Month: November 2011

 

I am delighted to add another artist to my links today. Lyn Beaumont is an Australian equine artist based in Victoria. Her work hangs in galleries and private collections in both Australia and overseas. Take a look at the link on the right of the page for more details and examples of Lyn’s work.

From the archives

I featured Beef or Salmon yesterday, a dual winner of the JNwine chase. In 2004 he got the better of another leading Irish chaser, Kicking King (pictured below).

The two horses had fortunes when they visits to England. Despite his all conquering form in Ireland “Beefy” was never quite the same horse on the other side of the Irish Sea. His 4 attempts at the Cheltenham Gold Cup produced form figures of F4P0 while he unseated on his only trip to Aintree in the Betfair Bowl. He fared best at Haydock where he was twice runner up in the Lancashire Chase, first to the massive Kingscliffe and then behind Kauto Star.

Kicking King on the other hand seemed to enjoy his trips to England winning both the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the 2004/5 season.

The racing tomorrow is less bread and butter, more bread and thinly spread margarine!  My best efforts at tips are as follow;

Nap of the day

Rising Time 1.25 Thurles

Dark horse

Devotion to Duty 2.00 Musselburgh

Today’s picture is courtesy of the artist Sarah Aspinall.

 

I pleased with my Melbourne Cup preview as the 4 horses shortlisted came 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th and 10^th. Things went rather less well in the Haldon Cup where Captain Chris unseated his rider. In fact the pitfalls of betting in novice chases were also highlighted in the Exeter 3.20 where the two fancied horses Menorah (8/13) and Sam Winner (6/4) leaving the only other runner to come in alone at 16/1.

From the archives.

The big race in Ireland on Saturday is the JNwine Champion Chase at Down Royal. This race has been won by some stars in the past. Beef or Salmon (pictured below) won both the 2004 and 2006 renewals.

“Beefy” had a wonderful career in Ireland winning 10 Grade 1 races. Perhaps his finest win was his last in the Irish Hennessy in 2007 when he looked well beaten behind The Listener as they entered the straight only to pick up again and come with a determined late run to catch his rival close home.

Turf Trivia

George Orwell in “The lion and the unicorn” refers to people in left wing circles feeling it “a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings.” I can’t think why anyone would snigger at horse racing, and suet puddings are certainly no laughing matter!

Picture of Beef or Salmon by kind permission of the artist Jenny Lupton.