Horses

Born in 1927, Golden Miller lived for 30 years, becoming one of the most successful horses in the UK, especially when it came to domestic races. Born and bred in Country Meath, Miller came to be known as an aggressive variety that could nudge opponents right out of the competition. One thing that stands out for this one horse is that he was not particularly descended from the finest pedigree-those of his blood who had come before had okay careers but did not necessarily put themselves on the map. Miller was the exception, rather than the rule, in this case.

Career

Miller was owned by Dorothy Paget and trained by Basil Briscoe. His 1931 steeple chasing debut sort of ended in a whimper when he won at the Newbury Racecourse but was disqualified on the technicality that he was not carrying the correct weight. In the same year, he came back strongly to win the Reading Chase before capping off a great 365 days with the Sefton Steeplechase early the following year. While these were notable achievements, Miller really stood out because of his performance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, of which he won 5 times. He holds the record as no other horse has been able to even come close to that feat. He is also the only horse to have won the Grand National and well as Cheltenham Gold in the same year, which for him happened in 1934.

When Golden miller retired in 1939, he had participated in 52 races and walked away with 29 victories.

Legacy

A story is told about a fan who bought a ticket that drew Miller as the winner. When the horse won, the fan started a coach company. The company ownership has changed hands since then but the coaches still have an image of the horse somewhere on the front or at the side.

Brown Jack, who lived between 1924 and 1948, was an Irish horse that was born and bred out of the Querquidella stock. When he was 3, his owners decided to move him along, which opened the door for Sir Harold Wernher to snap up the brown gelding. Sir Harold’s vision was that the horse would become good at hurdles, and he gave everything toward that end. The horse was passed to one of the best hurdle trainers of the time Aubrey Hastings. Hastings was good with the horse but passed on before the duo could accomplish much together, with the reins of training going over to Ivor Anthony.

Races

When he was four years old, Brown Jack’s career started to come together. In 10 starts, he won 7 times. He never had a rough time at the hurdles and was known to jump over heights with ease. He was a relatively big horse, but what worked best for him was that he had the ability to combine grace with an even temperament, which always came in handy especially in races that ended in dead heat or required quick decision making. His spoils at four years old included an appearance at Cheltenham and a victory at the Champion Hurdle. This was a relatively successful spell in hurdles, but Brown Jack’s chances were considered better only if he could switch over to the flat races. It was also a lucrative gig in terms of the earnings per race.

And so he did

The switch over went well, and Brown Jack continued his spell on the winners’ list. He was a strong horse with a great mentality and was able to shake off injuries like feathers. At retirement in 1932, Jack had participated in 65 races and cruised to victory 25 times. His winnings on the track at that time were estimated at £12,000. More came later at stud level.

When Nijinsky was born in Ontario, Canada, there was very little indication that he would be the one to influence horse racing on the other end of the world. In appearance, he was a beautiful horse with three white feet and a star. At a young age, he was bought by Charles W. Engelhard, Jr, who did so at the advice of one Vincent O’Brien, an experienced trainer from Ireland. Charles’s wife, Jane, was so taken by the horse that she decided to name him after Vaslav Nijinsky, the popular dancer. Soon after he was bought, the horse was transported to Ireland, where he would undergo training under O’brien and become one of the champions of the world in due time.

Life abroad

At the age of 3 , Nijinsky found himself with strong opposition at the Epsom Derby. His main challenger at this point was Gyr, and it was felt that the Canadian horse wouldn’t be able to pull it off but did anyways. He followed this up quickly by winning the Irish Derby a few months later. He would go on to rack up a staccato of wins and establish himself in the mainstream. He also worn the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the St. Leger stakes among many, many others.

Things appeared to have taken a dip when Nijinsky contacted ringworm. After being placed in a strictly diet that would ensure quick recovery, he was allowed to run in a handful of races. Master jockeys of the game seemed to concur that Nijinsky was not as good as he used to be, and the horse was eventually retired. His post-racing job was that of a stud, and he sired hundreds of foals. Nijinsky was put down in 1992 as a result of a series of health challenged that were associated with old age. He had earned close to $700,000 throughout his career.

Minding is a 2013-born racehorse who was crowned the Horse of The Year at the November 2016 Cartier Racing Awards. The Irish born filly won five of seven races she took part in between May and November, one of the two losses being a third place finish in a race against male opposition. She is jointly owned by Mrs J Magnier, Mr D Smith and Mr M Tab, and was sired by Galileo.

She began her two-year old season at the Leopardstown Racecource in 2015, where she came second ridden by Seamie Heffernan. She switched to Colm O’Donoghue as her rider and again finished in the same position at the Curragh that August, beaten by two lengths by Ballydoyle. Her first win came under the reigning of Heffernan a month later at the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes, when she got her revenge by beating Ballydoyle by three quarters of a length.

All through the switching of riders, Minding remained with Aidan O’Brien as her trainer. After that first win, she was taken up by Ryan Moore as her jockey, and the two went on to win the next six consecutive races until she was brought up against male opposition in September 2016 at the Leopardstown Irish Champion Stakes. Here she finished third, but was back to winning ways in October at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes to complete an impressive competition year.

She was also named Champion three-year-old filly and Irish Horse of the year in separate awards. It is unclear whether the four year old filly will come back to competition, having not competed in 2017. There have been concerns that she could be suffering a soft tissue injury, but none of that has been confirmed, and she finished her last race without any issue. Minding’s winning record stands at 12: 8-3-1, with accumulated earnings of a neat £2,261,739.

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.