Legends of the Track: Dancing Brave, When Rachel "Raised the Rafters", Ruby Walsh and Royal Ascot!
Sunday Edition - February 25th, 2024 (Edition 12)
IN TODAY’S EMAIL
World Racing News: Timberlake Hits a High Note in Rebel Stakes Win at Oaklawn Park, Senor Buscador Rallies Past Favorites for Saudi Cup Upset
Horse of the Day: The Greatest Race Ever... Dancing Brave's Arc.
Classic Races: When Rachel raised the rafters: 2009 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga
Legends of the Sport: Ruby Walsh (IRE)
The World’s Greatest Racecourses: Ascot (UK)
Where in the World - Can you name the British Racecourse?
WORLD RACING NEWS
Senor Buscador No. 12 gets up on the outside to win the $20 million Saudi Cup (Shamela Hanley/Eclipse Sportswire)
Timberlake Hits a High Note in Rebel Stakes Win at Oaklawn Park - Full Article
Senor Buscador Rallies Past Favorites for Saudi Cup Upset - Full Article
HORSE OF THE DAY
DANCING BRAVE (KY)
The Greatest Race Ever... Dancing Brave's Arc
In a sun-kissed garden, the drooping branches of a weeping willow move ever so gently in the warm breeze, while a lawn tennis court stands empty but inviting. Inside a house that dates back to 1860, a man looking forward to a lunchtime round of golf calls his wife "darling" and sits by a table on which a plate of buttery shortbread biscuits provides a tempting morning treat.
The scene could scarcely be more British. It also provides the most perfect setting from which to savour stories of a fabled sporting afternoon in Paris.
That October Sunday remains so celebrated and cherished that Dancing Brave's astounding triumph in the 1986 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe topped the poll in a Racing Post reader vote to determine what you consider to be the greatest horserace ever run.
*The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced by badgersbloodstock.co.uk. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.
Enjoy the full race on You Tube uploaded by MrSilverbuck
CLASSIC RACES
WHEN RACHEL RAISED THE RAFTERS: 2009 WOODWARD AT SARATOGA - RACHEL ALEXANDRA
Sept. 5, 2009 is a day every horse racing fan who was at Saratoga Race Course will remember for the rest of their lives.
It was the day Rachel Alexandra won the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes in an impressive fashion, in front of a deafening roar from the crowd.
The Steve Asmussen-trained horse entered the Grade 1 stakes race on an eight-race win streak, including victories in the Preakness Stakes, Mother Goose Stakes and Haskell Invitational. And in of front more than 31,000 fans, the then 3-year-old filly took down Macho Again by a head to give horse racing fans a show for the ages.
“Maybe it’s a little bit corny to say, but you just kind of knew you were there on a special day,” Halfmoon native Chris Culnan said of the 2009 Woodward. “Once she won it made it (even better). When you’ve been up there for the big Travers Days and the big Whitney Days, you kind of just knew this day, and this place, was going to be a special day, and when she held off the boys it was incredible.”
Read the full article - https://www.saratogian.com/2016/08/11/horse-racing-remembering-rachel-alexandra/
*The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced from saratogian.com. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.
“… Calvin Borel imploring his filly for more and Rachel Alexandra holds on to the lead. Bullsbay is second. Macho Again is making a tremendous run from the back of the pack. Rachel Alexandra! Macho Again! It’s going to be desperately close. Here’s the wire. Rachel won! She is indeed Rachel Alexandra the Great, beating Macho Again here, and farther back is Bullsbay in third. The time was 1:48 and one! Rachel Alexandra raises the rafters here at the Spa!”
Tom Durkin
You Tube produced by NYRA
LEGENDS OF THE SPORT
RUBY WALSH (IRE)
How I lost my soul to the jump jockey Ruby Walsh
Ruby Walsh rides Kauto Star to victory in the 2008 King George VI Chase at Kempton. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA
“Like Lionel Messi he could see angles and gaps that his competitors had barely registered”
AP McCoy, fellow jockey
As the Irish National Hunt favourite retires from a remarkable 20-year career, we remember the elegant and compelling performances that set him above his peers
I first became aware of Rupert “Ruby” Walsh when he won the Grand National on his first attempt in 2000, riding Papillon, trained by his father Ted. He was 20 years old and rode both fearlessly and as though he was the most experienced jockey in the field.
That rare combination of risk and patience is what made Walsh, retired at nearly 40 after two decades of sporting dominance, so compelling to watch.
With him on a horse you felt anything was possible: he might come from the back or win at a canter. He could deliver his horse at the last or fall, heartbreakingly, when leading the field. Other jockeys might be worth an extra punt with the right horse, on their day, but only Ruby was worth backing regardless, his soft hands and lightness of touch making him as near to a sure thing as this most demanding of sports could provide.
Article and Images originally published in the Guardian.com
WORLD’S GREATEST RACECOURSES
Ascot Racecourse (UK)
Royal Ascot - The World's Most Famous Race Meeting
Royal Ascot is the most fantastic five days of top-class Flat racing action, it’s the world’s most famous race meeting but is also so much more than that.
A Poignant Occasion
Dripping with British tradition, it is one of the biggest social events of the year with thousands of people flocking to the track to enjoy the occasion. This year, it will be especially poignant as it will be the first Royal Ascot since the Queen’s passing last September. The longest-reigning monarch’s love of the five-day meeting was matched only by that of her adoring public, as they lined the track to catch a glimpse of the Royal Procession making its way down the straight mile.
Ascot is perhaps best known for hosting one of the most prestigious race meetings in the world, Royal Ascot, as well as having a multiple prestigious Group one and Grade One races both on the Flat and over the Jumps.
*The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced from Great British Racing.com. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.
Take a trip to around Ascot Racecourse via a drone produced by AscotRacecourse
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
Can you name the British Racecourse?
Thanks to @Trasky61 on X for today's photograph 🙌
Riders Up!
Best, Steve
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