Great compilation. Slightly before my time, but was a pleasure to watch, especially seeing Golden Sygnet pulling his riders arms out as they hit the home straight in the Supreme. He looked an asbsolute monster....and what a terrible shame he never got the chance to show the world what he could become!
@@HorseRacingLegends Yes he won at Fairyhouse before he was killed in a fall at Ayr in the Scottish champion hurdle, I was there that terrible day who knows how great he could have been.
Today, novices get weight of older horses, Golden Cygnet was cruising in the Scottish champion hurdle against top draw legends giving weight to them. Night Nurse was my favourite Hurdler of all time, but I adored Golden Cygnet, and im sure if not for that fatal fall, he would be hailed as the best of all time. Todays efforts are not a patch on the greats from the past.
Super compilation I remember all these running as if it was yesterday. This was a time when trainers and owners were not afraid to take each other on all season. Sea Pigeon was my favourite horse of all time, was incredible on the flat too winning The Chester Cup under top weight too. The 1977 Champion Hurdle was a race of incredible quality. Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon, Dramatist, Birds Nest, Beacon Light, all rated so high, and of course in the the years from 1976 to 1981 the three horses Night Nurse 76/77, Monksfield 78/79 and Sea Pigeon 80/81, all beat each other to claim the Champion Hurdle. All brilliant horses as was Comedy Of Errors, Bula and Lanzarote too in the years just before this. And of course Golden Cygnet who could have been the greatest of them all but for his tragic fall.
This is so enjoyable , this was my era for racing , I lived and breathed it , great memories , none greater than John Francome waiting till halfway up the run in to deliver Sea Pigeon to win his 2nd Champion Hurdle , awesome
Back in the day when racing on tv was great to watch with great commentaries and presenters with racing knowledge and personalities unlike the nonsense we now have!!
What a great video so many happy memories and also a few races I never seen before. It really was the golden age of hurdlers and we were lucky to have enjoyed them all.
Some great memories here. They werent afraid to take each other on in those days. I loved Bula but as a northerner i was a big fan of the Easterby horses Night Nurse & my favourite Sea Pigeon. I remember seeing him at a Malton stables open day when he was 30 years old he gave me some wonderful memories. A truely great horse. Enjoyable video with some great commentaries from the master Peter O Sullevan!!
This video was a great trip down memory lane for me. I was an apprentice farrier in Lambourn 1974 to 1978 working for John Ffench at Fred Winters and Captain Richard Head’s yards.
An absolutely fantastic video brought back some great memories of my day My favourites being sea pigeon Celtic ride And Pollardstown and an honourable mention for within the law
@@Betfairhuggy well 2 outta 3 ain’t bad sir 😆.. first 2 are personal favs of mine too .. Pollardstown is the Emperor Palpatine of the NH universe imho 😆 👍🏴
Absolutely brilliant , what a bunch of hurdler s back in the day , potentially the best could of bn golden signet , what he was going to do to brilliant hurdler s as a novice was mind blowing ❤.
@@HorseRacingLegends I still say today if I have a hurdler who is in an unpromising position that they would need to be Ekbalco to win from there !. Came from nearly last to first at Sandown when punters thought the gamble had gone astray .
Brilliant watching these races some great horses national hunt racing not the same now you used to get horses going from flat to jumps now a lot of horses just race on all weather which has hurt the jumps racing in Britain. Would you get a Kribensis today no chance sadly. Your channel going from strength to strength look forward to your racing videos. Thanks
Sea pigeon and night nurse along with birds nest and red rum were the four horses i knew as a young kid in the 70s, absolute legends that will live on forevermore
Martin stayed up all night rummaging through his filing cabinet full of betting loosing slips (izal store) checking he got the best price🤣 Time to lick your wounds n' get some sleep, Martina doesn't want you waking her to enact Brod Munro-Wilson antics aboard The Drunken Duck at this hour.
Debatable about 4 Champion Hurdles, especially when you consider that Cheltenham shortened the actual distance for the race the year Sea Pigeon won his first CH.
@@fawltyoldboybasil.2178good point heavy ground and just too far for sea pigeon until it was shortened the year he won. .the distance before took the edge off him on heavy ground..
He had one massive turn of foot that was used miles too early in 1979.At that time Sea Pigeon loved heavy ground as his feet were brittle.Take my word on it.I know the Girl that looked after him.
