The Anonymous Widower

The Greatest Steeplechaser

After Kauto Star ‘s epic victory yesterday, to give him a fifth King George VI Chase, there has been a lot of discussion about who was the greatest steeplechaser.

My late father saw Golden Miller win at Cheltenham in the 1930s a couple of times, just as he saw Arkle win on the television as I did in the 1960s.  Unquestionably, to my father, Golden Miller was the greatest and having seen all of those so called greatest since Arkle, like Desert Orchid and Kauto Star, I won’t change my father’s view.

Golden Miller too had a very big handicap and rose above it all.  His owner Dorothy Paget was a complete nutcase and insisted he run in the Grand National every year, which he hated. Although he did win the National in record time in 1934, when the fences were a lot bigger, in the midst of his five Cheltenham Gold Cup triumphs.

December 27, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | Sport | Horse Racing, My Father