Probably the best hurdler I have ever seen ,cruising when he fell , right up there with with Persian war ,Sea Pigeon ,Lannzarote , Comedy of Errors, Bula etc
I'm afraid that what you saw is all I have. Happened to catch it on TV one day. Was described as 'very rare footage' which had never been seen in Ireland before and wasn't shown 'live' on the day either. An absolute tragedy that he died as he would have been GREAT. The race, as it is now, was a handicap and despite being a 'novice' he was only receiving a pound off Sea Pigeon and was giving weight to Night Nurse. What a talent he was!
He definitely seemed to be travelling the best going to the last! I come to this video after hearing constitution hill will declared for the Irish champion hurdle, which I hope happens and would be as big a spectacle as this great race.
Race was run on the Friday. 5k to the winner. Equivalent of 35k in todays terms ! Can u believe all those great horses running for that money. The first 2 finished well and I don't think Golden Cygnet was Definitely going to win but plenty think he would. He didn't die immediately, they tried to save him but he took a turn for the worse on the Monday I believe and that was it. He had a brain haemorrhage as a result of neck injury Notice back then how much bigger all the jumps are .
It still sickens me to see this magnificent hurdler come to grief. Personally, I believe that if Golden Cygnet had lived, he would have been at the top of the hurdling tree for several seasons, and would probably have set up a sequence in the Champion Hurdle.
Golden Cygnet was a wonder horse, makes you think if only, he deserves his place up there with the best, we all know how good he would have been but sadly he never got there, just imagine what he would have done if he had.....
Tragic to see the demise of probably one of the finest hurdlers of the past 50 years. I rate Golden Cygnet right up there with Persian War, Sir Ken and Night Nurse.
yes paul you are right he died days later swelling on his neck but he would have been the arkle of hurdles im a night nurse fan but would not have bet against golden cygnet such a shame
@@angelocalabrese3812 Hi Angelo, quite agree with you sir. This horse had tremendous pace and would of had a Momentous career. Sadly these incidents happen from time to time. Another that comes to mind was the ill fated Killiney ' killed in action at Ascot as a novice after winning the Sun Alliance chase at Cheltenham in 1973. He would have been the New Arkle too. Fab racing in the 70s n 80s remember the battles Lanzarote had with Comedy of Errors and the illustrious Captain Christy when on his day was Momentous and made fools out of experienced opposition but could easily clout a fence at short notice for Bobby Beasley. Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands🤝
@@angelocalabrese3812 Hi Angelo, part 2..meant to add also the battles of Night Nurse as you mention with Monksfield especially the 77 Aintree hurdle which was a tremendous build up to Red Rum s 3rd National. Night was also one of my favourites too and he was so genuine just like Spanish Steps. All the very best sir.Kind regards Glynn
Golden Cygnet was clearly coming to win his race but he never took off and consequently paid the ultimate price for it. As brilliant as Golden Cygnet undoubtedly was, the name of the game is jumping and that was something he didn't do on this occasion. It was a tragedy that deprived the racing world of such a prodigious talent. We will never know what he might have gone on to achieve but for coming to grief at that final hurdle.
You have a point there Cheesebody. However, at the end of the season, Timeform rated Sea Pigeon 175 and Golden Cygnet 176, and to quote from their annual 'The connections of Sea Pigeon did not dispute the general feeling that Golden Cygnet would have beaten Sea Pigeon in the Scottish Champion Hurdle if he had not come to grief at the last.' Yes, Sea Pigeon did improve over the next 2 years but Golden Cygnet's potential for improvement was massive. Like you said earlier, we will never know.
Too true. Everything pointed towards future greatness. As you say this was the golden era and he was about to run away from them when he fell. Also won the Supreme Novices' at Cheltenham in a time that was 2 secs faster than the Champion Hurdle which was run a little over one hour later. The evidence only points in one direction!
Golden Cygnet had them all cooked. O' Grady said he never had a horse as good as him before or since and thats saying something from the master of cheltenham.
