Was Shergar unbeaten?

Sadly, Shergar will always be best remembered for his abduction, at gunpoint, from the Ballymany Stud in Co. Kildare on the evening of February 8, 1983, rather than anything he achieved on the racecourse. A series of ransom demands were made, probably by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), but none were met and Shergar was never seen again.

Anyway, in happier times, Shergar was one of the truly great racehorses in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1981, as a three-year-old, he won the Sandown Classic Trial by 10 lengths, Chester Vase by 12 lengths, Derby by 10 lengths (still the widest winning margin in the history of the Epsom Classic), Irish Derby by 4 lengths and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by 4 lengths. In so doing, Shergar achieved a Timeform rating of 140 which, at the time, had been bettered only by Sea-Bird, Brigadier Gerard, Tudor Minstrel, Abernant, Ribot and Mill Reef.

However, Shergar was beaten twice in his eight-race career. On his second start as a two-year-old, he was beaten 2½ lengths by subsquent Dante Stakes and Benson and Hedges Gold Cup winner, Beldale Flutter, in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster. On his sixth and final start as a three-year-old, he was sent off at odds-on for the St. Leger, also at Doncaster, but ran inexplicably badly, trailing in fourth, beaten 11½ lengths, behind largely unconsidered 25/1 chance Cut Above.

Which British racecourse was the first to stage National Hunt racing?

In the summer of 2014, Jockey Club Racecourses, which owns Warwick Racecourse, announced that, from 2015 onwards, only National Hunt fixtures would be staged at the picturesque West Midlands venue. While not quite going full circle, Warwick was, in fact, the first British racecourse to include a hurdle race in its programme, as recorded in the Racing Calendar, in 1831.

Established in its current location in 1707, in recent years Warwick Racecourse has been better known for its National Hunt races, especially steeplechases, in any case. Seasonal highlights include the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices’ Chase, run over 2 miles in February, and the Grade 3 Classic Chase, run over 3 miles 5 furlongs in January; the latter serves as a trial for the Grand National.

Ian Renton, Regional Director at the Jockey Club, said that Warwick could ‘now benefit from a clear identity’ but, following the fatal fall of Artful Lady in a six-furlong handicap in May, 2014, racecourse officials had already said that they had ‘lost confidence’ in portions of the Flat course. Veteran National Hunt trainer Nicky Henderson described Warwick as the home of ‘good, competitive jumps racing’ and welcomed the Jockey Club Racecourses’ decision as ‘a huge benefit’ to the sport.

What is the largest prize fund offered for a single race?

Until fairly recently, the Dubai World Cup, a Group One race run over 2,000 metres, or approximately a mile and a quarter, on dirt at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in late March each year, was the most valuable horse race in the world. Establised in 1996, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, the Dubai World Cup still offers a total prize fund of £9.25 million, of which £5.69 million goes to the winner.

However, since 2020, the most valuable horse race in the world has been the Saudi Cup, a conditions race run over 1,800 netres, or approximately nine furlongs, again on dirt, at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in late February. The total prize fund for the Saudi Cup is £15.4 million, with £7.5 million, or just under half, reserved for the winner. The positioning of the Saudi Cup on the calendar is deliberate, insofar as it allows participants to contest the Dubai World Cup, four weeks later. The most recent winner, Mishriff, trained by John Gosden, ran at the Dubai World Cup Meeting, but opted for, and won, the Dubai Sheema Classic. run over a mile and a half and worth a mere £2.2 million to the winner, rather than the Dubai world Cup itself.

How old was Red Rum when he won his third Grand National?

One of the most famous horses in the world, Red Rum requires little or no introduction. Such was his celebrity in his heyday that his retirement, on the eve of the 1978 Grand National, was the lead item on the BBC Nine O’clock News. All told, Red Rum ran in 100 races over hurdles and fences, winning 24 times, but his unprecedented third victory in the Grand National, on April 2, 1977, made real sporting history.

Bought by trainer Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain, on behalf of owner Noel le Mare, at Doncaster Sales in August, 1972, Red Rum suffered from pedal osteitis, or inflammation of the pedal bone, but was famously nurtured back to full health on Southport Sands. He won the Grand National, at the first time of asking, in 1973, but only after snatching victory from the gallant Crisp – who was conceding 23lb and led by 10 lengths at the Elbow, but emptied to nothing in the final hundred yards – in the dying strides. In 1974, Red Rum defied the welter burden of 12 stone to beat L’Escargot by 7 lengths and become the first horse since Reynoldstown, in 1936, to win the National two years running.

Red Rum was denied a third National win by L’Escargot in 1975 and, again, by Rag Trade in 1976, such that when he lined up, as a 12-year-old, for the 1977 renewal he was considered past his best by some observers. Indeed, winning jockey Brian Fletcher had already been replaced by Tommy Stack for voicing such an opinion. In anu event, Red Rum galloped home in splendid isolation, winning by 25 lengths, with only loose horses for company.

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