MICHAEL STOUTE
The 10-times champion trainer has won 15 domestic Classics, including five Derbys, since he started training in 1972. He excels above all with mature horses, as he showed with Horses of the Year Opera House (1993) and Pilsudski (1997), and Singspiel. He has plundered races worldwide, including the Dubai World Cup, Breeders' Cup, Japan Cup and Hong Kong Vase.
Best horse: Shergar

3. HENRY CECIL
No living trainer is as beloved by the public as Henry Richard Amherst Cecil. He has notched nine championships (the last in 1990) and 24 domestic Classics (eight Oaks, four Derbys, two 2000 Guineas, six 1000 Guineas and four St Legers) since taking over the Newmarket string of his step-father Cecil Boyd-Rochfort at the end of 1968. His record at Royal Ascot is unmatched, with 72 victories.
Best horse: Reference Point

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

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The top 10 Flat jockeys who rode in my lifetime...

Sir Gordon Richards was in many people's eyes, the greatest jockey to ever get the leg-up.

But my list details the top 10 Flat jockeys who rode in my lifetime. It may be controversial and you may not agree, but I am sure most of those under the age of 45 concur with my No.1...

1. LESTER PIGGOTT

As a teenager, I wanted to be a Flat jockey. Not just any Flat jockey. I wanted to be Lester Piggott. He was my ultimate racing hero. He still is. He was, without doubt, racing's most effective promoter for most of his 47-year career (1948-95).

He was not merely the best Flat jockey of his time but also the sport's greatest icon. His record tally of 30 English Classics included an unprecedented nine Derbys. He won 4,493 Flat races in Britain, plus 20 over hurdles, and was champion 11 times.

During his long associations with Noel Murless and Vincent O'Brien, he rode some of the best post-war champions, notably Crepello, Petite Etoile, Sir Ivor, Triple Crown hero Nijinsky and dual Arc winner Alleged.

His iron self-discipline to keep his body far below its natural weight was legendary, as was the finesse and brute force in the saddle.

Best horse: Nijinsky.

2. STEVE CAUTHEN

As a 17-year-old 'The Kentucky Kid' won 487 races, a record $6.15million, was champion jockey and voted 1977 Sportsman of the Year in America. A year later he won a yet-to-be-repeated American Triple Crown, riding Affirmed to three stirring victories over Alydar.

Then, just as suddenly, his career soured. At one point in 1979, he went winless for 110 straight races in California.

He moved to Britain that year and while he took time to get going, when he did, he was unstoppable. Champion three times, he rode 197 winners in 1987, and he was an outstanding judge of pace, riding his two Derby winners Slip Anchor (1985) and Reference Point (1987) from the front. His haul included 10 British Classics.

Best horse: Reference Point.

3. PAT EDDERY

In terms of numbers, Eddery's 4,632 British winners is second only to Sir Gordon Richards. The Kildare-born jockey was champion 11 times, a record he shares with Piggott, and he won three Derbys - Grundy (1975), Golden Fleece (1982) and Quest For Fame (1990).

In total, he landed 14 English and 11 Irish Classics, with his best season coming in 1990, when he won the title with 209 winners. A four-time winner of the Arc de Triomphe, he will forever be remembered for his association with Dancing Brave, whom he partnered to land the race in 1986.

Best horse: Dancing Brave.

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:52:48 +0000

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Battler Moore top bet in race for title

The race for the Flat jockeys' title is an intriguing one. Paul Hanagan, known as one of the most affable men in the weighing room, was 18 winners ahead by Thursday, having ridden 20 winners to reigning champion Ryan Moore's 10 in the first two weeks of July.

Hanagan is 1-3 with William Hill, while Moore is 9-4. Richard Hughes is not out of it either. In fact, he's neck and neck with Moore, but at 12-1, some will wonder if he's a little over-priced.

Yet having a week's break because he does not want to pick up a ban for Glorious Goodwood (July 27-31), signals his intentions. Hughes does not look as if he's chasing the title - he is happy to ride big winners.

A lot can change between now and November 6, and my money is on Moore to close the gap. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he was in front by the end of August.

Time will tell, but barring injury and suspension, Moore will probably have too much fire-power at the back end of the season. Take the 9-4. It looks too big to ignore.