I was down at the last flight that day having gone to Ayr to see my favourite horse Sea Pigeon. There is no doubt in my mind that GC was going to win the race, and probably easily, had he not fallen. I also think that GC had the potential to go on to be the greatest hurdler of all time. Its interesting that Timeform rate GC the sixth best hurdler of all time despite him only being a novice and Night Nurse, who he would have beaten at Ayr, is rated the best. Thanks for the memories.
Re: Golden Cygnets fall. He just gallops into the hurdle almost as though it wasn't there. I'm wondering if he had something happen to him physically just before the fall which contributed to the situation. It's a very odd that he didn't attempt to jump the hurdle at all. Whatever, it was a tragic loss as there has never been a more promising novice hurdler before or since.
There is a very good reason why novices are raced against novices.While GC was obviously outstanding when novices step up to take on their seniors they are racing at a faster pace and dont get things their own way as much thus leading to mis steps and/or jumping mistakes from being asked to do things a bit quicker in company whereas they would have a field of novices burnt off.
I was a huge fan of the Big Three hurdling giants of the 1970's but Golden Cygnet - well he'd have been something extra special - in fact he was extra special. He'd have won this as he liked & I have no doubt his spirit sprinted past the line many lengths clear.
Definitely in my opinion the best hurdler of his era and it was a golden generation. Remember night nurse and sea pigeon more or less at their peak and night nurse officially rated the best of all time. Actually shouldn't be as looking at this Im very confident golden cygnet was going to win very readily. He always finished his races very strongly with a strong burst of acceleration. Golden cygnets time very impressive in supreme. You can even hand time from third last jump even in both that years champion hurdle and supreme hurdle. Golden cygnet time was 3 seconds faster. Terrific horse. Without question the best hurdler that year. Maybe only the top rated ex flat horses going jumping like a peak alderbrook, royal gait or something could match him.
Master trainer in both NH and Flat , the great Dr. Vincent O'Brien , said that Golden Cygnet was the greatest hurdler he had ever seen. That's the highest commendation of Golden Cygnet anyone could ever give. A massive talent lost to the world of horse racing far too early. I have never seen any hurdler who possessed such a high cruising speed as Golden Cygnet . I think he could have won at least 3 Champion Hurdles. Do not forget that Golden Cygnet was only a novice , and previously undefeated over hurdles , when he fell in this race - and was only receiving 1Ib from winner, Sea Pigeon .
You can’t predict a horse is going to win 3 champion hurdles. Horses lose form and get injured all the time. He could have been a flash in the pan, a one season wonder like so many. He could have been one of the great horses, it he wasn’t. In reality he was just a very promising novice who didn’t have time to prove anything.
@@roberto4001000 Oh yeh he won a few novice events convincingly. Like Tiutchev and Monsignor. Give over. It’s amazing how the older a horse is the more overrated it is.
I'm afraid my Coral account was closed last year after 25 yrs as a 'valued customer'....obviously great if you can get it...Sprinter Scare the best chaser i've seen in all that time. GL with the River.
Another horse who met a tragic end was Saxon Farm who won the 1983 Triumph hurdle. He also came to the last on the bridle and pissed the race then dont know what race he ran in next , fell and died.
It was a handicap and he was only receiving one pound off night nurse the rest of the field he gave weight too , he was about to destroy some of the finest hurdler's in history and he was just a novice ... unbelievable .
@@roberto4001000 is it just me or do the horses look slower back then? They certainly seem bigger aswell and the jockeys look to stand up and be much more controlled when riding a finish.
i do know what ur saying ,but i don't think he would have had to have come fully off the bit to win this, so allowing for golden cygnet not finding a huge amount when push came to shove i would say he would have "at least" won by 3-4 lengths.. maybe 6-8 lenghts at most as he was contesting a much hotter race this time .. once again tho... r.i.p golden cygnet!!
For me Golden Gygnet was / is the best novice hurdler ever. Golden Cygnet was running all over a previous duel Champion ( NIGHT NURSE) current 2nd best / future Duel Champion Hurdler ( SEA PIGEON) NO other novice ever or will ever come close in any race. Winter Melody another that would have been well beaten was pretty useful.
