Poliantas

Poliantas was a bonny bay horse with long legs and a lot of talent and spirit. He raced 20 times in total, winning 5 chases, 3 hurdle races and placing in 9 races including twice second in the Grade 3 Thomas Pink Gold Cup and the Paddy Power Chase. His distance ranged from 2 miles 1 furlong to 3 miles and he went on any ground from good to firm to heavy. At only 6 he had achieved much and more was yet to come.

Racing fans get very attached to all of Paul`s horses and Poliantas, or `Polly` as fans called him, had a large following. His handsome looks and kind and serious face won the hearts of the ladies while his work attitude impressed the tougher guys who liked to say that this young horse was` the real thing` and like See More Business, Cenkos, Ad Hoc and Earthmover, was not one you would dare to call a `sissy`. He was a good fast jumper and showed plenty of courage in 2002 when he took second in the Thomas Pink Gold Cup behind previous victor Cyfor Malta.

In 2003 after a long summer of sun on their backs both the horses and the fans were more than ready for some rain and National Hunt racing to start with some decent ground. The Open Meeting at Cheltenham was welcomed by fans and the three days will have many memories for them. Fleeting glimpses of those three days will play back to us over the years. Nicky Henderson`s Ceanannas Mor back in form after a correction to his wind taking the 4 mile chase with the help of Mick Fitzgerald. The somewhat surprised, but pleased look on Paul Nicholl`s face as Cenkos and Kadarann give him the 1-2 on Friday. McCoy at his best on Saturday giving Martin Pipe and himself a treble and owner David Johnson a double, Nicky Henderson`s high jumping Fondmort winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup under a brilliant ride from Mick Fitzgerald and Poliantas brave as ever chasing them up the hill to take second place in the race again. A crafty one for the Irish with trainer John Queally and owner Michael Ryan coming over from County Waterford with their Al Eile under Jim Culloty to steal the Juvenile Hurdle 17 years after Queally won on the course as an amateur rider. Another sneaky move, this time from the Nigel Twiston Davies trained Shardam with a brave front running display to beat McCoy`s power drive on little Stormez. Thisthatandtoher`s breathtaking run in the Grade 2 November Novices Chase and into favouritism for the Arkle. Rigmarole bouncing back to form, making up for the absence of Sporazene by taking the Greatwood Hurdle in style at 33/1. And another one for the Irish with Pat Hughes and his impressive 5 year old Blue Away battling away under Timmy Murphy to beat the in form Peter Bowen`s Mr Ed. Paul Nicholls being the leading trainer at the meeting with three wins (Cenkos, Thisthatandtother, Rigmarole) and three places (French Executive, Kadarann, Poliantas).

Poliantas was known for his courage and willingness and it was no surprise when he chased hard after Fondmort and Mick. We knew he was courageous but we did not know just how much until afterwards when he collapsed on the walk in and could not be revived. Racing fans were very happy for Mick, Nicky Henderson and brave little Fondmort who all deserved a big win, but a large crowd also gathered to applaud Poliantas and Ruby on the walk in as their performance was top class. When Polly collapsed in front of the bottom half of the course it was enveloped in silence as we all stood, waited and hoped. Mick and Fondmort were left to make their own way alone to the Winner`s Enclosure as the fans did not wish to leave Polly until they were sure that he could not be saved.

Sadly it was to be the last time we saw him and he never made it to his connections waiting for him in the Winner`s Enclosure. Our only comfort is that he did not suffer as his death was instant. Like Brother Joe Poliantas`s owner has had plenty of very good horses but each one is special to the Tincknells and this was a great loss to them. Polly was a kind and happy horse who loved his life and his lass Sherrie-Anne who was inconsolable at the loss of this horse.

Many of the readers of this website knew both horses having followed them for sometime and a few of you had the pleasure of meeting the horses in person at various Open Days or at the track. They will both be missed very much and we would like to extend our sympathies to both stables, Paul Nicholls and Phillip Hobbs, and all of their connections.

Fans wanted us to say that it is especially comforting to them that they knew that the horses were owned and looked after by people who cared so much for them. Their lives were too short but they were very happy, they both enjoyed their life and racing. They were horses the public would love to have owned and their performances remind us just how deep the courage of the Thoroughbred runs. They are a credit to their breed.