Ooooh.. that’s a slightly unfair comparison if I’m honest , The Brigadier was unbeatable at a Mile and a Mile n a quarter ( bar that Fkn Pollardstown of the flat Roberto 😡) whereas Mill reefs biggest successes came at a Mile n a half , though the Brigadier DID win over a mile n a half it clearly stretched him to the limit . So my reply is : not a fair question and I’m not coming off this fence 👀 👍🏴
@@HorseRacingLegends lol I’m a slight edge for The Brigadier which is crazy as Mill reef is a monster of a Grp 1 horse too .. I’m sticking with unfair question like “ which one of your identical twins is yer fav Mrs ? “ 😄 👍🏴
Alper, wasent a good owner he was intensely ambitious for the first horse he had owned, was criticized for many of his decisions: he changed jockeys and stables often; and risked injury to Persian War by entering him in flat race and steeple chase competitions for which he was less well suited
@roberto4001000 I think destroy is a bit over the top.He did look to be going the best although Sea Pigeon was still going well and was hampered by his fall but still caught Night Nurse but I too think he would have won.
@@HorseRacingLegends If he responded when asked like in all his other races he kicks on and wins handy enough ...the great Vincent O'Brien said Golden Cygnet was the best hurdler he'd ever seen, now he'd know a thing or two about a thing or two .
Loved racing back then so many superstars, the Best BULA without a shadow of doubt was it 13 races unbeaten totally unbackable always long odds on, personal favourite Comedy of Errors, but the greatest has to be Sea Pigeon what a horse still running at 14yo and still winning, winning 37 times man what a horse.
What quality racing did the likes of Night Nurse ,Birds Nest ,Monksfield, and Sea Pigeon .provide .How competitive were the big hurdle races in this era .No Hurdler has ever trumped Night Nurse for me for pure talent and courage .
I backed Him to win the Triumph Hurdle, unfortunately Pollardstown was too good on the day. Could have won a Champion Hurdle if He wasn't cut off in His prime with a tragic fall.
Class commentators put today's perfetic mob to shame. Today, if the word "Keen" did not exist, we would be watching racing with no commentary. Persian War would chew up and spit out todays champion hurdlers. Today you have a good horse beating yaks or a good mare made very good because of 7lb.
Wonderful hurdlers and i think Night Nurse is still the highest rated of all time... Two that never made the video and deserve a mention are Tingle Creek and Pendil who both went on to become brilliant chasers
Poor Pendil, ears went back to the noise and short headed on the line, ahead in next stride then next year bought down by high Ken. at leat he won plenty of King georges
No I don’t agree without although it’s a reasonable assumption but in my opinion he won by too far in 1980 and comfortably enough in 1981 to argue against it.
I seem to remember that for Sea Pigeon's first CH win they moved the Champion Hurdle from the Wednesday to the Tuesday and they shortened the race back from 2m 1f to 2 miles. Both those changes benefitted Sea Pigeon I think. But in any case he was a fantastic racehorse and one of my all time favourites. Note :- If they had made those changes a couple of years earlier, then we would be referring to Sea Pigeon as a 4 time CH winner.
@@HorseRacingLegends Interesting you say that. Yes, from what I've seen, Ian Watkinson rode Sea Pigeon beautifully. Probably the finest ride I've ever seen in NH is the peach John Francome gave Sea Pigeon in the 1981 CH. And after the race I definitely remember Francome referring to Sea Pigeon as a Rolls Royce of a horse.
Henry Alper was a horrible man. Colin Davies, who trained Persian War among other horses for him, was often overruled as to where his horses should run. Davies hated Alper's guts, which resulted in Alper having to move his horses to other yards. It is fair to say that Alper's meddling destroyed the racing career of Persian War.
May not have been a nice man but hardly destroyed his career 3xs champion hurdles ,Schweppes ,triump ,a bunch of other races ...what more could he have done?
Videos,stats and ratings undoubtedly have arkle as the greatest chaser of all time. Sporting records are broken but not arkle's from the 1960s,still and never will be. Absolute freak of nature in a good way
Definitely the golden age of hurdling!!
Many happy memories, thanks!
Thank you so much.
Great compilation. Slightly before my time, but was a pleasure to watch, especially seeing Golden Sygnet pulling his riders arms out as they hit the home straight in the Supreme. He looked an asbsolute monster....and what a terrible shame he never got the chance to show the world what he could become!
Yes an amazing Horse.Alastair Down made a mistake at the end of that commentary.Did you notice ?