Chillingly similar to Gloria Victis, the top novice of the time sadly losing his life taking on the big boys...both could have been among the greats :-(
No worries frank...quite fancy one called Bordoni in the Fred Winter...will probably come up against an ex-French beast from Nicholls/Mullins yard that goes on to be a world-beater but hurdles fluently, should love the stiffer track & looks potentially well handicapped to me. Oh, and Sprinter Sacre! Good luck.
Golden Cygnet was only cantering when he fell. In the end Sea Pigeon got up and beat Night Nurse by half-a-length in the shadow of the post. Would it not be fair to say that Golden Cygnet would have finished more than half-a-length in front of Night Nurse? I accept that Sea Pigeon was slightly hampered by GC's fall but it didn't seem to affect his momentum. Surely you must accept that Golden Cygnet would have found more that half-a-length on Night Nurse between the last flight and the finish.
In reply to Shalakhani, pretty sure that was Valirimix, he was absolutely cruising and looked all over the winner (yes, I was on); Hors La Loi III went on to win. There was a similar case with Iktitaf a few years later - on again!
It was Valirimix,I backed the winner but he would have almost certainly been brushed aside had Valirimix stayed up, I was there that year and it was such a strange race when Istabraq got pulled up and everyone started applauding.
I don't think sea pigeon improved over the next two years,they all got older and pigeon maintained the same standard and they figured out how too t use him and the champion hurdle was shortened by 200yds and no younger stars cane through,yes yes golden cygnet but tradgedy struck before we could have a rivalry.I'm sorry but this was it and put it at alittle longer than most for the golden age, it includes Persian war bula comedy of errors lanzarote major rose easby abbey captain Christy flash imp night nurse monksfield tree tangle bird's nest beacon light sea pigeon dramatist...and ends after 81.
people here are doubting they dont know there horses in the years after night nurse was past his best monksfield and sea pigeon would not have won there champion hurdles this one was the one
pretty sure you're talking about Valiramix in 2002, frank, tho he slipped on level rather than dived at hurdle....from the Racing Post: ''Valiramix was simply running away, having jumped beautifully, when a freak stumble brought him down. He came into the race as the most progressive horse in the line-up and, without wishing to detract from what the winner achieved, looked for all the world like a champion waiting to be crowned.''
Cheesebody, Whilst I disagree, I admire your loyalty. You are obviously a Sea Pigeon fanatic and there's no harm in that. I think that we will just have to agree to disagree. No one could convince me that Golden Cygnet would not have won that race and you obviously cannot contemplate the fact that Sea Pigeon would have been beaten. Let's leave it for now and discuss it again in the next life - that's if you believe in the after-life! See You Then (not a patch on Golden Cygnet or Sea Pigeon!)
I've seen all the great Champion Hurdlers since 1961, and although I would rate Istabraq very highly, I really don't see him as the best. Persian War, Night Nurse , Golden Cygnet and, before my time, Sir Ken were better, in my opinion.
Probably the best hurdler I have ever seen ,cruising when he fell , right up there with with Persian war ,Sea Pigeon ,Lannzarote , Comedy of Errors, Bula etc
I'm afraid that what you saw is all I have. Happened to catch it on TV one day. Was described as 'very rare footage' which had never been seen in Ireland before and wasn't shown 'live' on the day either. An absolute tragedy that he died as he would have been GREAT. The race, as it is now, was a handicap and despite being a 'novice' he was only receiving a pound off Sea Pigeon and was giving weight to Night Nurse. What a talent he was!
He definitely seemed to be travelling the best going to the last! I come to this video after hearing constitution hill will declared for the Irish champion hurdle, which I hope happens and would be as big a spectacle as this great race.
Some talent .
Race was run on the Friday.
5k to the winner.
Equivalent of 35k in todays terms !
Can u believe all those great horses running for that money.
The first 2 finished well and I don't think Golden Cygnet was Definitely going to win but plenty think he would.
He didn't die immediately, they tried to save him but he took a turn for the worse on the Monday I believe and that was it. He had a brain haemorrhage as a result of neck injury
Notice back then how much bigger all the jumps are .
