Something for the weekend

By Ian Carnaby

So, Christmas time again and here is short quiz to keep you on your toes. Seven out of ten without recourse to the internet would be a very good effort. If you want to go on thinking for a while, don’t read beyond the questions.

1.Who is the only horse to have won the King George VI Chase twice in the same year?

2.In modern times, who is the only mare to have produced two Aintree Grand National winners?

3.When Foinavon avoided the shambles at the 23rd fence in the 1967 National, who was commentating on BBC Television?

4.Which racing presenter beat Prince Charles in a charity race at Plumpton in 1981?

5.Who, after A P McCoy, has ridden most jumps winners in Britain?

6.Who trains now at the legendary Shrewton stables where Bob Sievier prepared Sceptre to win four of the five Classics but not the Derby?

7.Why would Mick Channon know the answer to that? (‘Being born nearby’, or ‘local Wiltshire lad’ will not quite do.)

8.Who are Lloyd Barber and Joe Butler?

9.Post war, who is the only jockey to have made the frame in the Epsom Derby and Aintree Grand National?

10.What was Peter O’Toole’s father’s principal connection with racing?

It was in my mind to offer an all expenses paid day out on Carnaby seller day at Brighton, together with a magnum of champagne, and I am more than happy to do that. The problem is, the race isn’t until early autumn and it seems a long while to wait. On top of that, there would have been all the jibes about the second prize being two days, etc, so I thought I’d just give the answers and ramble on a bit the way I usually do.

A tie-breaker to win a day at Brighton’s day of the year…

The other problem, given that some people will not rest until they’ve put a quiz to bed and know that they’ve got it absolutely right, is the tie-breaker to decide the winner. So, this was going to be an absolute stinker and if you know the answer, the first person to e-mail the website (at editor@the-racehorse.com) will receive two badges, plus lunch in the box on Brighton’s day of the year.

Which horse connects the late Les Hall, who trained at Winchester, Stockton racecourse and the Monkees?

Anyway, the ill-fated One Man won the King George twice in 1996, the first time in January when the race was switched to Sandown from Kempton, the second time on Boxing Day at its traditional home.

Miss Alligator was the dam of both Anglo and Red Alligator. What a girl!

The late Michael O’Hehir was the man with the microphone when Foinavon found the only available gap at the 23rd fence and recorded his unforgettable 100 to 1 victory.

Derek Thompson beat Prince Charles at Plumpton and was ribbed about it by John Timpson and Brian Redhead on the Radio 4 Today programme the following morning. I remember it pretty well because I followed Tommo as Peter Bromley’s number two and did the Radio 4 slot on a regular basis.

The perennial and uncomplaining runner-up Richard Johnson has ridden most winners after A P McCoy.

The trainer who looks after the historic Shrewton yard, close to Salisbury Plain, is Dr Jeremy Naylor, a charming and very talented man. Jeremy previously divided his time between running the Bristol University Equine Research Centre and acting as Martin Pipe’s vet until the chance came to take over from John Bolton at Shrewton. John had given him a few rides as an amateur.

Mick would know the answer because, although his birthplace was Orcheston just up the road, he was playing for Shrewton Town when Ted Bates signed him for Southampton in 1964.

Lloyd Barber is the narrator in Tip On A Dead Jockey, by Irwin Shaw, and Joe Butler tells how he accompanied his father, an old sweat of a jockey, from Milan to Paris in Ernest Hemingway’s My Old Man. These are arguably the two finest racing short stories ever written, though the Hemingway one owes plenty to Sherwood Anderson’s I Want To Know Why.

G W ‘Willie’ Robinson won the Grand National on Team Spirit in 1964 and finished second on Paddy’s Point in the 1958 Derby.

Peter O’Toole’s father was a racecourse bookmaker.

So there you have it. Enjoy your Christmas, don’t take a short price about Kauto Star, remember not to play poker with anyone called ‘Doc’ and make sure of some 20 to 1 about Butler’s Cabin in the National. It’s safe to say A P McCoy does indeed give a damn, but there are far too many Butlers in this piece already.