Nearco

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Yeah, I bet most of you have never heard of him, but I have. Nearco was a horse.

I quite like horses although I have never owned one nor wanted to. I cleaned the bakery stables as a kid but that was for money. Most were OK but Gypsy was a bitch for she'd bite you as soon as look at you. She was a strong horse and one Saturday, I got her up to galloping speed pulling the cart down the Ashby Road in Tamworth. I got a bollocking for that.

Nearco is really special. A great winner in his own right, never lost a race, but he had two even more famous grandkids:

Arkle, by common consent, was the greatest steeplechaser of all time. He didn't win all his races but in his prime he won them outright and at handicap weights which were horrendous. I saw him on TV many times. He came 2nd in his last race but that was with a broken leg.

Northern Dancer, a Canadian horse who ran on the flat, is generally regarded as the most successful stud horse of the 20th century breeding so many later winners. He won many races himself including the Kentucky Derby in record time.

Interestingly, Nearco was trained by the same man who trained Ribot, another of the greatest race horses of all time and another successful horse at stud.

Great horses. I am glad I was around to see them.