In an era of great hurdlers Golden Cygnet was about to become a legend.
an absolute superstar in the making and in the best ever era for hurdlers... who knows eh ??
It still sickens me to see this magnificent hurdler come to grief. Personally, I believe that if Golden Cygnet had lived, he would have been at the top of the hurdling tree for several seasons, and would probably have set up a sequence in the Champion Hurdle.
One of the saddest days in racing history
Well said. The best hurdler I ever saw.
Extraordinary era for hurdlers - just imagine; Golden Cygnet, Night Nurse and Sea Pigeon in the same race...
You forgot Monksfield
Golden Cygnet was a wonder horse, makes you think if only, he deserves his place up there with the best, we all know how good he would have been but sadly he never got there, just imagine what he would have done if he had.....
Tragic to see the demise of probably one of the finest hurdlers of the past 50 years. I rate Golden Cygnet right up there with Persian War, Sir Ken and Night Nurse.
Great horse
ive followed racing for 40 years this was the one that we will never know about
yes paul you are right he died days later swelling on his neck but he would have been the arkle of hurdles im a night nurse fan but would not have bet against golden cygnet such a shame
its so simple if he hadnt of died monksfield and sea pigeon wouldnt have won there champion hurdles
@@angelocalabrese3812 Hi Angelo, quite agree with you sir. This horse had tremendous pace and would of had a Momentous career. Sadly these incidents happen from time to time. Another that comes to mind was the ill fated Killiney ' killed in action at Ascot as a novice after winning the Sun Alliance chase at Cheltenham in 1973. He would have been the New Arkle too. Fab racing in the 70s n 80s remember the battles Lanzarote had with Comedy of Errors and the illustrious Captain Christy when on his day was Momentous and made fools out of experienced opposition but could easily clout a fence at short notice for Bobby Beasley. Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands🤝
@@angelocalabrese3812 Hi Angelo, part 2..meant to add also the battles of Night Nurse as you mention with Monksfield especially the 77 Aintree hurdle which was a tremendous build up to Red Rum s 3rd National. Night was also one of my favourites too and he was so genuine just like Spanish Steps. All the very best sir.Kind regards Glynn
@@glynnevans1851 Who trained killiney ??
Golden Cygnet was clearly coming to win his race but he never took off and consequently paid the ultimate price for it. As brilliant as Golden Cygnet undoubtedly was, the name of the game is jumping and that was something he didn't do on this occasion. It was a tragedy that deprived the racing world of such a prodigious talent. We will never know what he might have gone on to achieve but for coming to grief at that final hurdle.
You have a point there Cheesebody. However, at the end of the season, Timeform rated Sea Pigeon 175 and Golden Cygnet 176, and to quote from their annual 'The connections of Sea Pigeon did not dispute the general feeling that Golden Cygnet would have beaten Sea Pigeon in the Scottish Champion Hurdle if he had not come to grief at the last.' Yes, Sea Pigeon did improve over the next 2 years but Golden Cygnet's potential for improvement was massive. Like you said earlier, we will never know.
Too true. Everything pointed towards future greatness. As you say this was the golden era and he was about to run away from them when he fell. Also won the Supreme Novices' at Cheltenham in a time that was 2 secs faster than the Champion Hurdle which was run a little over one hour later. The evidence only points in one direction!
such a sad ending for a superb horse..
Difficult to know the outcome of this race, but still as a novice and with his form that season Golden Cygnet had the potential to be a superstar
Golden Cygnet would have absolutely hacked up.
He was a monster.
It’s sad.
That’s racing.
Golden Cygnet had them all cooked. O' Grady said he never had a horse as good as him before or since and thats saying something from the master of cheltenham.
I've never heard of golden cygnet before but he's the highest rated novice! What a shame, he looked absolutely brilliant when winning at Cheltenham
Apart from Killiney, the best horse I have ever seen. So sad.