@@HorseRacingLegends Yes he won at Fairyhouse before he was killed in a fall at Ayr in the Scottish champion hurdle, I was there that terrible day who knows how great he could have been.
He could of bn a monster , he was just learning on the job ,
Today, novices get weight of older horses, Golden Cygnet was cruising in the Scottish champion hurdle against top draw legends giving weight to them.
Night Nurse was my favourite Hurdler of all time, but I adored Golden Cygnet, and im sure if not for that fatal fall, he would be hailed as the best of all time.
Todays efforts are not a patch on the greats from the past.
@prometheus9715 prom on on the page
Super compilation I remember all these running as if it was yesterday. This was a time when trainers and owners were not afraid to take each other on all season. Sea Pigeon was my favourite horse of all time, was incredible on the flat too winning The Chester Cup under top weight too. The 1977 Champion Hurdle was a race of incredible quality. Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pigeon, Dramatist, Birds Nest, Beacon Light, all rated so high, and of course in the the years from 1976 to 1981 the three horses Night Nurse 76/77, Monksfield 78/79 and Sea Pigeon 80/81, all beat each other to claim the Champion Hurdle. All brilliant horses as was Comedy Of Errors, Bula and Lanzarote too in the years just before this. And of course Golden Cygnet who could have been the greatest of them all but for his tragic fall.
Thank you much and lovely words about The Great Golden Cygnet.Yes the rivalries and passing of the baton is great but quite sad to see at times.
What a wonderful video I remember all these great hurdlers and what battles they had warriors each and every one of them thanks for great memories.
Yes the races keep coming at you.
I remember most of these aswell. Never see times like this again.
@PeterMc141 Hope you liked it.
Brilliant Brilliant viedo thanks for posting , an amazing bunch for hurdle horses 🐎
Thank you so much.
This is so enjoyable , this was my era for racing , I lived and breathed it , great memories , none greater than John Francome waiting till halfway up the run in to deliver Sea Pigeon to win his 2nd Champion Hurdle , awesome
Glad you enjoyed it.
Back in the day when racing on tv was great to watch with great commentaries and presenters with racing knowledge and personalities unlike the nonsense we now have!!
Agreed.
What a great video so many happy memories and also a few races I never seen before. It really was the golden age of hurdlers and we were lucky to have enjoyed them all.
Glad you liked it and thank you so much.
Some great memories here. They werent afraid to take each other on in those days. I loved Bula but as a northerner i was a big fan of the Easterby horses Night Nurse & my favourite Sea Pigeon. I remember seeing him at a Malton stables open day when he was 30 years old he gave me some wonderful memories. A truely great horse. Enjoyable video with some great commentaries from the master Peter O Sullevan!!
Thank you so much and the video of Sea Pigeon getting his 30th Birthday Cake is on here.
One thing about the top hurdlers, they were never shy about meeting during the season, brilliant video
Thank you so much.
What a brilliant video - thank you
Thank you so much.
This video was a great trip down memory lane for me. I was an apprentice farrier in Lambourn 1974 to 1978 working for John Ffench at Fred Winters and Captain Richard Head’s yards.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Marvellous compilation and great quality film.
Thank you so much.
An absolutely fantastic video brought back some great memories of my day
My favourites being sea pigeon Celtic ride And Pollardstown and an honourable mention for within the law
Yes 3 Great Horses.
@@Betfairhuggy well 2 outta 3 ain’t bad sir 😆.. first 2 are personal favs of mine too .. Pollardstown is the Emperor Palpatine of the NH universe imho 😆
👍🏴
Absolutely brilliant , what a bunch of hurdler s back in the day , potentially the best could of bn golden signet , what he was going to do to brilliant hurdler s as a novice was mind blowing ❤.
Yes agreed.
Ooh, memories...
Comedy of Errors...Bula..Pendil...😟😟😟
😆 I did 12 replies to the version from yesterday, but thank you so much for adding the Ekbalco races , had a cracking turn of foot 👌
👍🏴
Thank you Jay but I had to get it right and this is a much much better Video.Races in order hopefully and more of them with incredible interviews.
@ no worries at all 👌
👍🏴
@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering This is way better and some of the races never uploaded but I’ve been all day on it and it’s absolutely brilliant.
@@HorseRacingLegends I still say today if I have a hurdler who is in an unpromising position that they would need to be Ekbalco to win from there !. Came from nearly last to first at Sandown when punters thought the gamble had gone astray .
@markgidley7089 Yes I remember that race.Run hard was in it I remembered.
