What is the Beverley Bullet?

Not to be confused with the horse of the same name, an eight-year-old gelding trained by Lawrence Mullaney, the Beverley Bullet, or Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes, is a Listed, five-furlong race, run at Beverley Racecourse in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Inaugurated in 2004, the Beverley Bullet is open to horses aged three years and upwards and, even in its relatively short history, has been won by one or two horses that have gone on to victory at the highest, Group One level. The 2011 winner, Tangerine Trees, won the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp on his very next start, while the 2016 winner, Alpha Delphini won the Nunthorpe Stakes at York two seasons later.

The five-furlong course at Beverley is idiosyncratic insofar that it is on the rise throughout, making it a test of stamina as well as speed, particularly when the going is soft. Furthermore, the supposedly ‘straight’ course features a right-handed dog-leg which, in turn, creates the most pronounced draw bias, towards low numbers, in the whole country. Indeed, seven of the last ten winners of the Beverley Bullet were drawn in stall four or lower; the other three winners, Tangerine Trees in 2011, Take Cover in 2018 and Dakota Gold in 2020 were drawn 9, 9 and 8, respectively.

Has Tiger Roll ever run on the Flat?

Of course, Tiger Roll is best known for winning back-to-back renewals of the Grand National, in 2018 and 2019, making him the first horse to do since Red Rum in 1973 and 1974. However, despite his exploits at Aintree and at the Cheltenham Festival – where he has won five times in all, over hurdles and fences – Tiger Roll has a classy Flat pedigree. He was sired by the 2007 Derby winner Authorized out of mare by 1997 2,000 Guineas winner Entrepreneur, so is bred 3×3 to Sadler’s Wells.

Indeed, Tiger Roll was originally owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, founder of Godolphin, but never raced in the famous royal blue silks. That said, he has run on the Flat for his current owner, Gigginstown House Stud, not once but twice. Tiger Roll made his debut, as a 6-year-old, in a maiden over 2 miles on the all-weather at Dundalk in March, 2016 and finished second, beaten half a length.

Although small for a steeplechaser, he was nevertheless sent over fences later that season and didn’t run on the Flat again until October, 2020. On his first run since finishing second to Easysland in the Glenfarclas Chase at the Cheltenham Festival the previous March, Tiger Roll ran in another maiden, over 1 mile 6 furlongs, at Navan. After starting very slowly, he trailed the field for most of the way before making modest late headway to finish sixth of nine, beaten 29¼ lengths.

Did Sea Pigeon win the Ebor Handicap?

At the time of the retirement, as a 12-year-old, in March, 1982, Sea Pigeon was described as

‘probably the best known horse after Arkle and Red Rum’. He is best remembered for winning the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1980 and 1981, but arguably his most memorable victory came in the Ebor Handicap at York in 1979.

Saddled with top weight of 10 stone and ridden by his regular hurdles partner, Jonjo O’Neill, Sea Pigeon was sent off the longest-priced of three runners trained by Peter Easterby, at 18/1. O’Neill had actually broken three toes in his left foot the previous week, but ‘hoodwinked’ the racecourse doctor by presenting his uninjured right foot for inspection and was passed fit to ride.

In any event, Sea Pigeon – on whom, according to Easterby, ‘you couldn’t come too late’ – hit the front, travelling easily, with a furlong to run and looked like winning comfortably. However, he stopped quickly and, with O’Neill dropping his hands in the closing stages, was tackled close home by the 3-year-old Donegal Prince, to whom he was conceding 40lb. After a nailbiting wait, Sea Pigeon was called the winner, by a short head, thereby smashing the previous weight-carrying record for the Ebor Handicap.

Before Rachael Blackmore, which female jockey achieved the best placing in the Grand National?

On April 10, 2021, 44 years after Charlotte Budd (née Brew) made sporting history by becoming the first female jockey to ride in the Grand National, Rachael Blackmore did so again by becoming the first female jockey to win the world famous steeplechase. Blackmore expertly guided the 8-year-old Minella Times, trained by Henry de Bromhead, to a 6½-length victory over stable companion Balko Des Flos, thereby shattering another glass ceiling in the sporting world.

In the interim, several female jockeys, including Rosemary Henderson, Carrie Ford and Bryony Frost – who all finished fifth, in 1994, 2005 and 2018, respectively – have successfully completed the Grand National Course. However, before Rachael Blackmore, who also rode Valseur Lido into tenth position in 2019, the female jockey who had achieved the best placing in the Grand National was another Irishwoman, the now-retired Katie Walsh.

Katie Walsh is, of course, the son of trainer Ted Walsh and the brother of Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh, who teamed up to win the Grand National with Papillon in 2000. However, she carved her own slice of Grand National history when partnering Seabass, trained by her father, into third place behind Neptune Collonges and Sunnyhillboy in the 2012 Grand National. All told, Katie Walsh rode in the Grand National half a dozen times between 2012 and 2018 and, with the exception of Ballycasey, from whom she was unseated after a mistake at the second-last fence, completed the course of each of her mounts.

 

1 … 56 57 58 59 60 … 146