`Rollercoasters can provide excitement and elation one moment and leave you feeling queasy the next. It was just that sort of day` Published: 16/11/2003 (Yesterday`s Action) Alastair Down

WE HAVE been itching for jump racing to shake off the debilitating effects of an arid autumn and hit its stride, and yesterday it did just that - although when the season finally kicked the door down and made its entrance, it wasn`t all old friends and fresh heroes.

Edward Gillespie described it as "a typical Cheltenham rollercoaster afternoon" and the phrase was bang on. Rollercoasters can provide excitement and elation one moment and leave you feeling a bit queasy the next. It was just that sort of day.

On the credit side, the afternoon belonged to Fondmort, winning a major Cheltenham handicap for the second time. At the heart of his success was a flawless round of jumping under a masterclass ride from Mick Fitzgerald, who was never in any other than Position A throughout the race. Nicky Henderson had made no secret of how much Fondmort had been pleasing him in his work and he wouldn`t have his string in better condition if Jesus and St Peter were the senior men on his staff, though for my money Corky Brown and Johnny Worrall would just get the nod over that pair.

A special mention in dispatches must go to third-placed Ei Ei, who has won 15 races in his time but largely in less grand surroundings than Cheltenham. He ran and jumped his heart out and his sporting connections intend to reoppose Fondmort in the Tripleprint. Memo to handicapper Phil Smith, please do not raise him at all for this effort.

Of the vanquished, you could certainly argue that Risk Accessor was still travelling very well when falling two out, but in the past he has failed to deliver everything he promised to when they got into the white heat of the furnace. As Risk Accessor fell, Tony McCoy and It Takes Time came down independently right beside him. Somehow the pursuing Young Spartacus picked his way through the sprawled limbs of both It Takes Time and his jockey without touching either. McCoy`s escape from a severe kicking at best was a stark illustration of the ludicrously narrow gap between escaping scot-free and heading for hospital. But if AP got away due to Young Spartacus`s almost balletic dexterity, the aftermath of the race took a gloomier turn. As he reached the bottom of the course to turn and make his way to the unsaddling enclosure, Poliantas collapsed and died of a heart attack. This sad sight came just two hours after the prolific winner Brother Joe had to be put down after fracturing a shoulder at the seemingly bedevilled second-last in the opening novices` chase. Thus, two well-known West Country horses didn`t make the journey back home last night and, when you add in stable staff, trainers, owners, jockeys and fans of the horses, the immediate circle of pain is wide enough. But, of course, it travels wider than that. We waited a long time for Fondmort to return to the winner`s spot and, while he got a hearty reception from those on the steep steppings at the top of the paddock, those at the lower end of the paddock were very much more subdued as they knew of Poliantas`s fate.

Critics of jump racing, who believe we ask too much of horses and care little about their fate, tend do so from the comfort of their own homes and never take the time or trouble to understand that the death of horses, while accepted as part of the package of the sport, is still something that affects and upsets the racing public deeply. What jumping`s more extreme opponents - and there are some poisonously smug ones about the place - are unable to understand or admit is that the death of horses strikes more deeply at the core of the jumping fan than it does at any of the critics` sweet-smelling, baby-wipe consciences.

To return to the positive side, this was a cracking afternoon for the old firm of Pipe and McCoy. Forget the Office of Fair Trading`s investigation into racing as a whole, it should have looked into Pipe`s domination of this meeting years ago. He has trained over a quarter of the winners over the last five years and notched three more yesterday.

Needless to say, this wasn`t wildly unpopular with punters who trust Pipe and McCoy at the Open more than they do their spouses. To be frank, McCoy didn`t have to be within a country mile of his best aboard Puntal or the ominously impressive Therealbandit, but he dealt several cards off the bottom of the deck to get Gone Too Far home in the last. I should think you could have named your price on the exchanges for most of the race, but McCoy`s motto is the same as the name of the 1954 Derby winner and he ground away until he got the result, having been at least ten lengths adrift and struggling with two to jump, and still six down at the last.

We have seen McCoy as low as he can get on this course in times past. But he was genuinely thrilled at this win and the massive smile painted across those pale features rightly deserved to be the abiding image when this particular rollercoaster came to rest.

