‘Deer-stalking would be a very fine sport,’ W.S. Gilbert once observed, ‘if the deer had guns too.’ We who love jump racing have to acknowledge that there are plenty of folk out there who feel that horses, too, are helpless victims with no alternative but to hurl themselves at obstacles to profit heartless owners, trainers and riders. Trying to change the minds of such critics is probably akin to urging Jacob Rees-Mogg to stand a round for the EU’s Jean-Claude Juncker, but I just wish that some of racing’s critics could have been in the winners’ enclosure at Kempton last Saturday.
Nobody watching Amy Murphy’s bold-jumping Mercian Prince soar over every obstacle in a 2m 4f chase, meeting every fence with the perfect mixture of elan and precision, could fail to appreciate that he was enjoying the experience every bit as much as his talented rider Jack Quinlan. When little Top Notch, an eight-year-old who has been racing for five seasons from Nicky Henderson’s Seven Barrows yard in Lambourn, was asked by Daryl Jacob to go on and win his race from Black Corton and Charbel there was no doubt either about his continued relish for a contest.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in