SHARPE MIND: Stoute Fellow…

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 18 October and 24 October.

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OCT 18, 1995/2004………RUM-INATIONS……..…Three-time Grand National winner Red Rum died today in 1995. Nine years later on the same date his devoted lad Jackie Grainger died, aged 84. Rummy was buried by Aintree’s winning post.

OCT 18, 1966…………………SINC-ING FEELING………………..Auriol Sinclair became the first woman officially to train a double today in 1966 as Ladino, 8/1, and Golden Gloves, 11/4, both won at Folkestone for a virtual 33/1 double.

OCT 19, 1989……….TONY OUT ON HIS OWN – AGAIN!……..Super Tony won a handicap chase at Hexham on a walkover, today in 1989 – the second time the horse had won this way at the track.

OCT 19, 1989………COLOURFUL VICTORY……Newmarket’s Buckenham Stakes made history today in 1989 when its photo-finish print, revealing that Sister Sal had beaten Gabbiadini, was the first to be displayed in public in colour.

OCT 20, 1945………….TOTE-AL COLLAPSE………Overcrowding at Worcester racecourse today in 1945 culminated in the collapse of the Tote building, injuring twenty five spectators.

OCT 20, 1992…….STILL CHAMPING AT THE BIT……Jockey George Duffield, then 45, completed his first century of winners in a season today in 1992 on Two Left Feet at Chepstow, taking him to a total 1652 winners – more than any other rider had ever scored without becoming champion jockey during their career.

OCT 21, 1843…………..NOT SO GRAND OPENING………With the inaugural meeting at Ashton in Lancashire two days away on this date in 1843, a crowd broke into the not quite finished grandstand – which promptly collapsed, causing many broken limb and bone injuries – but not enough to prevent the opening card taking place.

OCT 21, 1995……………..NEW NOT KEEN ON OLD………In an odd, apparently ageist, cull, Newbury racecourse today in 1995 dismissed 123 raceday staff, whose average age was 73.

OCT 22, 1855…….TOO,TOO,TOO,TOO CLOSE TO CALL……..A rarity, even in those pre-camera days, as Overreach, Unexpected, Gamester and Lady Golightly flashed past the post together, and the judge called a four-way dead heat in a two-year-old, £10, race at Newmarket today in 1855.

OCT 22, 1994………GRAND THOUGHT, BUT NO………Out of the saddle for four years, Bob Champion finished second at Down Royal on Elegant Isle in a prep-run to see whether he should make a 1995 Grand National comeback to raise cash for charity. He decided against that, but has raised huge amounts via his Bob Champion Cancer Trust.

OCT 23, 1992…………………..PLANELY TIME TO STOP………..’Spillage of aviation fuel on the course’ was the reason given for the abandonment of racing at Newbury today in 1992 with one race remaining, after a light aircraft crashed on to the flat course.

OCT 23, 1993……….WINNINGS WITH INTEREST….Staff from the Halifax Building Society in Lewisham teamed up for a £1 each-way, six horse acca today in 1993. They all won, leaving them with a limit-busting £100,000 payout.

OCT 24, 2004…………..REVVING UP A RAFFLE…The Reverend Deric Derbyshire baptised racehorse Running Reverend in front of his congregation in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, today in 2004,, ‘sprinkling the horse’s forehead’, following a scripture reading, before offering it as prize in a fund-raising raffle.

OCT 24, 1947………..DEAD CLOSE…….Phantom Bridge and Resistance shared the honours in Doncaster’s Beechfield Handicap today in 1947 as the judge called the first photo-finish dead-heat in British racing history.

AND FINALLY………….STOUTE FELLOW…….Happy 76th birthday to legendary, Barbados-born trainer, Michael Stoute, born on October 22, 1945. His Dad was Commissioner of Police. Stoute trained ill-fated Shergar to win the 1981 Derby, completing his set of Classic winners when Conduit – also a dual Breeders Cup winner – won the 2008 St Leger, by which time he’d already won the other four at least twice each. Sir Michael also acted as a racing commentator in Barbados and Trinidad, working alongside subsequent ITV News At Ten presenter, Sir Trevor McDonald.