Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

nota firstplace—thattime-faultcostmethe

Derby.”

Attheageof25,MadeleineGurdon,now

LadyLloydWebber,wasbestknownforher

phenomenalpartnershipwiththe“quirkyodd

fellow”TheDoneThing,whotookherfrom

ThePonyClubtotheWorldChampionships

in1988.SofinishingsecondtoJaneThelwall

atBurghleythatyearwithhersecondstring,

MidnightMonarch,was“atriumphinitself ”.

“Ithinkit is oneofmyproudest

achievementsbecausewithoutit I would

alwayshavebeenconsidereda one-trickpony,”

shesays.“Itgavemeenormouspleasureto

havethatsortofsuccessonmysecondstring

—thedifferencebetweenfirst,secondand

thirdis alwayssoslightatthesecompetitions,

soI alwaysthinka first-threefinishis asgood

asa win,justwithout the red rosette.”

Madeleine

roseupfrom

thirdtosecondintheshowjumping,despite

a raildown,andfinishedsixpenaltiesbehind

thewinner.

“Theshowjumpdidn’tlosemefirstplace,

soit’snevereatenawayatme.Actually,I had

thebestcross-countryroundoftheday,so

theonlythingthatlostit formewashis

dressageandwecouldn’thavedone

muchbetterinthatbecausehewasn’t

verygoodatit,”shesays.“So

asa personalbestforthat

particularcombination,we

werecertainlypunchingabove

ourweight.Itwasa

causeforcelebration

andpartofa golden

decadeforme,

althoughobviouslyit

wouldhavebeennicein

mycareertohavepickedup

a Badmintonora Burghley.”

F

ORMERjumpjockey

DavidBridgwaterknows

somethingaboutbeing

thebridesmaid,havingridden

tosecondintheGrandNational,

finishedsecondinthejockeys’

championshipandgoneontotrainthe

runner-upinthe 2012 Cheltenham

GoldCup.

“Youworryaboutwhat’scoming

tomorrow,notwhatyou’vedone,”

hesaysphilosophically.“Itwould

benicetosayyou’vedoneit,but

actuallyif I hadtraineda GoldCup

winnerorriddena GrandNational

winner,it wouldn’thavemadea

dotofdifferencetomycareer.If

somethinglikethatbothersyou,then

youhavea problem.”

David’ssecond-past-the-post

momentatAintreecameon

EncoreUnPeuin1996,theyear

winningjockeyMickFitzgerald

famouslyrevealedtoDesLynam

that,“Afterthat,evensexis an

anticlimax”.

“IfI seea pictureofRough

QuestwinningtheNational

orSynchronisedwinning

theGoldCuponsocial

media,say,I definitely

brushstraightpastit andI

wouldn’twatchanyofthose

racesbackagain—training

TheGiantBolstertofinishsecond

atCheltenhamwasdefinitelyharder

THE FIRST LOSER

BLYTHTAIThastwoBurghleytitlesand

fivegoldmedalsfromOlympicsandWorld

Championshipstohisname,butthe

Badmintontrophyhasalwayseludedhim.

Hehasfinishedsecondthreetimes—in

1990 onMessiah, 1993 onRicochetand

1994 withDelta.

HarrietNuttallfinishedsecondinthree

consecutiverunningsoftheHickstead

DerbywithA TouchImperiousbetween

2015 and 2017, and took third in 2018.

IFATFIRSTYOUDON’T SUCCEED...

KEEP TRYING

totake,though,”saystheStow-on-theWold

trainer.

ToanotherNationalHuntjockey-turned-

trainer,ChristianWilliams,whojustmissed

outonwinningsomeofthe“bigones”,it is the

marginofdefeatthatis a morebitterpillto

swallowthantheresultitself.

“Hedgehunter[givingRubyWalshhis

secondGrandNationalwinin2005]beatme

by 14 lengthsandwentontofinishsecondin

theGoldCup,sowasa verygoodhorseandI

neverlookedlikewinningthatrace,”hesaysof

hisrideon40/1shotRoyalAuclair.“Butinthe

Whitbread[GoldCupatSandown2004]and

theWelshGrandNationalthefollowingyearit

camedowntotinymarginsandtookthejudges

about 10 minutestocallit.Thatwassucha

disappointment.

“Idon’twatchit backnowthatI’mtraining

asyouhavetobesoconfidentinthisjob,soI

justtrytokeepmarchingon,”saysChristian,

whorodenearly 350 winners,includingonthe

greatDenman.

“Racingis a toughgame—maybemyriding

careerwouldhavebeendifferentif I’dwonone

ofthosebigraces.

“You win silver at the Olympics and you get

front-pageheadlines,butif youfinishsecond

orthirdinracingit is completelydismissed.”

In2007,a relativelyunknown18-year-old

AndrewMizonwassuchanunlikelycontender

intheHicksteadDerby,letaloneprizewinner,

thatwhenhefinishedsecondtothelegendary

GeoffBillingtononCassabachus,the

celebrationswentthroughtheroofathis

localChineserestaurant.

“We’dseemeddestinedtofailbeforewe

startedtheactualclass,”saysAndrew,who

no longercompetes,butis involved

intrainingandrunninghis

family’sNorthcoteStudnear

Blackburn.

Entrieshadclosedwhen

GeoffBillingtonpaida visit

toAndrew’sdentistfather

shortlybeforethatyear’s

showandsuggested

hecould“sortit out”.

A practicerunover

BillyTwomey’sreplica

Derbyfencesresultedin

Andrew’sIrishgelding

SpecialDiamond

launchingoffthetopof

thebankandlanding

ina heap,thankfully

unharmed.Then

Andrew’sgrandmother

diedatthestartofthe

show,heendureda

“reallyterrible”roundin

theDerbyqualifierand,

ontheeveoftheclass,

hisfatherrippedoffa

toenailandstruggled

towalkthedistances

onthefamoustrack,so

theyhadtocallforhelp

fromGeoffBillingtononce

again.

“Anyonewitha bitofsense

probablywouldn’thavebothered

jumpingtheDerbyafterallthat,”

saysAndrew,whofaultedatthe

railsatthebottomofthebankwhile

Geoffcamehomewithjusta time-

faulttowin.

“Itwasquitefittingthathebeat

me.I certainlycouldn’thaveanyill

feelingtowardshimasI wouldn’t

evenhavebeenthereif it hadn’tbeen

forhim.

“Westilllaughaboutit now.He

gavethebalustradefencea proper

rattleandI rememberthinkingif

onlythathadcomedownit would

havebeena differentstory.I thoughtI’d

feeldevastatedwhenit happened,but

actuallyI couldn’tstopgrinning for the

rest of the day.”H&H

32 Horse& Hound1 August 2019