Nijinsky 1970 Arc de Triomphe

[TheDarleyarabian]

the owner just got greedy and ruined his record by asking to much of him. the triple crown aswell as the king george an irish derby took to much out of him vincent o brien admitted that an no one knew nijinsky better. he told the owner as much. he was a fantastic horse with a great burst of speed. would of been great in any era

[an08p]

his style of running looks so much like sea the stars

[starclusteruk]

There was only Inches in it after a tremendously long season of Group 1 races for Nijinsky. Head to Head I'd expect Nijinsky to beat Sassafras, good horse that he was, but lady luck was on his side that day.

[ramierechristiane]

Un très grand moment de sport. Personnellement, j'attendais beaucoup de Gyr (4e) mais le duel entre Sassafras et Nijinsky fut extraordinaire. Ce fut aussi un beau duel entre les deux plus grands jockeys européens de l'époque, Lester Pigott et Yves Saint-Martin. A graver dans les mémoires

Merci pour cette vidéo.

[shaffi1]

Nijinsky lost this race in the final few yards, because lester drew the whip and Nijinsky veered away from it , although it isn't visible at this camera angle, the head on shows it clearly to be the case.

That apart i also think that lester kept nijinsky too far off the pace , got boxed in early in the straight and therefore Nijinsky had to use too much energy to get to the winner then having got his head in front he couldn't sustain his final effort and veered away from the whip.

[ianzanshin]

Surely Lester got the horse into a winning position if the horse had been good enough on the day. Still Nijinsky is probably my favourite racehorse ever & even if i look at it objectively i think that at his best would beat Mill Reef, Shergar, Dancing Brave, Brigadier Gerard and Sea the Stars over a mile & half.

[timpinn]

I remember this race like it was yesterday ! Many pundits reckoned that Lester timed his final burst too late. However if you watch the race closely, and he stated this himself, he actually came just a little too early.That cost him the race.

[jnmklo9]

This is simple not enough respect to the winner from Lester and consequently not enough urgency approaching the line

[tigerarmyrule]

Lester is the greatest big race jockey ever. No argument no discussion but this was a poor effort by The Maestro's unequalled standards.

[blkbruv]

i think that sir ivor was beaten fair and square by vaguely noble in 68. in 69 he openly admitted that he messed up big time on park top and on nijinsky on another day the horse would have won if he didn't veer off to the left with the race at his mercy.i believe that the horse wasn't 100% fit that day.we would be calling nijinsky the horse of the century or dare i say of all time if he had won.

[boomdocker100]

bbb

[5overlord]

Full of pathos, this race. Everything had gone against the great Nijinsky - the attack of ringworm, going for the Leger ( understandable, with the Triple Crown up for grabs, but never the best Arc prep), the horse getting worked up up the prelims and then finally Lester giving him too much to do. And still he looks like he's just gonna get there - only to be denied. Like Dancing Brave's Derby it isn't an equine tragedy, what happened to Shergar is, but still you will him, futilely, to get up.

[costia137]

My God, i remeber really fantastic

[Koshkamitsu]

Nijinksy only just missed out, it's not like he wasn't right up there scrapping away. Shame that some think this made him a lesser horse, even after everything he'd accomplished beforehand.

[flavellm]

The unluckiest loser of the Arc award, goes to. The majestic Nijinsky.

[innit27]

Piggot says the horse veered to the left which lost it and says he had never done that before, but surely he must take some responsibility.

[blisscanbebeautiful]

Fantastic footage. The great Nijinsky and Sassafras!

[thestrangeenigma]

how was it not coulour the 1970 national was coulour :/

[EDIZBAK]

Yes.. I remember The Golden Shot being interrupted for this race and my mum whingeing about the programme being spoiled.. philistine! But as a child it introduced me to a whole new world of horse racing...and betting!.. good old Nijinsky!

[Giveussometruth]

Anyone watch this live in England(UK)? If you recall it was broacast during the TV show "The Golden Shot" presented by Bob Monkhouse. Always loved Bob but bless him when he said that Nijinsky did well finishing 2nd probably not realising it was the great horse`s first defeat. Didn`t know about the ringworm and being healthy would have surely won this.

[jmdm1957]

Way over the top at that point.

[TIMETRAVELLER1955]

I agree, Nijinsky won

[bigpad69]

It shows that Piggott gave that great horse far too much to do after hsi recent exertions (and ringworm) and that when he gave him a whack, Nijinsky veered left and lost the race.

[RobinCarmody]

He had problems riding short home straights on occasions, c.f. Petite Etoile losing the 1960 King George at Ascot (available somewhere on here I think).

[terbine13]

is the message conveyed in this clip one of bringing into question Lester's ability to ride a winner in the 'Arc? makes one wonder doesn't it? I mean to say, Sir Ivor, Park Top and Nijinsky on the bounce!!

[Kelt1c71]

Lester soon rectified his losing Arc ways by winning on a horse regarded inferior to all those aforementioned - Rheingold; who incidentally finished second in to Roberto (again , inferior to the aforementioned threesome ) in the previous year's Epsom Derby. Four and five years later, of course, he won the Arc twice more, this time on... Vincent's O'Brien's Alleged.

[terbine13]

That he did K, it was bound to happen...Sir Ivor beaten by 3 lengths, Park Top half a length, Nijinsky a short head..the trend was definitely going towards Lester winning it someday!! Don't knock Roberto, over 10 furlongs all the above would've succumbed!