Jump to content
The Race Place

RIP Steve Harley


pete

Recommended Posts

Never heard of him, the band or the horse Pete, but I see that song was a No1 in the UK.  Perhaps that was when I was having my 20-year sleep induced by the music of the last 2 decades

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Never heard of him, the band or the horse Pete, but I see that song was a No1 in the UK.  Perhaps that was when I was having my 20-year sleep induced by the music of the last 2 decades

Song came out in 1975.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very good horse but very ordinary sire. His racing career ended in bizarre fashion.

Cockney Rebel, ridden by Olivier Peslier, was a 25-1 chance for the 2000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket in 2007, but beat Vital Equine, his Champagne Stakes (G2) conqueror, by a length and a half. He proved that there was no fluke about the result when he followed up in the Irish 2,000 Guineas (G1) at The Curragh three weeks later, in similarly impressive style. He only the second horse in the previous 15 years (and the sixth in racing history) to win both the English and Irish 2000 Guineas Classics. The last horse to achieve the double Guineas feat was Rock of Gibraltar – who ran a slower time than Cockney Rebel in both races.

A very sharp miler, Cockney Rebel clocked the second fastest time (1:36.1) since modern timings began in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. He beat winners of nine Group One races, including the locally trained champion Duke Of Marmalade, in this classic. His time in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket was also excellent, as he stopped the clocks in 1:35.2, the best time in the historic classic since 1995. This time was over two seconds faster than the time superstar Frankel recorded in the same event in 2012.

Sadly, Cockney Rebel suffered a pelvic injury when beaten as the even money favourite in the St James's Palace Stakes at Ascot and this proved to be his final race. He had been reported to be working well ahead of his planned reappearance but suffered a bizarre injury on the gallops when a piece of paper blew across the field and hit his near fore on the tendon. The news that it would take three months to heal prompted his connections to retire him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Sounds bizarre, how does a piece of paper damage a tendon

More explanation. You can see I'm a bit bored today:

"He was cantering this morning and a piece of paper flew across and his hind leg hit his near-fore on the tendon," Huffer said yesterday. "The vet scanned it and there is a slight injury that would take three months or so to heal. I called Phil Cunningham [his owner] and we have decided to retire him. He's the best horse I've ever had or ever will have. All we want to do now is what's best for him."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well papercuts do hurt don't they.!!!! Remember the song well though. Speaking of Cockneys, my best mate when living in Sydney in my late teens was one, and used to crack me up at times. " Oi, i'm just slipping on my daisy roots, then im off round the johnny horner ,down the apple and pears, into a sherbet dab and down the dilly." Work that one out. lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went on a weeklong plastics technology course at Uxbridge University in West London quite a few years ago and got friendly with 2 cockney guys.  Funniest people I ever met, a few pints of IPA and a curry each night, what a great time

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...