I was down at the last flight that day having gone to Ayr to see my favourite horse Sea Pigeon. There is no doubt in my mind that GC was going to win the race, and probably easily, had he not fallen. I also think that GC had the potential to go on to be the greatest hurdler of all time.
Its interesting that Timeform rate GC the sixth best hurdler of all time despite him only being a novice and Night Nurse, who he would have beaten at Ayr, is rated the best.
Thanks for the memories.
Timeform are mental if that is the case. You can’t rate a horse that highly on one successful novice season.
I've fallen in love with 70s hurdle and steeple chases brilliant era ! I'm loving monksfield and night nurse and loving me some of the dik😂😂
Re: Golden Cygnets fall. He just gallops into the hurdle almost as though it wasn't there. I'm wondering if he had something happen to him physically just before the fall which contributed to the situation. It's a very odd that he didn't attempt to jump the hurdle at all.
Whatever, it was a tragic loss as there has never been a more promising novice hurdler before or since.
There is a very good reason why novices are raced against novices.While GC was obviously outstanding when novices step up to take on their seniors they are racing at a faster pace and dont get things their own way as much thus leading to mis steps and/or jumping mistakes from being asked to do things a bit quicker in company whereas they would have a field of novices burnt off.
I was a huge fan of the Big Three hurdling giants of the 1970's but Golden Cygnet - well he'd have been something extra special - in fact he was extra special. He'd have won this as he liked & I have no doubt his spirit sprinted past the line many lengths clear.
Definitely in my opinion the best hurdler of his era and it was a golden generation. Remember night nurse and sea pigeon more or less at their peak and night nurse officially rated the best of all time. Actually shouldn't be as looking at this Im very confident golden cygnet was going to win very readily. He always finished his races very strongly with a strong burst of acceleration. Golden cygnets time very impressive in supreme. You can even hand time from third last jump even in both that years champion hurdle and supreme hurdle. Golden cygnet time was 3 seconds faster. Terrific horse. Without question the best hurdler that year. Maybe only the top rated ex flat horses going jumping like a peak alderbrook, royal gait or something could match him.
golden cygnate,best hurdler id ever seen was pissing all over both night nurse and sea pigeon 2 top hurdlers.
Master trainer in both NH and Flat , the great Dr. Vincent O'Brien , said that Golden Cygnet was the greatest hurdler he had ever seen. That's the highest commendation of Golden Cygnet anyone could ever give. A massive talent lost to the world of horse racing far too early. I have never seen any hurdler who possessed such a high cruising speed as Golden Cygnet . I think he could have won at least 3 Champion Hurdles. Do not forget that Golden Cygnet was only a novice , and previously undefeated over hurdles , when he fell in this race - and was only receiving 1Ib from winner, Sea Pigeon .
You can’t predict a horse is going to win 3 champion hurdles. Horses lose form and get injured all the time. He could have been a flash in the pan, a one season wonder like so many.
He could have been one of the great horses, it he wasn’t. In reality he was just a very promising novice who didn’t have time to prove anything.
@@keithwellerlounge74 Everything pointed to him being the greatest hurdler of all you 🤡🤡
@@roberto4001000 Oh yeh he won a few novice events convincingly. Like Tiutchev and Monsignor. Give over.
It’s amazing how the older a horse is the more overrated it is.
I'm afraid my Coral account was closed last year after 25 yrs as a 'valued customer'....obviously great if you can get it...Sprinter Scare the best chaser i've seen in all that time. GL with the River.
Another horse who met a tragic end was Saxon Farm who won the 1983 Triumph hurdle. He also came to the last on the bridle and pissed the race then dont know what race he ran in next , fell and died.
Tragic to watch this; even all these years later, I reckon he would have been the greatest hurdler ever. Was this at level weights btw?
It was a handicap and he was only receiving one pound off night nurse the rest of the field he gave weight too , he was about to destroy some of the finest hurdler's in history and he was just a novice ... unbelievable .
@@roberto4001000 is it just me or do the horses look slower back then? They certainly seem bigger aswell and the jockeys look to stand up and be much more controlled when riding a finish.
@@johnnyboy6608 Well Arkle still holds the track record for Sandown 60 years on, so no I don't think so .
