Flyingbolt

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Flyingbolt


caption =
sire = Airborne
grandsire = Precipitation
dam = Eastlock
damsire = Easton
sex = Gelding
foaled = 1959
country = Great Britain flagicon|UK
colour = Chestnut
breeder = Mr. R.E. Way
owner = Mrs. T.G. Wilkinson
trainer = Tom Dreaper
record = Ran 34 times in all. Won 18. 2nd in 3. 3rd in 6. 4th in 2. Ran 25 times over fences. Won 12. 2nd in 3. 3rd in 5. 4th in 1. Ran 6 times over hurdles. Won 4. 3rd in 1. 4th in 1. Ran 3 times on the flat. Won 2.
race =
awards =
honours =
updated= March 20th, 2008

Flyingbolt was a famous racehorse.

Overview

Officially he is the second best National Hunt racehorse of all time, after Arkle, but he is not nearly as well known as his rival. Flyingbolt's racing career was dogged by illness and injury but at his best he was probably as good as Arkle. It is very difficult to rate horses who never actually raced against each other but a comparison of their merits is probably best illustrated by the Official Handicapper who at one stage in 1966, when both were at the height of their powers, rated Arkle the superior by only 1 pound (lb). Timeform, the highly respected racing publication had a difference of 2 lbs between them. Some will argue that Flyingbolt was the better but unfortunately he wasn't given the chance to prove it because both were trained by the same man, the great Tom Dreaper. Although Arkle was a triple Gold Cup winner, Flyingbolt was easily the more versatile of the two, showing astonishing speed over 2 miles as well as appearing to have no stamina limits. He was also a far better hurdler than Arkle and at 7 years of age had achieved more than Arkle had over fences at the same time in his career. Arkle would not have had the speed to beat him at shorter trips and unfortunately we were never to find out on the track who was superior over 3 miles or more. The only way of comparing them was through the form of others whom they had beaten and even that shows that there was little or nothing between them. An example of their superiority over their modern day contemporaries can be gauged from the fact that the recent 'superstars' of the chasing scene, Best Mate, Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star and Denman would be rated in the region of 21 lbs or more below both of them.

Lineage

Flyingbolt was born in 1959 in most unusual circumstances. His sire Airborne, the 1946 Derby winner, was believed to have become completely impotent and local man, Robert Way agreed to give him a home on his small stud farm where he housed a few mares of his own. In the belief that Airborne was infertile, he put him into a paddock as a companion for the 19-year-old Eastlock, a barren mare who had not conceived for 4 years and had been retired from breeding. However, she took a liking to the supposedly sterile Airborne and the outcome was a chestnut colt foal born the following year. Robert Way sold him as a foal at the Newmarket December Sales for 210 guineas to Larry Ryan from Co. Clare in Ireland. After winning in the show ring as a yearling, Larry offered him for sale that autumn at the Ballsbridge sales in Dublin through the Rathmore Stud owned by legendary Irish jockey Martin Molony. He was bought by George Ponsonby for 490 guineas. George, a well renowned judge of horseflesh, had already purchased a number of top performers who went into training with Tom Dreaper. This one did likewise and was passed on to Mrs T.G. Wilkinson who gave him the name, Flyingbolt.

Debut

Flyingbolt made his racecourse debut on the 13th May, 1963 in a flat race over 12 furlongs at Leopardstown. Starting at 20/1, he finished down the field but Tom Dreaper was quite happy, as the sole intention was simply to give him some racecourse experience. He was still immature and needed more time to fill into his massive frame so he was turned out into a field for the summer. His run at Leopardstown would prove to be his only defeat for the next two and a half years.

He re-appeared at Navan on the 9th October, 1963 when running away with the bumper by 7 lengths at odds of 8/11 in the hands of top amateur Alan Lillingston. Coincidentally, Arkle won his only ever flat race on the same card just half an hour earlier. After winning his next start on the flat at Leopardstown by an easy 4 lengths with Liam McLoughlin in the saddle, Flyingbolt was switched to hurdling by Tom Dreaper the following month, winning his maiden at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting in a canter. He then hacked up in the Feltrim Hurdle at Baldoyle followed by an equally facile success in the Scalp Hurdle at Leopardstown before heading to Cheltenham where he ran away with the Gloucestershire Hurdle in the hands of Pat Taaffe who rode him in all of his jump races whilst in the care of Tom Dreaper. Later that same week Arkle beat Mill House in that now legendary Gold Cup of 1964.

