Nortons Coin 1990 Cheltenham Gold Cup

[ComteLafon]

quite agree with tigerboy - and as a result the hairy-arsed farmer (and I dont' think he'd mind being called that!) ended up in a carriage with the Queen at Royal Ascot., looking quite at home amongst royalty. Probably the 2nd best day of his life.

It is easy to forget that Nortons Coin had a decent bit of form to his name - 100-1 reflected the money put on him (and the daft amounts backing Dessie), not the actual chance he had in the race.

[21shergar]

Biggest roar of silence ever at Cheltenham.

[joiganja]

my dad bets on the horses but gets things mixed , the year before nortons coin won a c and d handicap at the festival and he said to me "it won the race last year and its 100/1 im having 20 e/w on it" i laughed and said,"it was a handicap not the gold cup" but he would,nt have it, so after laughing at him all day i don,t need to tell you his smug as fuckness after the race.

[punditpete]

It was a fluke. The horse never won another race.

[MikeandJayne1]

He beat Waterloo Boy and Pegwell Bay when he won a race at Cheltenham the following season.

[tigerboy1966]

This is why NH racing is great. An unknown point-to-pointer trained by a hairy-arsed farmer from the middle of nowhere beats the living legend and all the other posh horses. Love it!

[ComteLafon]

I'll disagree with one point - Wayward Lad ran more good races than bad at Cheltenham, and ran some blinders in defeat. It was just the 26th furlong he didn't like, and ran out of gas.

[ibanez777vbk]

dessie wasnt so hot round cheltenham,seen at his best round kempton.wayward lad was the same great round kempton but not so round cheltenham.how can you rate dessie in same leauge as kauto or arkle,lost here to handicapers and beat hadicapers the year he won.kauto would have buthcherd dessie at cheltenham

[gurgless]

Desert Orchid won the Gold Cup though in 1989 on the sort of bottonless ground that if it was ran today it would have been abandoned.

Dessie also went and won alot further in trip than Kauto Star ever will.

2m (Victor Chandler) to 3m5F (Irish National).

Dessie also prefered right-handed tracks, his only two wins left handed were the Gold Cup in 89 and what is now known as the Totesport Bowl at Aintree the year before.

To compare horses from different eras woulb very difficult.

[pumphol]

There were question marks against most of the horses & Nortons a course specialist & second at the festival the year before in the Cathcart. I thought a place in the fame was a strong possibility, it was 200/1 on the morning with Ladbrokes & won the race on merit in a record time, my greatest thrill in racing in over 30 years of betting, happy days indeed.

[foriamonlyahorse2]

A Desert Orchid in decline beat Toby Tobias by an easy 12l in the King George later that year which shows how inferior he was around Cheltenham with French horse The Fellow back in 3rd a further 16l behind (fututre Gold Cup winner & dual winner of King George).

A truly great horse was Dessie.

[marsvltor2]

Still remember the looks of David Elsworth and Jenny Pitman in the winners' enclosure: utter disbelief!!!

[Sunburst75]

Mr.Garry why would the connections of Sea The Stars want to run their horse in the leger over 1m 6f :-) ??

[MrGary66]

Whatever the outcome, what has to be stated is that despite the well known fact that Dessie was seriously disadvantaged by Cheltenham and the conditions, the race had to have Dessie run otherwise the 1990 Gold Cup was meaningless. All credit to connections. Unlike say the despicable, disgusting, revolting connections of Sea The Stars who dissed the St Leger and made the triple Crown seem pointless - consequently STS will not achieve greatness

[royimsickofit]

@MrGary66 STS connections handled that horse superbly, and the horse has achieved greatness you tool

[YasminAttonX]

so he was beat, he was still the legend :)

[Widsy320]

Yep..Even Dessie had his 'Off' days (as we all do)...But Norton's Coin's name will vanish into the mist..Dessie's name will live forever!

[21shergar]

I beg to differ. Of course, the great Desert Orchid's name will stand proud among steeple chasers, but I suspect that a 100/1 winner of the race will always be remembered too.

[Widsy320]

I hadn't noticed the 100/1 bit!...I take back my comments!..S!

[abrahamcat]

lol. That's got to be the quietest Cheltenham crowd at the Gold Cup finish ever.

[horsewoman34]

lol. is it louder?

[abrahamcat]

It's like the crowd all died at once as soon as they saw Norton's Coin had won. I wonder how many torn up betting slips there were.

[21shergar]

I can't remember a greater roar of silence at the Festival.

[thestrangeenigma]

i love the silence as nortons coin passes the post shock in the air !!!

[ViveLaRock]

Great clip. Desert Orchid was my pick after the previous years triumph. Sadly old Dessie hated Cheltenham. Nortons Coin however a worthy winner, at a ridiculous price.

[21shergar]

We don't see it in this clip, but Norton's Coin had this race won at the top of the hill: extraordinary stuff. For such a course specialist with reasonable form to go off at 100/1 - amazing!

[pumphol]

I also backed him at 100/1 in fact on the morning of the race Ladbrokes were offering 200/1 but I had already had my bet by then.

Happy days.

[LuvSickPuppi]

what he won at 66-1?

[LuvSickPuppi]

what price was nortons coin