@@roberto4001000 that’s great point mate, perhaps it’s just the jockeys that make it seem that way.
i do know what ur saying ,but i don't think he would have had to have come fully off the bit to win this, so allowing for golden cygnet not finding a huge amount when push came to shove i would say he would have "at least" won by 3-4 lengths.. maybe 6-8 lenghts at most as he was contesting a much hotter race this time .. once again tho...
r.i.p
golden cygnet!!
For me Golden Gygnet was / is the best novice hurdler ever. Golden Cygnet was running all over a previous duel Champion ( NIGHT NURSE) current 2nd best / future Duel Champion Hurdler ( SEA PIGEON) NO other novice ever or will ever come close in any race. Winter Melody another that would have been well beaten was pretty useful.
I'm still searching for the 1985 Scottish Champion Hurdle, won by Sailors Dance, if anyone happened to have it 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Chillingly similar to Gloria Victis, the top novice of the time sadly losing his life taking on the big boys...both could have been among the greats :-(
No worries frank...quite fancy one called Bordoni in the Fred Winter...will probably come up against an ex-French beast from Nicholls/Mullins yard that goes on to be a world-beater but hurdles fluently, should love the stiffer track & looks potentially well handicapped to me. Oh, and Sprinter Sacre! Good luck.
Golden Cygnet was only cantering when he fell. In the end Sea Pigeon got up and beat Night Nurse by half-a-length in the shadow of the post. Would it not be fair to say that Golden Cygnet would have finished more than half-a-length in front of Night Nurse? I accept that Sea Pigeon was slightly hampered by GC's fall but it didn't seem to affect his momentum. Surely you must accept that Golden Cygnet would have found more that half-a-length on Night Nurse between the last flight and the finish.
In reply to Shalakhani, pretty sure that was Valirimix, he was absolutely cruising and looked all over the winner (yes, I was on); Hors La Loi III went on to win. There was a similar case with Iktitaf a few years later - on again!
It was Valirimix,I backed the winner but he would have almost certainly been brushed aside had Valirimix stayed up, I was there that year and it was such a strange race when Istabraq got pulled up and everyone started applauding.
Did not hardly lift his legs at the last hurdle! I wonder why?
I don't think sea pigeon improved over the next two years,they all got older and pigeon maintained the same standard and they figured out how too t use him and the champion hurdle was shortened by 200yds and no younger stars cane through,yes yes golden cygnet but tradgedy struck before we could have a rivalry.I'm sorry but this was it and put it at alittle longer than most for the golden age, it includes Persian war bula comedy of errors lanzarote major rose easby abbey captain Christy flash imp night nurse monksfield tree tangle bird's nest beacon light sea pigeon dramatist...and ends after 81.
people here are doubting they dont know there horses in the years after night nurse was past his best monksfield and sea pigeon would not have won there champion hurdles this one was the one
Sorry, that was actually in reply to frankschlanker.
pretty sure you're talking about Valiramix in 2002, frank, tho he slipped on level rather than dived at hurdle....from the Racing Post: ''Valiramix was simply running away, having jumped beautifully, when a freak stumble brought him down. He came into the race as the most progressive horse in the line-up and, without wishing to detract from what the winner achieved, looked for all the world like a champion waiting to be crowned.''
dangermoose2000 he would have ran away with it
Cheesebody, Whilst I disagree, I admire your loyalty. You are obviously a Sea Pigeon fanatic and there's no harm in that. I think that we will just have to agree to disagree. No one could convince me that Golden Cygnet would not have won that race and you obviously cannot contemplate the fact that Sea Pigeon would have been beaten. Let's leave it for now and discuss it again in the next life - that's if you believe in the after-life! See You Then (not a patch on Golden Cygnet or Sea Pigeon!)
jessejames3507
I've seen all the great Champion Hurdlers since 1961, and although I would rate Istabraq very highly, I really don't see him as the best. Persian War, Night Nurse , Golden Cygnet and, before my time, Sir Ken were better, in my opinion.
joe viner Bula and comedy of errors were not bad either