Chasing Career

After his customary summer break, Flyingbolt was sent chasing in the autumn of 1964. He proceeded to win all 5 of his starts including the 2 mile Champion Novice Chase at Cheltenham (known then as the Cotswold Chase) and his final start at Fairyhouse where he carried 12-2 to victory giving the second horse 37 lbs. His superiority was such that he started at odds-on in all of his races that season.

He made his seasonal re-appearance in a handicap hurdle at the Phoenix Park on the 2nd October 1965 where he finished 4th when trying to concede 28 lbs and upwards to his rivals. Although beaten for the first time in two and a half years, it was really only a warm-up race prior to the resumption of his chasing career, a sphere in which he still remained unbeaten. Flyingbolt proved to be a revelation during this season, winning all of his 6 chases with consummate ease ranging in distance from 2 miles to 3 and a quarter miles. He began with a victory in the Carey's Cottage Handicap Chase at Gowran Park winning by 5 lengths carrying 12-2 and giving 32 lbs to the second horse. This was followed by a trip to Ascot in November where he won the prestigious Black & White Gold Cup in a canter by 15 lengths. For the first time in 8 starts over fences he started at odds-against for the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup at Cheltenham in December. The reason for what appeared to be a generous price was because he had been allotted 12-6 in the race and had to give 25 lbs and more in weight to his 10 rivals, a task which many thought might prove to be beyond him. However those who backed him in from 5/1 to 5/2 favourite knew what he was capable of and he did not let them down. In one of the best performances of his career, he took the lead with 3 to jump and galloped his rivals into the ground, drawing right away to win by 15 lengths in very heavy ground. His next start was back at home in the Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park where he carried the now customary top weight and beat Height O'Fashion by a distance (in excess of 30 lengths) giving her 28 lbs with Flying Wild (who received 29 lbs) another 25 lengths back in third. Yet another astonishing performance. Indeed Arkle had failed by a length to give 32 lbs to Flying Wild in the previous season's Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup.

His next port of call was the Cheltenham Festival for the 2 mile Champion Chase. He started at odds of 1-5, the shortest price in the history of the race and he won pulling up by 15 lengths. The comment beside his name in the Form Book afterwards said it all - "took lead 2 out, canter". This effort led many to regret that he wasn't given the chance to take on Arkle in the Gold Cup. Unfortunately, because both were trained by the same man, this was always unlikely to happen. However, 24 hours after the Champion Chase, Flyingbolt re-appeared in the Champion Hurdle where despite taking on the specialist 2 mile hurdlers he started a short priced favourite. Although beaten by just over 3 lengths, Pat Taaffe was widely criticised for going round the outside and perhaps not letting this proven stayer set a clear lead earlier. As it was, Flyingbolt got too close to the fourth last and lost valuable ground which may well have cost him the race. It is also possible that Taaffe was mindful of the fact that he had just raced the previous day and instead of kicking on down the hill, he waited till the straight which allowed his 'quicker' rivals to conserve their energy and he was just caught for 'toe' after the last. Indeed, it was one of the very rare occasions that Tom Dreaper ever expressed his dissatisfaction to Pat for the ride he gave to one of his horses. However, Flyingbolt ended his season on a high note when carrying the welter burden of 12-7 in the Irish Grand National over 3 and a quarter miles at Fairyhouse beating Height O'Fashion and the previous year's winner, Splash giving them 40 lbs and 42 lbs respectively. It was yet another remarkable effort and he was now unbeaten in 11 starts over fences. In all, he had won 17 of his 20 races including 3 consecutive wins at the Cheltenham Festival. At only 7 years of age (2 years younger than Arkle) it looked like he had the racing world at his feet. Sadly, things would never be the same again.

Brucellosis

Before being turned out for the summer, Flyingbolt had a number of warts removed from underneath his belly in the girth region. Tom Dreaper had been spoken to by the Stewards who suggested that it might be a good idea to remove them during the off-season as they appeared unsightly when he returned to the winner's enclosure after a race. This was because they used to bleed as a result of brushing through the fences and from a public perspective it did not look good to have the horse unsaddling after the race with blood dripping from his belly. Although of no consequence and of no risk to the animal's health, they felt that it did not leave a good impression on the general public. Tom did not consider this a problem and he had vet Maxi Cosgrove perform the simple operation of removing them before turning him out as usual in a paddock with a few of his mates and some cattle which would be normal practice on any farm.

