R.I.P Walter Swinburn

[goldringers]

To those not in the know with horse racing he rode 2 of the best ever Derbys winners in Shergar and Lammtarra. Lammtarra was the horse that sticks in my mind and will till the day I die. I remember it winning it's only 2 year old race coming from the back to front winning going clear and I kept my eye for it.

 

It was put away and not to bee seen till the Derby and if stand to be corrected, no horse had ever won the Derby and not ran as a 3 year old well at least not up till then. I was out with 3 m8's on a afternoon session day/night job and I kept going on about it, Lammtarra. I also remember I was fookin skint and I only had about £30 on me for the whole day/night and I stuck £20 on it to win taking the early morning price of 25/1 and and ended up turning out with a tenner in my pocket and an early night beckoning I just had this feeling I still don't know why, all my m8's took no notice and backed other horses.

 

So coming off tattenham corner Swinburn had it near the back with only 2 behind him and stuck on the rail. As it got into the last 2 furlongs I kept shouting at the packed pub TV,  "Let your fookin hands go Walter". At the 2 Furlong pole he was 10 length off the leader until Lammtarra saw daylight. it had to be about one of the coolest and MOST confident well timed jockey rides I've ever seen in my life and I have seen literally 1000's of races in my time. To have it so far behind in the biggest flat race in the world and to unleash it when he did was a masterstroke and only a genius of a jockey could pull that off.

 

When he hit the furlong pole and and 5 lengths off the leader I brought the house down in the pub. I always remember I shoutin top note going nuts,  "MONEY IN THE FOOKIN BANK" my m8's reckoned I was off my head as it had no chance. if you look at the video and look at 4:38 that's the exact same film reel I was watching, Lammtarra out of shot until it's nose appeared in shot and i through my ale up screaming the house down " go walter fookin go!!" till it flew passed the post pulling away.

 

My m8's said "You jammy bast*rd, there's no way you could picked that before the race !". The horse was probably the best horse I ever saw winning the Derby The King George and the Arc.... 4 runs and 4 wins and 3 of those wins in the 3 biggest and hardest flat races in the world. In the King George and Arc with Dettori in the saddle the horse did it from the front which made it even more remarkable.

 

But going back to the title of the thread, Walter Swinburn gave me my best ever horse racing memory and the best ever winning feeling I have ever had, when your skint to the bone and he pulls a wonder ride out the bag in the Derby it will always stick in my mind unlike the rest of the day which was a blur,

R.I.P Walter and thank you

 

To this day it still gives me gooseys:-

 

And to this day , it's record Derby winning time has only been bettered 2 in 21 years which speaks volumes on how good the horse actually was.