Few things in sport are more thrilling than a great racehorse giving its all. That’s why the death of that noble steeplechaser Many Clouds on Saturday was so sad, so epic too. Courage is an over-used word in sport, but Many Clouds really was very brave indeed. He won the Grand National on strength-sapping ground in 2015, and at the weekend fought back to beat the best chaser of the present day, Thistlecrack, by a head. Seconds after crossing the line in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, this most magnificent of horses collapsed and died. It was a pulmonary haemorr-hage. Many Clouds had literally given his all. Now his ashes will be scattered in the Isle of Man where he spent his summer holidays. Someone, please make a film of this extraordinary story.
But there are issues for the sport here, too. The anti-racing lobby was out of the blocks quicker than Usain Bolt, and castigating the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for allowing Many Clouds to race in view of past breathing problems. His trainer Oliver Sherwood defended the decision as an operation had apparently sorted the problem out. Racing will close ranks, but was this a step too far for Many Clouds? Exciting though it is, the sport should examine itself without blinkers or blocked ears. Of course it is very rare for a horse to drop dead, though a fair number do have fatal falls at hurdles and fences. Whatever the truth, we should never have lost Many Clouds.
Ever since Alan Hansen decided to spend more time with his golf clubs, Alan Shearer has become an increasingly authoritative pundit. But he was talking through his expensively betrousered rear end the other day with an attack on clubs in the Premier League and the Championship for fielding weakened teams in the FA Cup.
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