Forgive N Forget 1985 Cheltenham Gold Cup

[TheDartManiac]

Boreen Prince[Trained by Andrew McNamara's father] had won the Arkle Chase only 2 days previously,beating Supreme Novices and future Champion Chase winner Buck House.I thought it was a cracking effort to be as competitive as he was against seasoned campaigners such as Forgive n Forget etc.

[malcs0]

Watch as Mark Dwyer makes his run up Half Free's inner, he almost chested the fence as he had little daylight until a couple of strides before. Considering how well he jumped the last, it makes you wonder how easily he would have won had he not been forced to pop that second last.

[fksakeletmein]

Are you kidding Drumadowney was a ok horse always gave his running from the front and I backed him for this race at 40/1 and 20/1

[grincher2006]

While Forgive n Forget was a classy horse, I would question the general quality of this race. Righthand Man was a very good handicapper and Earl's Brig a semi successful ex hunter chaser. Those behind like Drumadowney (mercurial), Boreen Prince etc didnt achieve much.

[thehorseshead]

Bit harsh about Earls Brig, he was a very good handicapper, not top class , but better than a "semi successfull hunter chaser" !!.

Drumadiwney was killed not long after the GC, Enigmatic was not the word , he looked a difficult ride to say the least.Great era, always liked Jimmy Fitz's Chasers.

[grincher2006]

@thehorseshead

Drumadowney tended to pull himself up. I recall that quirk. Earl's Brig was a good handicapper, but thats all he was a handicapper. Nor didnt capture the imagination like say Spartan Missile or Grittar. Didn't he have an obscure pilot P Craggs? Forgive n Forget was a favourite of mine. I put him in the Jodami mould. Very decent chasers but not in the super league. Shame BHL didnt contest 1985. It would have been good. Oh well. This year's renewal next week should be classy.

[keithwellerlounge74]

Grand Nationals of this time were fantastic. Brilliant until 1995 when Master Oats won. What a Legend he was. They went downhill for a while after that but 80's and early 90's had so many great finishes.

[ViveLaRock]

One of my favourite horses in the 80s. Class and guts. Such a tragedy he died in the later gold cup, was it 87?. Great video. Thanks for this.

[Newworldman66]

He was the best GC horse of the time and should have won it 4 years running. As I remember it he shattered one of his hind legs when on the bridle about 3 fences out in the 1988 GC and was sadly put down. He would have won the 86 GC easily if he'd been race fit but he'd hardly had a gallop, due to snow in England that year, in the month before the race whereas Dawn Run had an uninterrupted preparation. In 87 the blizzard conditions suited the Grand National horses who dominated the race.

[ViveLaRock]

1988 yes that was it. Y`know I`d seen him run so many times I had been backing him in a double with Celtic Shot (Champion Hurdle 88) all season. Did`nt see how he could lose. Of course Celtic Shot won the CH on the Tuesday. I lost thousands that day. But racing lost a unsung hero in Forgive n Forget for me.Horses like him don`t come along very often.

[december2364]

I agree totally. He was cruising in 1988 and looked every inch a winner when he pulled up.

[grincher2006]

@Newworldman66

Burrough Hill Lad was a higher rated horse. If he had made the post in 85, it would have been a good race to see.