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:38:21 +0000

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Racing... South African style

South Africa has been the focal point of the sporting world for the past month but while the curtain comes down on soccer's World Cup tomorrow, Durban is gearing up for the continent's biggest race.

The Durban July Handicap, worth R3million (roughly £260,000), has been run since 1897 at Greyville Racecourse which is located on the country's south east coast.

Some of the lustre to the July 31 event has been lost following the withdrawal of last year's winner Big City Life, who is injured. But 50,000 people will still be in attendance, paying a reasonable R170 (£14.67) entrance fee, and it is estimated that around £10million will be wagered on the race throughout the country.

The Durban July, an all-aged handicap, is run over 2,200m (1m 3f) and has been won in recent years by London News, Ipi Tombe and Greys Inn, who followed up with big wins overseas.

As much a social event as Royal Ascot, the Durban July is the primary of the three famous races in South Africa, the others being The Summer Cup, over 10f, at Johannesburg's Turffontein Racecourse in November - worth R1.2 million in prize money (£108,000) - and The J&B Met, also over 10f, at Cape Town's Kenilworth Racecourse in February.

South African racing's financing is underpinned by pari-mutual betting.

Racing in South Africa arrived with the first British occupation of the Cape (1795-1803) and then the permanent occupation, which began in 1806. These seizures were to prevent the Cape from falling into French hands in the Napoleonic years. Johannesburg was the principal site of racing and these days boasts the Newmarket and Turffontein courses (Guateng). The best horse currently racing over middle distances in South Africa is Pocket Power. In January, he gained a fourth consecutive win in the country's premier mile race, the R1m, L'Ormarins Queens Plate (1600m), a Group One contest at Kenilworth.

As expected, Pocket Power has been given top weight of 60kg for the Durban July. Despite this, South Africa's champion may make a bold bid to win the race for a second time.

It is perhaps fair to say that the country's racing is not on a par with that in Britain. The horses are generally not such good quality, although some performers have proved more than a match for the world's best.

Mike de Kock, who trains at Randjesfontein Training Centre, north of Johannesburg, is arguably one of the best adverts for the South African racing industry.

He trained Horse Chestnut, the only winner of South Africa's Triple Crown, who is regarded by experts as the best horse ever to have raced in the country, although he is better known around the world for horses such as UAE Derby winner Victory Moon, and Right Approach, who landed the Dubai Duty Free.

And as long as his runners are good enough, De Kock will continue to fly the flag around the world. He has ensured, almost singlehandedly, that South African racing is becoming one of the major players on the global stage.

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:45:16 +0000

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The real punt on Sea The Stars

Sea The Stars made his owner Christopher Tsui faint when he won the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown last year, such was his excitement.

The sponsor's mood was a little less giddy, since they lost an estimated £500,000 after the 4-7 shot prevailed, adding to his 2,000 Guineas and Derby victories.

Few horses had built a reputation for brilliance so quickly. He was retired to stud after his victory in the Arc de Triomphe in October, having won a record six Group One victories in as many months.

He was the first to complete the 2,000 Guineas-Derby-Arc treble and blew away the rest of the Classic generation - as well as Europe's best older horses - at eight, 10 and 12 furlongs (a mile to a mile-and-half).

Sea The Stars, the horse of a lifetime, is the product of a loveless union between stallion Cape Cross and Urban Sea. He is now happily enjoying life as a stallion. He gets to 'cover' (have sex with) around 150 of the best mares each a year.

Soon after he won at Epsom, it was generally agreed that Sea The Stars was worth around £40million. After each subsequent victory, his worth increased. His true value is around £60m, but in reality, he is only worth what someone will pay.

The cost of each covering is undisclosed, but it is estimated to be around Û75,000 - a huge figure when you think that the majority of his offspring won't be anywhere near as good.

There is also the possibility that he may not take to his new role. George Washington and El Gran Senor are just two of those who have been brilliant on the track, but have proved incapable at stud.

The three most successful stallions are Galileo (believed to stand for Û150,000), Danehill Dancer and Montjeu (both for between an estimated Û80,000 and Û100,000). The odds of Sea The Stars succeeding as a stallion are better than they were 25 years ago. Stallions usually only covered around 50 mares annually back then, with around 30 offspring making the racetrack after mishaps and wastage were taken into account.