Fascinating video. Does anyone know the course for that first race that Sea Pigeon was shown as winning at about 16:30 Trying to work it out?
Yes it’s Newcastle.Camera on the other side.
Brilliant watching these races some great horses national hunt racing not the same now you used to get horses going from flat to jumps now a lot of horses just race on all weather which has hurt the jumps racing in Britain. Would you get a Kribensis today no chance sadly. Your channel going from strength to strength look forward to your racing videos. Thanks
Good to hear from you again @maximus8992 and glad you liked it.Something different and was worth doing.
Listen to the quality of the hurdlers from 1968 to 1982.
Nothing as good now nor the depth of quality
For me , Sea Pigeon amongst so many top - notchers .
10 & 11 when he won quality champions .
Birds Nest & Ekbalco were talented enigmas
Yes 2 amazing hurdlers too.
Night Nurse vs Monksfield - epic contests.
Yes epic.
Golden cygnet 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤❤
Jaysus Tom stay safe. That looks treacherous....
Comedy of Error...Lanzarote...
looking back, we as spectators, were spoiled.
Agreed.
A golden age brilliant
Glad you enjoyed it.
..Comedy of Errors was all class too...
Amazing Horse
Sea pigeon and night nurse along with birds nest and red rum were the four horses i knew as a young kid in the 70s, absolute legends that will live on forevermore
Yes agreed and thank you so much.
Martin stayed up all night rummaging through his filing cabinet full of betting loosing slips (izal store) checking he got the best price🤣 Time to lick your wounds n' get some sleep, Martina doesn't want you waking her to enact Brod Munro-Wilson antics aboard The Drunken Duck at this hour.
What does this even mean ?
1:17:18 That should say Polly Tierney!
Yes I noticed that as well.
On decent ground , Sea Pigeon would have won 4 Champion Hurdles , to add to his Chester Cup and Ebor victories carrying top weight , total legend
That’s a possibility but better riding would have got it done.
Debatable about 4 Champion Hurdles, especially when you consider that Cheltenham shortened the actual distance for the race the year Sea Pigeon won his first CH.
@@fawltyoldboybasil.2178good point heavy ground and just too far for sea pigeon until it was shortened the year he won. .the distance before took the edge off him on heavy ground..
He had one massive turn of foot that was used miles too early in 1979.At that time Sea Pigeon loved heavy ground as his feet were brittle.Take my word on it.I know the Girl that looked after him.
@HorseRacingLegends .take my word he was better in hood ground. His feet were not brittle why because my brother was his farrier in all them years.
My vote goes to Comedy of Errors
Yes his battles with Lanzarote were epic
Now lets have the discussion about Mill Reef v Brigadier Gerard who was better?
That’s an interesting topic for sure.
Ooooh.. that’s a slightly unfair comparison if I’m honest , The Brigadier was unbeatable at a Mile and a Mile n a quarter ( bar that Fkn Pollardstown of the flat Roberto 😡) whereas Mill reefs biggest successes came at a Mile n a half , though the Brigadier DID win over a mile n a half it clearly stretched him to the limit .
So my reply is : not a fair question and I’m not coming off this fence 👀
👍🏴
Yes I would agree with that Jay.My slight edge Is for Mill Reef.Maybe not though lol.
@@HorseRacingLegends lol I’m a slight edge for The Brigadier which is crazy as Mill reef is a monster of a Grp 1 horse too
.. I’m sticking with unfair question like
“ which one of your identical twins is yer fav Mrs ? “ 😄
👍🏴
@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering Yes I know what you mean.
Alper, wasent a good owner he was intensely ambitious for the first horse he had owned, was criticized for many of his decisions: he changed jockeys and stables often; and risked injury to Persian War by entering him in flat race and steeple chase competitions for which he was less well suited
Never knew that.Thank you so much.
Golden cygnet the greatest hurdler ever .
Potentially
@HorseRacingLegends He was about to destroy night nurse and sea pigeon as a novice, only receiving one pound from them .
@roberto4001000 I think destroy is a bit over the top.He did look to be going the best although Sea Pigeon was still going well and was hampered by his fall but still caught Night Nurse but I too think he would have won.
@@HorseRacingLegends If he responded when asked like in all his other races he kicks on and wins handy enough ...the great Vincent O'Brien said Golden Cygnet was the best hurdler he'd ever seen, now he'd know a thing or two about a thing or two .
Fair play.
