Which was the most prolific horse ever?

The history of horse racing, worldwide, is awash with horses who remained undefeated throughout their careers. Familiar names in that category include Black Caviar, in Australia, Eclipse, Ribot and, most recently, Frankel, in Britain and Peppers Pride, in the United States. However, the Puerto Rican-bred Camero, who retired unbeaten after 56 starts in the 1950s, and the Hungarian-bred Kincsem, who did likewise after 54 starts, including the Goodwood Cup, in the 1870s, lie first and second in the all-time list.

However, even those luminaries of the sport cannot hold a candle to the most prolific horse in history, in terms of outright wins. That horse was another Puerto Rican-bred, Galgo Jr., who shared ancestery with the great Man O’War, but had an otherwise unremarkable pedigree and was campaigned at a lowly level, in his native land, for six seasons between 1931 and 1936. Nevertheless, Galgo Jr. finished his career with a record of 158-137-18-1, including an unbeaten three-year-old campaign during which, unthinkably by modern standards, he won 39 races in a row. Of course, there are always exceptions, but few modern racehorses run in, never mind win, 137 races – in fact, they make less than 30 career starts, on average – so Galgo Jr. holds a record that is unlikely to be beaten.

Who regulates horse racing in Britain?

Who regulates horse racing in Britain? The governance and regulation of horse racing in Britain is the responsibility of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), which was formed by the amalgamation of two existing bodies, the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulatory Board (HRA), in 2007. Historically, the Jockey Club governed and regulated the sport, but handed over the governance function to the BHB, which was formed in 1993. Likewise, it handed over responsibility for devising and enforcing the Rules of Racing to the HRA, formed in 2006, and the BHB and HRA merged just over a year later to create the BHA as we know it today.

Like its predecessor, the Jockey Club, the BHA is tasked with devising and enforcing the Rules of Racing and dealing effectively with rule breaches, while at the same time delivering an attractive, compelling horse racing programme. To succeed, such as programme must appeal to owners, trainers and jockeys, racecourse authorities and the wider racing public.

As far as the day-to-day running of horse racing is concerned, the BHA is assisted by Weatherbys, which effectively adminsters the sport on its behalf. Weatherbys provides various racing services, including the registration of horse names and owners’ racing colours, publication of the weekly Racing Calendar, issuing race weights to the media and customising data files for clients such as Timeform and the Racing Post.

Who was the first jockey to win the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow?

The Welsh Grand National was founded in 1895 at Ely Racecourse in western Cardiff – which, in its time, was the most important racecourse in Wales – where it remained until horse racing at Ely came to an end in 1939. The race wasn’t run again until 1948, at Caerleon Racecourse, on the northern outskirts of Newport, but that course also closed later the same year.

The Welsh Grand National was transferred to Chepstow Racecourse in 1949 and has remained at the Monmouthshire venue ever since. The inaugural running at Chepstow was won by Fighting Line, trained by Ken Cundell, father of Peter, and ridden by none other than Richard Stanley ‘Dick’ Francis. Of course, Francis would go on to ride 350 winners and win the National Hunt Jockeys’ Championship in 1953/54 but, having only turned professional the previous April, the Welsh Grand National was his most important win to date.

Francis would have won the Grand National proper, too, but for the inexplicable collapse of his mount, Devon Loch, on the run-in in the closing stages of the 1956 renewal. The shadow of the water jump, the noise of the crowd, false ground and cramp have all been blamed for the puzzling incident, but ESB, the principal beneficiary, was arguably the luckiest National winner in history.

 

What is a penalty?

In horse racing, the term ‘penalty’ refers to additional weight carried by a horse as a result of winning one or more races in a specified period. In a handicap race, horses are allotted weight according to their official handicap ratings, as determined by a team of handicappers at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). However, if a horse is entered for one handicap race and wins another after the weights for that race have been published, it will incur a penalty of, say, 5lb or 7lb, which is added to the weight originally allotted.

The ethos of handicap races is that all participants have an equal chance of winning, so a horse that wins a handicap must, by definition, have improved on its official handicap rating. Penalties account for the fact that a winning horse may be turned out again quickly, before the official handicappers have had chance to revise its rating.

Similarly, if a horse has won a so-called ‘Pattern’ race – that is, a Group One, Group Two or Group Three race – on the Flat, it will incur a penalty, according to the race conditions, if it contests a lower-level Pattern race, or a ‘Listed’ race, within a certain period of time. Again, this reflects the fact that the horse in question has already proved itself at a higher level.

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