Sea The Stars has the the chance to become a super stallion, because he will attract the best mares. But breeding is not an exact science. The whole business is about dreams. No amount of research or planning matings can produce guarantees.

Hundreds of millions are spent annually by breeders when mating their mares to the stallions of their choice. The more successful the stallion, the larger his fee.

Young horses not offered for sale are put into training by their owners, each of them hoping they have the next Sea The Stars on their hands.

Many breeders like to recoup some of their vast outlay on stallion fees by selling the subsequent progeny as a foal or yearling at auction - a place for big egos and deep pockets.

Untested horses are bought for millions. But they don't always turn out to be as good as expected. Buying expensive yearlings is certainly no guarantee of success as connections of Seattle Dancer ($13.1m), Snaafi Dancer (£10.2m) and Imperial Falcon ($8.25m) will attest. None of them won a race between them.

The biggest flop of them all is The Green Monkey. In 2006 he was purchased for $16m as a two-year-old at the Fasig-Tipton Calder sale in Florida. He failed to win in three starts and was retired in 2008. His stud fee is just $5,000 and his first runners will be on the track next year.

It is not expected that any of them will be as good as Sea The Stars.

Yet I could be wrong. The day that someone can predict which stallions will succeed is the day the game will die.

I have some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including tickets to Ascot's Totepsort Summer Mile Day. Go to:

http://www.richarddunwoody.co.uk/competition.php

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 10:54:13 +0000

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Morse is on track for the Railway

Historical statistics are the crutch which many tipsters lean on. Yet there is no denying that sometimes they offer an insightful perspective that cannot be ignored.

Of course, for every trend there is an exception. Going into this year's Investec Derby, not one of the 62 horses beaten in York's Dante Stakes since 1980 had gone on to triumph at Epsom. That statistic, which had stood for 30 years, came to an end when Workforce, who was third at York, romped up the Epsom straight in splendid isolation.

Yet when you look at the Railway Stakes, the Group Two precursor to the Irish Derby, it is folly to ignore this stat: Aidan O'Brien will be aiming to win tomorrow's sixfurlong juvenile event for an incredible 12th time in 14 years.

It is an extraordinary run of success from the Ballydoyle trainer, who scored last season with Alfred Nobel and who relies upon Samuel Morse tomorrow.

O'Brien's total domination of the race since King Of Kings scored at the Curragh under Michael Kinane in 1997, has only been undermined twice - by the Dermot Weld-trained Camargo (1998) and Jim Bolger's Democratic Deficit (2004).

King Of Kings went on to win both the National Stakes and the 2000 Guineas at the highest level. Indeed, seven winners of the Railway Stakes that were trained by O'Brien have subsequently gone on to taste Group One glory, bagging 18 victories at that level between them.

The O'Brien roll-call of winners reads like a who's who of bluebloods: King Of Kings (1997), Bernstein (1999), Honours List (2000), Rock Of Gibraltar (2001), Hold That Tiger (2002), Antonius Pius (2003), George Washington (2005), Holy Roman Emperor (2006), Lizard Island (2007), Mastercraftsman (2008)and Alfred Nobel (2009).

King Of Kings went on to land the 2000 Guineas as a three-yearold, while Rock Of Gibraltar took seven Group One races thereafter, including the same Newmarket Classic. George Washington and Mastercraftsman also won the Classic.

Of O'Brien's Railway Stakes winners who failed to subsequently score in Group One company, Antonius Pius was perhaps the unluckiest, beaten by a combined total of two and a half lengths in the St James's Palace Stakes, Prix de Moulin and Breeders' Cup Mile. Only Bernstein and Lizard Island failed to make the frame in Group One company thereafter.

One may have thought that in 2009 the Ballydoyle stranglehold would have been broken, but Alfred Nobel ran out an authoritative winner, despite never giving much indication until then that he would have been among the better of the stable's juveniles.

In his next start, he took the Group One Phoenix Stakes over the same course and distance.

O'Brien had 17 of the 37 entries for tomorrow's renewal and whittled them down to a quartet by the five-day declaration stage, but has decided that Coventry Stakes fourth Samuel Morse is over his Ascot exertions.

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:26:37 +0000

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Richard Dunwoody on Ascot

Richard Dunwoody on Ascot

Canford Cliffs destroyed his Coventry Stakes field last year before developing into a Classic performer, landing the Irish 2000 Guineas in May, and was a scintillating winner of the St James's Palace Stakes on Tuesday.

