Flyingbolt
| Flyingbolt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sire | Airborne |
| Grandsire | Precipitation |
| Dam | Eastlock |
| Damsire | Easton |
| Sex | Gelding |
| Foaled | 1959 |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Mr. R.E. Way |
| Owner | Mrs. Jean Wilkinson |
| Trainer | Tom Dreaper (in Ireland) |
| Record | 34: 18-3-6 25:12-3-5 (chases) 6:4-0-1 (hurdles) 3:2-0-0 (flat) |
| Major wins | |
|
Irish Grand National (1966) Queen Mother Champion Chase (1966) Thyestes Chase (1966) Arkle Challenge Trophy (1965) Massey Ferguson Gold Cup (1965) Black & White Whisky Gold Cup (1965) Irish Champion Hurdle (1964) Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1964) |
|
| Awards | |
| Timeform Rating: 210 | |
Flyingbolt (1959 - 1983) was a famous racehorse. Officially he is the second best National Hunt racehorse of all time, after Arkle. A comparison of their merits is probably best illustrated by the Official Steeplechase Handicapper, who at the end of the 1965-1966 season rated Arkle the superior by only 1 lb (0.5 kg).Timeform, the highly respected racing publication, had a difference of 2 lbs between them. As a hurdler, Flyingbolt was the best Tom Dreaper ever trained. His wins included the Gloucestershire Hurdle at Cheltenham (now the Supreme Novices' Hurdle) and the Scalp Hurdle at Leopardstown (now the Irish Champion Hurdle). He also finished third in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. Flyingbolt and Arkle never raced against one another, mainly because they were trained by the same man and he preferred to keep them apart.
Flyingbolt was born in 1959 in unusual circumstances. His sire Airborne, the 1946 Derby winner, was believed to have become completely impotent, and local man Robert Way gave him a home on his small stud farm where he housed a few mares of his own. In the belief that Airborne was incapable of breeding, Way put him into a paddock as a companion for the 19-year-old Eastlock, a barren mare who had been unable to conceive the previous year. However, the outcome was a chestnut colt born the following spring. Way sold him as a foal at the Newmarket December Sales for 210 guineas to Larry Ryan from Co. Clare in Ireland. After winning in the show ring as a yearling, Ryan offered him for sale that autumn at the Ballsbridge sales in Dublin through the Rathmore Stud owned by six-time Irish champion jockey Martin Molony. The horse was bought by George Ponsonby for 490 guineas. Ponsonby had already purchased a number of top performers who went into training with Tom Dreaper. This one did likewise and was passed on to Mrs. Jean Wilkinson, who combined the names of his sire (Airborne) and dam (Eastlock) to give him the name Flyingbolt.
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