2012

THE weather held up with a bright day last Tuesday for the wedding of two members of Ireland’s leading racing families, Ted Walsh junior and Nina Carberry.

Nina looked a picture in a Tamem Michael-designed gown, accessorised with classic pearls, and had five of her oldest friends as bridesmaids. The wedding was in the Holy Trinity Church in Ratoath, with Fr Phil Gaffney keeping order throughout a wonderful ceremony, and the reception afterwards was at The Lodge Restaurant at Tayto Park, Curragha, Co Meath.

The best man was Ruby Walsh with groomsmen Dave Coughlan, Paul Carberry, Tom Freyne and Ross O’Sullivan, and a special highlight for the bride and grandparents, Tommy and Pamela Carberry, was the appearance of Nina’s nephews who were home from Australia, Ethan and Jacob Carberry, sons of her brother Mark.

A stream of racing personalities from the trainer and jockey ranks attended and helped to make it “one of the best days ever” according to one of the guests, and of course the party went on all night and into the following day, or even days.

Silent Witness bows out

2007

IT is a unique occasion when the horse finishing second last earns far more post-race attention than the winner.

While Scintillation was being led back in triumph after the Centenary Sprint Cup on Sunday last, the coverage on the huge Sha Tin infield screen focused on a horse once synonymous with victory. As he was unsaddled for the final time it was these images that received blanket coverage on the evening television news and morning papers.

Farewell, then, to Silent Witness, one of the most successful horses of recent decades, and certainly the greatest ever to race in Hong Kong.

News of the former champion’s retirement emerged two days before his final run, and came as no surprise in view of a degenerative condition in the seven-year-old’s hind joints.

Nor was it any great shock that his career would end in defeat since he hadn’t won in 16 months. In fact, the wonder was how his clearly diminished powers still merited a quote of 7/1 over a much too sharp five-furlong distance.

Silent Witness won 17 straight races from his debut in December 2002, a feat that attracted global attention as it took him beyond the records set by his European ancestor Ribot and the American champions Cigar and Citation.

The haul numbered eight Group 1 wins, including two Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint titles and two Champion Sprint Series grand slams. His 18th success was in the Group 1 Sprinters’ Stakes in Tokyo in October 2005. Bought by Archie da Silva for the equivalent of €200,000 after winning a barrier trial near Melbourne, Silent Witness won over €6.2 million, a Hong Kong record.

The son of El Moxie was twice voted Hong Kong Horse of the Year, and three times he took the Champion Sprinter crown. Even more impressively, he was the world’s top-ranked turf sprinter for three seasons. He also became the first horse from Hong Kong to earn the title of world champion without stepping foot outside Sha Tin.

In his prime he started at minimum odds of 1/10 favourite, robbing his races of betting interest for the majority, but affording the public an opportunity to watch a bona fide Hong Kong world champion do his thing. There was nearly a riot the day the Hong Kong Jockey Club underestimated the demand when handing out baseball caps carrying Silent Witness’ name and colours to coincide with his 17th straight win.

Own website

Silent Witness had his own website and appeared in Time Magazine as one of its ‘people of the year’ for 2004. They talked of making stamps in his honour, or commissioning a statue of him at Sha Tin. He was the one horse people in Hong Kong went out of their way to see.

Sometimes just one glance was enough, as was the case for one Irish trainer who fielded a rival in the 2004 Hong Kong Sprint. “Ah come on, how are we going to beat that?” he exclaimed upon seeing the champion’s monstrous, muscled frame.

That was probably his most impressive international performance, winning the world’s richest five-furlong race in a canter. Felix Coetzee rode Silent Witness in every one of his29 career starts for trainer Tony Cruz.

Silent Witness’ fans will have the chance for one last goodbye when he is paraded on February 25th, before flying back to his native Australia. He will spend his retirement at Living Legends, the international home of rest for champions, housing four Melbourne Cup and four Cox Plate winners.

[Silent Witness is still hale and hearty at Living Legends, one of a number of former racehorse greats living out their retirement there]

Pessimism reigns for racing’s future

1982

SELDOM, if ever, has racing experienced such a pessimistic time, and there is no indication that the end of this depressing period is in sight.

Recently it was learnt that Bill Davies is asking £8 million for Aintree and will not budge. The Independent Television Authority is seriously considering a drastic cut in coverage of racing that would lead to a serious drop in sponsorship, betting revenue and prize money. French racing experienced a severe setback in wagering last year, while in Italy the courses have become more like a New York waterfront.

Betting is still on the wane in Ireland, with hardly a meeting not recording a drop in Tote aggregate, and reported falls in bookmakers’ takings. The Racing Board can hardly be dancing with glee to see only 16 runners turn out for the first three races at Leopardstown today, and its Champion Hurdle is still without a sponsor.

All that means that prize money will remain static and the standard of racing will continue to suffer, with the best bloodstock earmarked for export.

Home-bird Michael Dickinson settling in

1982

ALTHOUGH Michael Dickinson is now the trainer, the stable continues to be very much a family concern.

All major decisions are taken after discussion, often lively, with his parents who provide such a major supportive role. Michael is still a reluctant traveller, so his mother Monica and father Tony, “the boss”, often represent him on the racecourse. “My job’s done by the time the horse is at the races. There’s nothing more I can do, so I’m better off looking after things at home,” he explains.

Two and a half years ago the Dickinsons moved 35 miles across the Pennines, from their former cramped yard at Gisburn to their new, superbly-equipped stables on their own farm at Harewood in Yorkshire. Michael recalls: “The place was in a muddle when we moved. We spent most of the time learning about our new facilities, and thought we’d be lucky to have 20 winners all season.”

Such pessimism was completely misplaced. The stable won a huge tally of 94 races. That was the final season that Tony held the training licence. Now his son Michael is on the way to becoming the youngest champion trainer over jumps.

[Michael Dickinson was a champion amateur rider and won the 1977 RSA Chase on Gay Spartan, trained by his father. As a trainer he was champion three times under National Hunt rules, having spent two years with Vincent O’Brien in Ballydoyle. He is perhaps most famous for his extraordinary feat of training the first five in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup; Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House.

He briefly trained flat horses for Robert Sangster before moving to Maryland. There he trained Da Hoss to win the 1996 and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile, despite only having had one race in between owing to injury. Dickinson announced that he would not apply for a trainer’s licence in 2008, in order to devote his time to his business of synthetic racetrack surfaces]