He was a cut above many of the youngsters we saw at the Royal meeting last year and his talent was easy to detect.

Many of next year's Classic crop were in action this week and there are several horses who I think have a bright future.

The Coventry Stakes threw up two very decent colts in Strong Suit and Elzaam. Strong Suit, like Canford Cliffs, is trained by Richard Hannon, who has dominated the two-yearold scene this season.

He won the same race that Canford Cliffs won at Newbury last season before winning at Royal Ascot, but while he may not be in the same class as his illustrious stablemate, he is a shorter price for next year's 2000 Guineas (7-1) than was offered about Canford Cliffs at this stage last year.

There's no doubt he'll stay a mile next year and it is worth remembering that four of the previous five Coventry Stakes winners went on to win at Group One level.

Elzaam, the runner-up, was just touched off and Michael Jarvis's runner did not look as hard-fit as the winner. There is sure to be a big race or two in the son of Redoute's Choice, who was in front on his own for longer than he would perhaps have liked.

There wasn't much to split the first three home in the 5f Windsor Castle Stakes on the same day, but though unfancied on the day, the Aidan O'Brientrained Pertonius Maximus made storming headway from the back and was just beaten by Marine Commando, who again seemed to find some trouble before his class got him out of it.

The runner-up and the Richard Fahey-trained winner should be followed.

The dogs were barking John Gosden's filly Maqaasid before the Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday and she duly broke the 5f juvenile course record.

She looks a really classy horse. Bred to get better over further, she's very athletic and if she stays mentally settled - her maternal grandfather is Storm Cat, whose genes often produce temperament and brilliance in equal measure - she has a big future.

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:50:18 +0000

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Quick! Go for a new G1 sprint.. we love it

Royal Ascot has always held an important place in the social calendar and it remains as popular as ever, in no small part to the management team and their determination to provide quality on and off the track.

The two legs of the Global Sprint Challenge - the King's Stand Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes - have become two of the most popular races of the summer.

When the Global Sprint Challenge was launched in 2005, the 5f King's Stand Stakes was worth £140,000 and the 6f Golden Jubilee £250,000. Next week the respective Group One races are worth £300,000 and £450,000 respectively.

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:10:25 +0000

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Let the Train take the strain

Horse races run in the early spring by expensive and promising three-year-olds are called 'prep' races or 'trials', as in preparation for the Investec Derby.

This title implies succession and orderliness, when in fact there is often chaos.

This spring has proved no exception.

Seven outright favourites and one joint-favourite in the 10 recognised Derby trials have been beaten.

In a year where so few of the contenders have proved themselves capable and so many have shown themselves lacking, it is difficult to know what to make of those who line up for today's Epsom Derby.

Do we want to take 5-2 about a horse with a rushed preparation?

Jan Vermeer, a Group 1 winner on soft ground last season, only emerged as a serious Derby contender following an easy win in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh 13 days ago.

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:00:52 +0000

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Derby can't even stop jump racing at Hexham

There is another reason for moving the Derby back to its midweek slot.

There won't be so much racing vying for attention.

Today, for instance, there are six meetings other than Epsom - four of them in direct competition.

The Derby meeting should be the focal point.

It is absurd, for instance, to even contemplate playing Championship matches at the same time as the FA Cup final.

As for the Derby being 'the race that stops a nation', it can't even stop jump racing at Hexham!

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:00:01 +0000

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How do you solve a problem like the Derby? Promote it, move it, listen to 'The Voice'

In 1797 the Epsom Derby winner had no name. He was known merely as the Duke of Bedford's brown colt by Fidget out of a sister to Pharamond.

A week before the 2010 Investec Derby, the man in the street would not be able to name a runner at Epsom next week.

The future of the Derby is in the hands of one man: Rupert Trevelyan, who is still almost unknown within the sport.

Fresh from overseeing last year's Chelsea Flower Show, Trevelyan, raised the son of a farmer in Rhodesia, has had nine months to bed in before his first, but Epsom's 231st Derby.

"My goal is to stop the nation. I want the nation to stop what they are doing and watch the Derby," he said, at the annual Breakfast With The Stars media fry-up at Epsom.

Sat, 29 May 2010 12:54:17 +0000

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