During the summer, there were rumblings that the Wilkinsons were keen to take on Arkle in the following year's Cheltenham Gold Cup. He had done everything else that was asked of him, he was unbeaten over fences at all distances and there was only one thing left to prove - that he was better than Arkle. Every racing fan in the British Isles wanted the same and the 1966-1967 season was eagerly awaited. Flyingbolt was first on to the stage. The race was the National Hunt Centenary Chase at Cheltenham on the 29th October 1966 where he carried 12-7. Although giving 21 lbs and more in weight to the other 4 runners, they were a very modest bunch and it was expected to be no more than an excercise canter for him. Starting at 2-7 favourite, he appeared to have everything under control until suddenly weakening 2 out before finishing 9 lengths third. Something was clearly wrong but nothing obvious came to light. Eventually, exhaustive tests indicated brucellosis, normally a disease primarily associated with cattle. It was concluded that he must have picked it up during the summer whilst out grazing with the cattle, one or more of whom may have been infected. The removal of the warts was also thought to have possibly provided a doorway for the disease to get into the system. Whatever the cause, the only means of recovery was a prolonged period of rest after which there was only a small chance of a full recovery. He was still a young horse and the hope was that he could recover sufficiently in order to return and win a Cheltenham Gold Cup. Tragically as it turned out, one horse whom he would now never meet was Arkle. Within 2 months of Flyingbolt's setback, Arkle fractured a pedal bone in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park and never raced again. The racing world was left completely deflated. To lose one star was bad enough but to lose both in such a short space of time was hard to take.

Return

Flyingbolt eventually returned to action a year later but only took part in 2 races within the space of a month. Carrying 12-7 in both, he finished 3rd on his first start at Punchestown (giving 42 lbs to all of the other runners) before finishing a well beaten 7th in the Mackeson Gold Cup at Cheltenham. Clearly he was not the same horse and he was given another year off in the hope that he might re-discover his form. He never raced for Tom Dreaper again and when he was deemed ready to return to the track in November 1968, he was now in the care of Ken Oliver in the north of England. Flyingbolt again ran in only 2 races that season although he did win one of them when carrying 12-7 to victory under Barry Brogan in a handicap chase at Haydock on the 3rd January 1969. Out of action for yet another year he eventually returned to race sparingly for another 2 seasons but he was unrecognisable from the great horse that he once was and in many ways it was sad to watch although he did manage to finish second in the King George VI Chase on the eve of his 11th birthday, one of the few races in the calendar where he was relieved from having to carry 12-7 and giving lumps of weight away to the opposition.

Private Race

In the end, Arkle and Flyingbolt never met on the racecourse but they did so at home as Pat Taaffe recounted in his book 'My Life & Arkle's'. "Flyingbolt was hacking along with Paddy Woods on his back and a funny look in his eye. Upsides on Arkle, I was thinking to myself that I would never see a prouder horse than this. Then he turned his head and slowly looked us over. You could almost see the curl of the lip. This was the 'Who are these peasants?' look of his that I was to come to know so well and I suppose I should have been forewarned. Next thing I knew he's taken a strong hold and was away. Not to be outdone, Arkle took an equally strong hold and got up alongside. And so these two young chasers who were then potentially the best in the world staged their own private race during what was supposed to be a normal session of morning schooling. They took the next four fences, neck and neck, flat out as though their lives depended on the outcome, while Paddy and I held on to them for dear life and waited for the fires to die down. Well, they cleared them all right, but it was a bit too close for comfort and Mr. Dreaper never allowed them to be schooled together again. In character, they were the night and the day. A small child could walk into Arkle's box in absolute safety. No child, no man would ever willingly step into Flyingbolt's.... at least, not twice. He'd kick the eye out of your head. But over jumps and on the flat he was a superb machine and a brave one.... Certainly he was as good at seven as Arkle was at the same age.... If progress had been maintained, he would have been as good, if not better, than Arkle himself".

Jim Dreaper, Tom's son, was just a schoolboy at the time and he recounted his thoughts on both Arkle & Flyingbolt to Hugh McIlvaney 30 years later. "It is foolish to say there can never be another steeplechaser as great as Arkle. There may have been one in the yard along with him. It is impossible to tell how fantastic Flyingbolt might have been if he had not contracted brucellosis".

Legacy

Who was the best? We will never know. Arkle is generally acknowledged as being the greatest ever steeplechaser. There are some who will argue the case for Flyingbolt. Even though he is officially the 2nd greatest steeplechaser of all time, Flyingbolt never got anything like the recognition that he deserved. Whilst Arkle is a household name to this day, Flyingbolt is not a name that registers with too many, especially the younger generation. An example of this came about in 2005 when the 'Racing Post' conducted a readers' poll to determine the 100 favourite racehorses of all time. Arkle, predictably, was number one. Flyingbolt didn't even get a mention.

External links

* [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/horseracing/story/0,,2015104,00.html Article] on Flyingbolt from "The Guardian"

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/flyingbolt Flyingbolt's pedigree]