Loved racing back then so many superstars, the Best BULA without a shadow of doubt was it 13 races unbeaten totally unbackable always long odds on, personal favourite Comedy of Errors, but the greatest has to be Sea Pigeon what a horse still running at 14yo and still winning, winning 37 times man what a horse.
Thank you so much.No Sea Pigeon got a bad virus and retired as a 12 Year old.
What quality racing did the likes of Night Nurse ,Birds Nest ,Monksfield, and Sea Pigeon .provide .How competitive were the big hurdle races in this era .No Hurdler has ever trumped Night Nurse for me for pure talent and courage .
Yes the best era ever.Birds Nest Dramatist Beacon Light Pollardstown Boadsword Ekbalco Daring Run.They never won a Champion Hurdle.
Interesting, that Fred Winter thought that Hatton‘s Grace and Persian War where better than Bula. You have to Respekt that.
Yes that was some interview that.Rimell was proven right with Comedy of Errors .
I would place Persian War above Bula, personnaly.
Celtic Ryde was a good horse back in the day.
He was.
I backed Him to win the Triumph Hurdle, unfortunately Pollardstown was too good on the day. Could have won a Champion Hurdle if He wasn't cut off in His prime with a tragic fall.
Yes he lost his life at Haydock.
@jimbyrne2328 1979 I think?
@@PeterMc141 The Triumph Hurdle was 1979. The fatality was at Haydock in 1982, as He was hitting His peak.
Class commentators put today's perfetic mob to shame. Today, if the word "Keen" did not exist, we would be watching racing with no commentary.
Persian War would chew up and spit out todays champion hurdlers. Today you have a good horse beating yaks or a good mare made very good because of 7lb.
Very fair comment
I agree about the 7lb mares allowance. I think that is too much.
Possibly but it’s a great incentive to get the good mares away from the mares only races.
golden cygnet what could have been
Definitely
Wonderful hurdlers and i think Night Nurse is still the highest rated of all time... Two that never made the video and deserve a mention are Tingle Creek and Pendil who both went on to become brilliant chasers
Thank you so much but don’t forget this is a Hurdling only video and those 2 great horses were Chasers.Yes Night Nurse Timeform rated 182.
Poor Pendil, ears went back to the noise and short headed on the line, ahead in next stride then next year bought down by high Ken. at leat he won plenty of King georges
That’s not on this Video my friend.This is Hurdles only.
Easy answer the Brigadier was better over a mile, and mill reef the better over a mile and a half.
Yes can’t argue with that.
Sea pigeon would have a won more if they knew how to ride him sooner
Or, alternatively would not have won the Champion Hurdle had the Cheltenham blazers not shortened the actual distance of the race.
No I don’t agree without although it’s a reasonable assumption but in my opinion he won by too far in 1980 and comfortably enough in 1981 to argue against it.
I seem to remember that for Sea Pigeon's first CH win they moved the Champion Hurdle from the Wednesday to the Tuesday and they shortened the race back from 2m 1f to 2 miles. Both those changes benefitted Sea Pigeon I think. But in any case he was a fantastic racehorse and one of my all time favourites.
Note :- If they had made those changes a couple of years earlier, then we would be referring to Sea Pigeon as a 4 time CH winner.
@keithf_ I don’t think Frank Berry and Jonjo got the best out of him in 1978 and 1979.Im convinced Ian Watkinson would have won the 4 on him.
@@HorseRacingLegends Interesting you say that. Yes, from what I've seen, Ian Watkinson rode Sea Pigeon beautifully. Probably the finest ride I've ever seen in NH is the peach John Francome gave Sea Pigeon in the 1981 CH. And after the race I definitely remember Francome referring to Sea Pigeon as a Rolls Royce of a horse.
As a 72 r old man this brought back many memories i backed Bula in every race but what other great horses on view great days
Glad you enjoyed it.
Henry Alper was a horrible man. Colin Davies, who trained Persian War among other horses for him, was often overruled as to where his horses should run. Davies hated Alper's guts, which resulted in Alper having to move his horses to other yards. It is fair to say that Alper's meddling destroyed the racing career of Persian War.
That’s an interesting story thank you for sharing that.
May not have been a nice man but hardly destroyed his career 3xs champion hurdles ,Schweppes ,triump ,a bunch of other races ...what more could he have done?
I don’t know enough about it comment really.
Videos,stats and ratings undoubtedly have arkle as the greatest chaser of all time. Sporting records are broken but not arkle's from the 1960s,still and never will be. Absolute freak of nature in a good way
Yes he was unbelievable