David

Racing answers on the HorseQ site are provided by our writer and published lifelong horse racing fan, David Dunning. Having been previously published in Best of British magazine and others, David’s ability to capture the history and excitement of the sport of kings is near unrivalled. With an interest in many sports but a specific love and focus on horse racing, there’s no better person to ask your racing questions to than this man. From the basics to technical, history of the sport to comic or interesting facts, it’s all here. Send in a question if it stands out it may well appear on the site! With questions and answers on beloved horses (Red Rum, Arkle and the like), jockeys, trainers, owners and of course races and festivals (the Grand National, Cheltenham Festival and much more besides) there’s fascinating facts and trivia aplenty for both casual and dedicated followers of the sport. At the bottom of each Q&A post there’s further suggested posts to read, so there’s no shortage of questions to quiz yourself or your equine loving friends with.

Links

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Here are some really good starter links for those looking for fixtures, racing results, media, and history!

racing better

Today’s Racecard –  Up to the minute race info for those looking to follow the days racing

Horse Racing Results (UK) – Racing results from BBC Sport

Racing Post – The website version of the definitive horse racing newspaper.

Upcoming Fixtures – From the British Horse Racing Authority

Watch the races – ATR / Racing TV (subscriptions required for both)

Horse Racing Youtube Channels worth a watch:

Racing Post / At the Races / Racing TV / The Jockey Club

 

Wikipedia: Grand National / Cheltenham Festival / Royal Ascot

 

How many horses have won the Grand National more than once?

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Of course, the most successful horse in the recent history of the Grand National was Tiger Roll, who won back-to-back renewals of the world famous steeplechase in 2018 and 2019, but was denied the chance of a third win by the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020, and by his owner, Michael O’Leary, in 2021 and 2022. Readers of a certain age may also remember – and everyone will almost certainly have heard of – Red Rum, who won the Grand National an unprecedented three times, in 1973, 1974, and 1977.

However, the names of the other multiple winners of the Grand National – of which there are six, seven or eight, depending on the ground rules applied – are probably less familiar. To clarify, The Duke won the first two runnings of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, in 1836 and 1837, but the races were subsequently stricken, some historians say erroneously, from the ‘official’ Grand National records. Likewise, Poethyln won the so-called ‘War National’, staged at Gatwick in 1918, and won again when the Grand National returned to Aintree in 1919.

As far as ‘official’ renewals of the Grand National at Aintree are concerned, the first dual winner was Abd-El-Kader, in 1850 and 1851. He was followed by Peter Simple, who had won the Grand National for the first time in 1849, but returned four years later, as a doughty 15-year-old, to do so again. Thereafter, The Lamb (1868 and 1871) and The Colonel (1869 and 1870) won four renewals between them in as many years and, towards the end of the century, the indefatigable Manifesto – who ran in the Grand National a record eight times between 1895 and 1904 – prevailed twice, in 1897 and 1899. Before Red Rum, the last horse to win the Grand National more than once was Reynoldstown, who recorded back-to-back victories in 1935 and 1936; the legendary Golden Miller failed to complete the course on both occasions.

Which were the three foundation stallions of the Thoroughbred breed?

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The foundation stallions, or foundation sires, of the Thoroughbred breed are those to whom all, or nearly all, modern Thoroughbreds can trace their paternal bloodline. Although by no means the only stallions to be imported into England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries – according to the General Stud Book, first published in 1793, there were over 200 – the names that have gone down in history are the Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian, and Godolphin Arabian.

Believed to have been foaled in, or around, 1679, the Byerley Turk was a dark brown or black horse whose breeding was unknown; despite his name, he was almost certainly of Arabian descent. He was reputed to have been confiscated by English soldier Captain Robert Byerley during the Great Turkish War and later served in the Jacobite-Williamite War in Ireland, including at the Battle of the Boyne. When Byerley retired from military service, the Byerley entered stud at Middridge Grange in Heighington, County Durham and, later, at Goldsborough Hall, near Knaresborough, Yorkshire, where he remained until at least 1701.

Far and away the most influential of the three foundation stallions, the Darley Arabian was, as his name suggests, a bay Arabian horse. He was bought by English trader Thomas Darley in Aleppo, Syria in 1704 and imported to England, where he stood at stud at the family seat at Aldby Park in Buttercrambe, North Yorkshire from 1706 onwards. By 1722, he was the leading sire in Britain and Ireland.

The Godolphin Arabian – so-called because he was eventually bought by Francis Godolphin, Second Earl of Godolphin – was, unsurprisingly, another stallion of Arabian descent. A bay colt, he was foaled in the Yemen in 1724 and subsequently exported to Tunisia, where he was presented to Louis XV of France by the Bey of Tunis. He was subsequently acquired by Englishman Edward Coke and exported to England to stand at Longford Hall, Derbyshire. Coke died in 1733 and the stallion was transferred, via bloodstock agent Roger Williams, to Babraham, Cambridgeshire.

Where did Sir Anthony McCoy ride his first and last winners in Britain?

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Sir Anthony Peter McCoy, who was awarded a knighthood in the 2016 New Year Honours in recognition of his services to horse racing, was a force majeure in British National Hunt Racing for two decades. Champion conditional jockey in 1994/95, McCoy went on to become senior champion jockey for the next 20 seasons running or, in other words, every year he rode as a professional. In 2001/02, while stable jockey to Martin Pipe, McCoy enjoyed his most successful season, numerically, with 289 winners, thereby beating the previous record for the number on winners ridden in a season, 269, set by Sir Gordon Richards in 1947.

At the time of his retirement, aged 40, in April, 2015, he had ridden a total of 4,348 winners under National Hunt Rules in Britain and Ireland, making him far and away the most successful jump jockey in history, 543 winners ahead of his nearest pursuer, Richard Johnson, who did not retire from the saddle until April, 2021. McCoy rode his first winner, of any description, Legal Steps, trained by Jim Bolger, in a maiden race at Thurles on March 26, 1992, as a 10lb claimer.

However, following his arrival in England, as conditional jockey to the Toby Balding, McCoy opened his account – deputising for the injured Mick Fitzgerald – on Chickabiddy, trained by Gordon Edwards, in a handicap hurdle at Exeter on September 7, 1994. Reflecting on his initial success on British soil, McCoy said, ‘I was very lucky that Gordon gave me the ride and she won to get the ball rolling.’ That she did, and the ball kept rolling until April 17, 2015, when McCoy partnered his last winner, Capard King, trained by Jonjo O’Neill, in a novices’ handicap hurdle at Ayr.