Graham Buddry remembers the great Fred Winter chaser who just loved it over two and a half miles at Cheltenham
Today we have the most amazing space age computers which anyone can buy with memory, computing power and speed to make almost anything simple. It wasn’t always that way.
Way back in the early Seventies I relied on a very basic racing diary. I recorded my profit and loss along with any notes I thought worthy of inclusion. Two horses I made special note of back then were Prince Eleigh (he never came to anything much) and April Seventh who went on to be a chaser of great note…not too bad spotting for someone just entering their teenage years.
Fast forward to the early Eighties and I’d upgraded to a Sinclair Spectrum ZX. It was basic enough that even I could write a racing program and transfer onto it all my copiously hand-written notes from cards held in a red, alphabetised box I was using by then. Each card bore the name of a horse with its preferred going and distance etc and my own personal rating but one horse had a unique entry.
Regular readers will know the high esteem I’ve always held Fred Winter in, that master trainer from Uplands in Lambourn. He had the best horses around but even his lesser lights would have been stars in other stables, such as Fifty Dollars More, Observe, Brown Chamberlin and many others. And there was also Half Free, who, when input on the old Spectrum read simply and in capital letters, “DO NOT OPPOSE AT CHELTENHAM OVER 2½ MILES”. It was the only horse which had anything so specific written about it and I thought that today we would look into that statement.
The Deep Run gelding proved a useful enough novice in his only season over timber, winning all three starts over the minimum distance, including one at Cheltenham, before starting favourite for the 1982 Supreme Novice’s where he failed to cope with the sheer speed of the real specialist two milers.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2017-Ausgabe von Racing Ahead.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2017-Ausgabe von Racing Ahead.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Tragedy Hits Racing Family - Nick Townsend reels from shock attack on John Hunt's wife and daughters
Nick Townsend reels from shock attack on John Hunt's wife and daughters. I will be far from alone in recent days in being overcome by emotions ranging from utter disbelief to revulsion upon hearing of the unspeakable acts perpetrated upon John Hunt's family, resulting in the death of his wife Carol and daughters, Hannah and Louise.
AUDIENCE IS ERUPTING
John Anthony reveals the latest top speedsters after another Glorious Goodwood
HORSE OF A LIFETIME
Graham Buddry pays fresh tribute to track legend Sea The Stars - surely one of the greatest ever
IT'S TIME TO TAKE STOCK
Paul Jacobs looks forward to seeing some big on-track questions answered
PLAYING TO THE WHISTLE
lan Heitman flies about to keep pace with a rush of two-year-old Flat action
WINNING JOY ON A BUDGET
Richard Eagle takes a trip to Windsor to check out peoples' route into the port of kings
GIFT HORSES AND FRENCH LESSONS
Robert Cooper finds 'retirement' is keeping him busy
FEUD GETS THE PARTY ROLLING
Karl Hedley savours the Galway Festival action and picks out the summer highlights at Ballybrit
ROCKING THE MONEY BAGS
Simon Nott reveals his recent experiences from trips to Brighton and Ascot
FLYING EVE'S BORN TO WIN
Nick Townsend talks to in-form trainer Eve Johnson Houghton