When the final history of horse-racing is written, Badsworth can just sit pretty; assured that he booked his space in the records long ago. The champion of the 1980s was literally devastating, with speed and jumping power that was so great that more than once it proved to be his undoing. He was unstoppable, sometimes even by his own handlers.

Multiple owners, multiple trainers

It was often joked that he was too much to handle for one person; he had to be owned by three people- Maurice Gibson, Doug Armitage, and Ronald Howe- and it took a whole family to train him (Michael, Tony and Monica Dickinson, all for whom he won major races).

Born in 1975 in Great Britain, the racing machine went on to win a staggering 26 races over hurdles and fences (8/18) in a career that lasted until 1987 and included 70 starts.

Most notable during Badsworth Boy’s career was the huge margins by which he beat his opponents, and also the clearance he got over barriers. Ridded and (barely) reigned by Robert Earnshaw, He won twice and came third once as a two year old, before coming third at the Triumph Hurdle in 1979.

Queen Mother hat trick

He then went ahead to collect a hat-trick of consecutive wins in the Queen Mother Champion Chase between 1983 and 1985. The first win was by a clear distance over Artifice in second, and was the greatest margin since the race’s inception 25 years earlier. The third Champion Chase ensured he had won for each of the three Dickinsons.

His life is also a story, as he walked the racing circles up until 2002, when he died of a heart attack aged 27. At the time of his death, his Champion Chase record still stood. He was horse number 12 to cross the £100,000 earnings mark in the jumping races; a pretty tidy amount in his era.

Sceptre, who lived from 1899 to 1926, was bred and trained in Britain. In a career that spanned three years, she would break the record of British Classic Races.

She was bred by Hugh Grosvenor, who was the 1st Duke of Westminster. The mare was one of his trophies in a farm that raised winners and was known around England for how it operated. It is fair to say that Sceptre was born among winners and would go on to live among winners for a very long time. You could argue that this precipitated her rise to stardom.

When the duck died, his estate decided to auction his stock, which saw the mare getting sold. A lot of people wanted the hammer to fall for the second Duke, but the mare eventually went to Robert Sievie , who bid high at 10,000 guineas. In the course of his training, it became pretty clear that Sceptre was hardy and could stand any challenge thrown her way.

Between 1901 and 1904, Sceptre won a lot of races and was notorious for her ability to thrive in the most trying of challenges. She started her career with a bang, winning at the Woodcote stakes in 1901.She also left a trail of tears in the July Stakes of the same year. 1902 brought about the likes of Epsom Oaks and Nassau Stakes. In 1903, she won the Duke of York and Champion Stakes.

After retirement, she went on to foal 8 horses, and while most did not set the world alight, they did win derbies at local levels. She died in February 1926. Out of the 25 races she took part in , Sceptre won 13. She had racked more than a dozen outings and seen plenty of cash in her day. At retirement, her winnings were at

₤38,225

Which was a considered a goodly sum back in the day.