Deaths of Poliantas and Joe mar day

Published: 16/11/2003 (Yesterday`s Action) Seb Vance

THE biggest day of the jumps season so far was marred yesterday when Poliantas and Brother Joe both lost their lives at Cheltenham, writes Seb Vance. Poliantas collapsed moments after finishing a brave second to Fondmort in the Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase, having suffered a suspected heart attack. Brother Joe was found to have fractured a shoulder after falling in the opening novices` chase and was later put down. Paul Nicholls, who trained Poliantas, has suffered a wretched start to the campaign, with Valley Henry, Azertyuiop and Strong Flow all failing to complete on their seasonal bows, and was understandably devastated. "I didn`t think it could get any worse," said Nicholls, "but to lose a promising horse like this is simply a tragedy and that`s the only way to put it, especially as he`d run so well."

Poliantas, also runner-up in the race 12 months ago, enjoyed his biggest success when beating yesterday`s winner Fondmort in the Silver Trophy Chase at Cheltenham in April for owner Mark Tincknell. The Sir Robert Ogden-owned Brother Joe fell at the second-last when looking held in the Peter Bromley Chase. "It`s very, very sad," said the owner`s racing manager Barry Simpson. "Sir Robert wanted to try to get him back to the stud, but the vet said he was in a lot of distress and there was no alternative but to put him down. It looked a soft fall, but he was getting tired towards the end."

Brother Joe was a versatile performer for Hobbs, winning both over hurdles and fences. His biggest successes came in last year`s Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby, and the Grade 2 Rising Stars Novices` Chase at Chepstow eight days ago. He also finished third in the 2001 Ebor on the Flat.

Cheltenham: Nicholls can aim high again with 33-1 shock Rigmarole

Published: 17/11/2003 (Yesterday`s Action) Jon Lees

THE unpredictability of National Hunt racing had trainer Paul Nicholls hastily reviving big-race plans after Rigmarole made a nonsense of his recent form to spring a 33-1 surprise at Cheltenham yesterday. Beaten nearly 24 lengths at Wincanton just eight days earlier and reportedly "over the top" after a busy summer, the five-year-old defied top weight to claim a thrilling triumph in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle.

After the death of Poliantas at the track a day earlier, the success, the second leg of a stable double, proved a tremendous fillip for the Nicholls team, especially for groom Sherie Anne Derrick, who led up Rigmarole. Derrick was not only Poliantas`s groom but had also looked after Desmond Tutu, who broke down fatally at Chepstow last month. Recent winners of yesterday`s pounds 50,000 Listed race have a tremendous record in the Champion Hurdle. Last year`s victor Rooster Booster, who also carried 11st 12lb, won the race and his predecessor Westender ran second to him at the Festival. Defeat at Wincanton last time appeared to have exposed Rigmarole`s limitations but, under a waiting ride from Ruby Walsh, his length-and-a-quarter victory over Caracciola and hot favourite Hasty Prince may be the prelude to a more ambitious programme.

"What a difference a week makes," said Nicholls. "I thought last week off 10st 5lb he couldn`t get beat. I was thinking of the Christmas Hurdle but he missed the break and was beaten by the first obstacle.

"I just don`t know what happened. His rider [7lb claimer Nick Carter] got off and said that, basically, he was over the top. If he had run badly today I would have given him a rest and brought him back in the spring. "We worked him hard all week and he was flying yesterday with Thisthatandtother.

"He`ll probably go for the Christmas Hurdle now as he loves Kempton and, if the ground is fast, we wouldn`t be afraid to enter him in the Champion Hurdle. When they`re improving you just don`t know how far they will go." Rigmarole was given a 40-1 quote by William Hill and is 33-1 with Victor Chandler and Paddy Power for the Champion Hurdle.

The victory completed a rewarding weekend`s work for Walsh, who enjoyed three wins for Nicholls on his first visit to Britain since returning from injury. Nicholls acknowledged that the partnership works really well. "Ruby clicks with us - we get on really well and he`s a big help to the team. I don`t think we`ve ever had a cross word. He has a lot of faith in me and vice versa," he said. "He rides so coolly and he`s made for a horse like Rigmarole.

"You`re up one minute and down the next in this game. You have to enjoy the winners when they come. Poliantas was a seriously nice young horse and I am gutted for his owner Mark Tincknell. The horse had come a long way in a short time but he paid a hefty price. "That`s the down side of jump racing, but you`ve got to keep looking forward and days like this make it all worthwhile."