Fortina Could Shoulder The Weight

Graham Buddry remembers a French juggernaut of Lord Grimthorpe’s stable, prized sire Fortina

- Graham Buddry

How many of us have been asked why Arkle, Red Rum, Desert Orchid etc never bred and when it was explained they were geldings the wide eyed question was “why?”, quickly followed by an exclamation of what wonderful offspring they would have had.

The harsh truth is that these horses, and virtually every other National Hunt horse down the years, would not have been anywhere near as good as they were if they hadn’t been gelded. This has less to do with the jumping of rough obstacles with all their tackle present than the sheer temperament of stallions as they get older which makes it very rare to find an entire horse which is much good at the winter game.

As a stallion gets older his physical shape changes, such as a thicker neck, but it’s the unruly and sometimes even vicious behaviour of stallions, especially if a mare is nearby, which dictates that almost universally they are gelded long before they enter the National Hunt arena.

However, there is always an exception to the rule. Monksfield was as tough as they come and won the Champion Hurdle in 1978 and ’79 but when he eventually went to stud his offspring were less than average. The other exception is the only entire horse ever to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Long before Paul Nicholls, and earlier still, Martin Pipe, made the buying of French breds the path to success, Lord Grimthorpe was taken with a big, chestnut, entire five year old French chaser. Fortina had already won four chases before finishing second in the 1946 Grand Steeplechase de Paris and four months later the horse was shipped to England. Fortina’s first race in Grimthorpe’s colours was the valuable Lancashire chase which he won in splendid style. His only other race of the season would be the 1947 Cheltenham Gold Cup.