SHARPE MIND: Anne off the Mark…

In this week’s SHARPE MIND blog, where sports betting PR legend GRAHAM SHARPE aims to bring you a rundown of Sensational, Hard to believe, Amusing, Remarkable, Pertinent & Entertaining events which have happened over the years in the worlds of racing and betting during each specific week of the year, he digs out some of the golden moments from the week between 30 August and 5 September.

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AUG 30………SMALL STEP FOR FEMALES…………Small Heath racecourse in Birmingham was a little ahead of the game when today in 1880 their racecard included the Small Heath Stewards’ Stakes in which both entries were ridden by female jockeys……and on the same date in 1982 jump jockey Gee Armytage got off the mark with her first winner, Applante, at Southwell.

AUG 30………..MILL-ION TO ONE DISASTER…….The previous year’s Derby winner, Mill Reef fractured his near foreleg whilst exercising at trainer Ian Balding’s Kingsclere yard today in 1972.

AUG 31……….GARY SOBERS BOOKIES UP……..Legendary West Indian cricketer Sir Gary Sobers not only hit six sixes in one over, for Notts, against Glamorgan, today in 1968, the first ever to achieve the feat in first class cricket– but a bet he’d placed earlier produced 4/1, 10/1 and 20/1 winners.

AUG 31……….DEER, ME………Racegoers at Klampenborg Galopbane racecourse in Denmark were stunned today in 1996, as a herd of 50 deer escaped from a nearby park and invaded the course, at first delaying the first race, then causing a complete abandonment of the meeting.

SEPT 1…………..SULLIVAN STALLS……….Long-standing owner David Sullivan threatened to pull out of the sport today in 2008 after his Jack Junior was left several lengths behind from the off at Great Leighs after the stalls malfunctioned, but he was offered no compensation by racing authorities.

SEPT 1…………TARNISHED GOLD……Unplaced on his racecourse debut today in 1930 at Southwell, Golden Miller would make amends for owner Dorothy Paget by going on to prove himself chasing’s greatest with five Cheltenham Gold Cup wins and a Grand National on his cv.

SEPT 2……………MY LIFE! COOL RESPONSE TO DEATH THREAT……………’PC Plod kept an eagle eye on Lester Piggott at Epsom as a safety precaution as the racecourse received a telephone call saying that an attempt would be made to kill the champion jockey’ reported the Sporting Life, today in 1968. Imagine the contrast today if a similar threat were to be made against Frankie Dettori! Oh, Lester stayed calm – and rode a treble.

SEPT 2…………..ROCK ON………Trainer Christine Dunnett saddled Scruffy Skip to win the 15th running of a race at Brighton sponsored by journalists Ian Carnaby and David Ashforth, today in 2009 and was delighted to receive a bonus prize from Ian – a stick of Brighton rock.

SEPT 3…………………ANNE OFF THE MARK………………….Cnoc Na Cuille, trained by David Nicholson, won a Worcester chase at 7/2 today in 1987, ridden by, and giving a first winning ride to….Princess Anne.

SEPT 3…………..TUCKING INTO WINNERS…….Jump jockey Phil Tuck completed a sequence of ten consecutive winners – equalling Johnny Gilbert’s 1959 record – today in 1986, on even-money shot, Doronicum, at Southwell.

SEPT 4……………..ABOUT TIME……Timeless Times won at 11/2 at Pontefract, today in 1990, to equal the record 16 wins as a two year old, held by The Bard, 1885, and Provideo, 1984. TT raced again next day, third at York, and didn’t manage a 17th win that term.

SEPT 4……………………BALLSY PERFORMANCES………………………. ‘He has no balls, so he definitely will’ declared trainer Tim Easterby today in 2004, asked whether his Haydock Sprint Cup winner, Somnus, would return to the race – and he did, 4th in 2005, 4th in 2006, ninth in 2007.

SEPT 5…………………….MIXED UP WINNERS…………Paul Carberry scored a notable treble on the evening of this date in 1994 at Galway, winning on hurdler Dardjini, 8/13; then 8/1 chaser Foilaclug, followed by 8/1 Jakdul on the Flat.

SEPT 5…………………..THAT’S ANDY – GLORIOUS RIDE………………The four runners in a Sedgefield chase all fell or refused at the last fence today in 1989 – jockey Andy Orkney hauled 5/4 shot Grange Of Glory off the top of the fence, remounted and won by a distance.

AND FINALLY……..NO MESSING ABOUT IN THOSE DAYS…..Charlie Smirke’s mount, 4/11 Welcome Gift, refused to race at Gatwick on August 31, 1928 but even though the horse misbehaved subsequently, Smirke was banned for five years – coming back triumphantly to win the 1934 Derby on Windsor Lad.