One Man 1998 Queen Mother Champion Chase

[gutlesswonderfd]

My favourite racehorse. Cried my eyes out when he died. :( This was a fantastic race! A horse can only beat the opponents that turn up on the day. Re: Kauto Star - He's a lovely horse that has done great things but I don't he's quite in the same league as Desert Orchid to be honest.

[waqarkhan25]

mazingley One Man opezint what Desert Orchid Dessie ran in the Queen Mother Champion Chase but sadley lost and in 1989 Dessie the Cheltenham Gold Cup and One Man ran the Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase but sadley lost the Gold Cup but whon the Queen Mother is'nt that a mazing what do think of it?

[alipitogen]

Sorry I didn't own a house that year because I would have put it on this horse. I remember when John McCrirrick asked before the race "Will One Man get up the Cheltenham hill?" I screamed at the TV "It's two miles, John!". It happens seldom but this was one day I knew a horse was going to win and I think he was 7/2. He just wasn't going to tie up on the hill as he had previously over 3miles 2 of the Gold Cup.The Fellow at 10/1 for the King George a few years earlier was another bookies gift.

[Laytonia1977]

@alipitogen I was on One man at 11/2 :)

[alipitogen]

@Laytonia1977 Thanks! I was trying to remember whether he was 7/2 or 11/2 but my memory wouldn't serve me and I just thought 11/2 was too good to be true.11/2!!! I'll take your word for it and I'd say I backed him at that price and I wish I hadn't been an impecunious student at the time. I think 7/2 would have even been a gift as well. I'm sure you could have reversed those odds if he had lived to race the next year. I'm sure about The Fellow's price though -10/1 sticks in the mind better.

[Laytonia1977]

@alipitogen Awww he was a wonderful horse. I was on One Man at 13/8 - all my money - when I was at the Gold Cup as a wide-eyed 18 year old in 1996; I watched him, live, stagger over the line - I was standing right on the finishing post, and knew he wasn't 'gold cup' horse. I tried to convince a friend of mine to put all his money on him for this race; he declined :)

[Laytonia1977]

@alipitogen I got 11/2 a few days before; his SP was 7/2, if I recall; you have a good memory! :)

[alipitogen]

@Laytonia1977 That's lovely of you to say, thanks -and you deserved the bigger price.Lovely horse, very sad that he didn't have his years to grass. It was one of the saddest days that I remember in racing. Dawn Run was another tragedy but I only heard that on the news.The greatest sigh of relief ever in racing, I would say, was when Desert Orchid rose sound after his last competitive fence and David Elseworth called him out of battle.

[Laytonia1977]

@alipitogen I remember watching One Man only a couple weeks after this, at Aintree. I watched the race live and recorded the race on VHS - I never watched it again and destroyed the cassette. Was heartbreaking what happened that day. A wonderful horse and they'd just got to the bottom of him. This was, in my opinion his greatest victory, heartbreaking that just two weeks later he left us.

[burkhillcomedy]

bollox one man hit the front early and had them stretched from a long way out

[burkhillcomedy]

you lot make me laugh having a go at one man saying this was a weak renewal,i suppose arkles three gold cup was poor too also as he didn't beat anything only 10 runners over 3 years

[andypandy252]

viking flagship is well past his best here, not taking anything away from one man, but what about the horses between one man and flagship, on his day the flagship would have hammered all of them

[MEECHIO]

The Flagship was in the veteran stage at this point and some way past his best and Klairon Davis never ran two races the same but all credit to One Man on this day. He was very good indeed and finally got his much deserved Festival win.

[burkhillcomedy]

the other was not below par.if you watch the race he ran at the same pace all the way round and never gave them a chance to catch him.its the same as when denman won the gold cup he never gave them a chance.i suppose your going to say it was a below par gold cup too.one or two horses could run below par but the entire field no chance.one man won that race because he was the best horse on the day

[foriamonlyahorse2]

They were below par or past their best, however, he was a great horse though Kempton over 3 miles was really his niche. like Dessie.

[garethella]

there is no doubt one man is a class horse,but this was a weak renewal of the queen mother,viking flagship was well shot by this time,one man was cut down in his prime that is the real sad thing.he could have been a real great.

[celticfan82]

Great horse the same colours as another 1 of me favs who also died at Aintree if any1 remembers tha 1989 Scottish National winner Roll-A-Joint???? R.I.P. both Roll-A-Joint & One Man both legends!!!

[dailystar1]

Was a bit before my time Roll A Joint but ive seen the video of him winning the Scottish national..what happened to him in the end?

[celticfan82]

Damn I wish I could see that Scottish National again Roll-A-Joint sadly broke his neck in tha 1990 English Grand National at tha Canal Turn he was a class jumper!!!

[dailystar1]

yes i remember now!!...i only have it on a desert orchid video...its the last 5 or 6 fences thats all.

[mtenor]

died in the grand national

[dailystar1]

yer the guy said that above mate.

[foriamonlyahorse]

nothing wrong with the quality of this great horse...his times in the King George are very favourable indeed, making him among the best winners...a 2.5/3 miler easily defeating quality 2 milers...class horse!!

[dailystar1]

he was stil a bit one paced sometimes dont ya think?..albeit it was in top races.Never got the Gold Cup trip which was ashame.

[foriamonlyahorse]

The Gold Cup was a bit of an enigma really, after all, allbeit with a light weight, he won the 3m2f Hennessey in a canter.

His class saw him home here against rivals, who in fairness I suppose were somewhat lesser either/or in decline. I don't think he liked Cheltenham very much...not all horses act around there.

[dailystar1]

Yes Newbury he won the Hennessey of 10 stone didnt he...dont think he liked Cheltenham but saying that he Won the Queeen Mother Champion Chase!

[foriamonlyahorse]

He did beat alot of out of form/belwo his class horses in the Champion but I wouldn't deny him his deserved place on the Cheltenham role of honour...he certainly would have beaten those same horses by alot farther around Ascot or Kempton I am sure.

[burkhillcomedy]

he won the race because he was the best on the day and not against below par horses.maybe one or two may run below par but all the horses come on

[thestrangeenigma]

this isnt any direspect to one man a truly amazing horse its just in this era of horses im not sure one man would have been as good

[celticfan82]

R.I.P. One Man fuckin top horse!!!

[willibaldcornfed]

It was a great performance but it was rather a weak renewal. The stamina issue had argued against by Dunwoody who stated that the horse stayed because won over the Gold Cup trip in the Hennessy. This overlooks that he was only carrying 10-00 in that race.

[gamblingaristo]

A weak renewal with Viking Flagship and Klairon Davis in the field?????? Are you joking???

[templarknight94]

do u know which race so i can find it?

[gurgless]

Mum Melling I think.

[elitemagpie]

Fantastic to see this again. Probably my favourite Festival moment in 28 years of going. One Man silenced a few critics that day, the only thing he lacked was stamina. Running in the Sun Alliance and the Gold Cup probably cost him an Arkle and two more Champion Chases. I still remember the reception he got on the walk past the Grandstand, fully deserved and it was a tragic loss when he fell fatally at Aintree just two weeks later.