GG Jumps Journal - Which horses are truly worthy of a statue?

Golden Miller and Best Mate at Cheltenham, Red Rum at Aintree. Should Down Royall follow suit with Envoi Allen? And if so, which other horses are deserving of similar shrines elsewhere?

GG Jumps Journal – Start Commissioning These Statues

“They can start commissioning the statue” announced Richard Pugh as a third Grade 1 Down Royal Champion Chase was mere strides away from being Envoi Allen’s. The 11-year-old has won six of his seven races at the track, returning at the dawn of each jumps season to repel younger legs who deign to challenge him on his turf.

A statue is fitting for a horse who has now won ten Grade 1s in all, repeatedly visiting the well and quenching his thirst. Naturally, I backed him the only time he didn’t win at Down Royal, but sometimes we must forgive, forget and, begrudgingly, move on.

Sculptors do not gain much employment in the racing world, but I could promise numerous budding carvers so much more if I were in charge of racing this week. Commemorating on a course by course basis sounds like a superb idea to me, so on the theme of going statue crazy, I’m sat as still as possible as I suggest five more horses deserving of stony accolades across Britain and Ireland.

Haydock – Bristol De Mai

Anyone who suggests Royale Pagaille is just as deserving has me to answer to. And yes, Haydock has already celebrated artworks of Be Friendly (me neither) and Kauto Star in its surroundings, but frankly you could put a statue of Kauto up anywhere in the country and it would be fitting. Bristol De Mai, though, thrived almost exclusively on Merseyside.

Across ten starts at Haydock, Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge won six times, with two of his four defeats coming in his final season when undeniably past his best. And while Royale Pagaille has beaten Bravemansgame (and let’s face it, who hasn’t by this point?) and Grey Dawning, De Mai the grey had Cue Card, Native River and Clan Des Obeaux directly in behind for his three Betfair Chases, tonking the first-named by a record-setting Grade 1 distance of 57 lengths.

Indeed his six wins all told were won by an accrued margin of 143 lengths, just under 24 lengths a pop on average. To really nail home the point, Bristol De Mai only ever won four chases away from Haydock and three of those came in his novice campaign. He is the ultimate modern horse for the course and should be celebrated as such at his most beloved venue.

Brighton – Roy Rocket & Uncle Dick

This genuinely terrifying statue is of Steve Ovett in Brighton, but he never won a gold medal there. Granted he was born in Brighton, but if we’re offering statues for simply coming into existence, we’ll find ourselves in the Dr Who universe before long.

Roy Rocket and Uncle Dick have achieved true racing greatness near the shores of the English Channel. The former holds the record for the number of victories at Brighton’s unique horseshoe track, winning nine times there, though Uncle Dick was just one behind when tragically passing away there recently aged seven. A ninth win may well have been achieved before long.

A tribute to both is only fitting given their stellar attendance and consistency at thrilling their audience on the south coast. Melt Ovett back down to bronze and get these two warriors racing side-by-side up the final straight.

Cheltenham – Willie Wumpkins

He did not win an unprecedented number of Gold Cups, nor is he even that close to Quevega’s record of six Cheltenham Festival wins. But Willie Wumpkins is deserving of going toe-to-toe with Best Mate and Golden Miller in the stands of Prestbury Park.

His feats are truly extraordinary for three reasons: the first is that he won what is now the Pertemps Final three years running between 1979 and 1981. Doing this in a handicap while he carried steadily more weight each season is impressive enough, but no horse has won three editions since, with only two horses able to do so twice.

This is a handicap hurdle we are talking about though, so can we really say old Willie’s achievements are comparable to the bronzed legends we admire every year? Well, what if I told you he won his first Coral Golden Hurdle Final, as it was known then, at the age of 11, therefore completing the brace at 12 and the hat-trick at 13? No other horse has ever won the race even aged 11.

For good measure, these are not even Willie Wumpkins’ only Cheltenham Festival victories. He won the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle (now the Turners, formerly the Ballymore etc.) in 1973, a full six years before his first Pertemps Final success. A sculpture barely does justice to a horse with such a sensational name with such a bizarre record. Give him a plaque, a shrine and name the winning post after him too.

Sandown Park – Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop & Well Chief

It has become a cliched race to love, especially for the final two months of the calendar year, but the 2004 Tingle Creek may have been the point at which jumps racing outside of the Cheltenham Festival peaked this century.

The Queen Mother and her Whitbread Gold Cup winner Special Cargo are already commemorated at Sandown. That royal connection obviously helped Special Cargo’s cause, but his victory in the Whitbread was a dramatic one, just as Moscow Flyer’s determined repulsion of his two younger rivals stirs the spine-tingles with every rewatch.

It has been 21 years, so maybe we can hope for a quarter-century revival of those memories in 2029.

Tip for the Weekend

If taking up his option in the Grand Sefton (2.40pm Aintree, Saturday), the six-year-old EXCELLO may excel for Nicky Henderson. The grey was running a big race in the Topham Handicap Chase over course and distance in April when clattering the second last, but this will be a much weaker race and he is 2lb lower in the handicap. His chase form is stronger than his hurdling form and he has sunk to a very plausible winning mark.