Every sport has its eccentric characters. Where would basketball be without Dennis Rodman? Boxing without Mike Tyson? Tennis without John McEnroe? I mean, you cannot be serious.
So it is with horse racing. Racing has its loveable – and not so loveable – human larrikins, but let’s celebrate the equine eccentrics, those gallopers better suited in the racehorse equivalent of a mental asylum rather than in the stables.
It seems rather timely with the Japanese Derby, the Tokyo Yushun, on this weekend – a race that has been a breeding ground for nutcases. And besides, there have been a couple of nasty incidents in the past week which have been a reminder that horses are fragile creatures.
After Sunday’s thunder-marred straight race at Sha Tin, a number of horses returned clearly spooked. One mafoo suffered more than most, though, with his finger bitten off by one of the beaten runners. Who could blame the horse after competing in those conditions?
And if that wasn’t enough of an incentive to look at some of the crazier horses to step foot on a racetrack, former Hong Kong galloper Mirage gave us another reason after he threw away certain victory at Randwick on Saturday.
Mirage had a troubled career in Hong Kong after he was sold to prominent owner Larry Yung Chi-kin. He was always a bit nutty – he even had the stable name Spook when with Peter Moody the first time around, when he raced as Royal Haunt. It didn’t stop him showing his talent, though, as he went three-from-three pre-export.
However, he went crazy on the flight over, fracturing his jaw and requiring a lengthy stint on the sidelines.
Maybe he was just claustrophobic, as his biggest hurdle in Hong Kong was an aversion to the barriers, something that caused John Size many a sleepless night as he nursed the horse back to health.
Considered a contender for the 2014 Classic Mile, eventually won by Able Friend, he was ruled out of the race once and for all when he went berserk in the gates before his intended Hong Kong debut two weeks out, injuring Tye Angland in the process.
He eventually stepped out once in Class Two, recording a half-length victory in March 2014, but that was all we saw of Mirage.
Clearly, it’s still the same spooked Mirage back in Moody’s Melbourne stables now – although it’s now not the start of a race but the finish that’s the issue.
He’s not the only Hong Kong-trained horse, past or present, with a crazy streak. Richard Gibson’s lowly Class Four galloper Mi Savvy is one, remembered for taking a nibble of Silver Dragon in the closing stages of a January Happy Valley race.
They are but a few who show signs of insanity here, cooped up in the multi-storey stable blocks, hardly leaving Sha Tin. No wonder it takes time to acclimatise.
However, if there’s a stronghold of crazy gallopers anywhere in the world, head across to Japan. Forget the land of the rising sun, a more apt description for Japan is the home of the insane equine.
Whether it’s the fact that more than 95 per cent of their male horses are still intact, so to speak, or whether it’s a result of the closeted bloodlines – think of the Sunday Silence influence – Japan is a haven for the certifiably mad.
Take Hakusan Moon, a Group One-placed sprinter who has made a name of spinning around in circles after his rider is legged up.
It’s become a bit of a sideshow for Japanese fans, who crowd around, get dizzy and then cheer him home.
Unfortunately, it was another crazy animal that had the better of him last start in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen – Paul O’Sullivan’s Aerovelocity, a horse so on edge he’s been known to take bites out of mafoos and handlers.
Hakusan Moon’s antics haven’t even been the craziest seen on a Japanese racetrack this year, though. That honour belongs to the talented grey, Gold Ship.
The best quip about Gold Ship came from an American fan on Twitter, who said: “If he’s calm and relaxed in the paddock, you know he’s off his game. Avoid him at all costs!”
He was mental behind the barriers at his last start, the Tenno Sho (Spring), and raced accordingly – unwilling to go early, lugging off the track and fighting the rider in the middle stages, before surging to the lead on the corner and finding enough to hold his rivals at bay.
Freaky.
But the clear winner for insanity has to be the 2011 winner of the Tokyo Yushun – the one, the only Orfevre.
The striking chestnut with a big white blaze and oodles of talent, he swept Japan’s Triple Crown and the Arima Kinen in 2011 to stamp himself as one of the country’s best gallopers – certainly the most popular, anyway.
But upon his reappearance in 2012, it all started to go wrong.
The Grade Two Hanshin Daishoten was expected to be a walkover for Orfevre and he was sent out at 10-1 on. Simply, he should not have lost.
But about 800m from home, he ran off the track, the jockey steadied in order to get him back into a rhythm, and he lost his prominent position and ended up at the rear.
Remarkably, he still almost won.
Later that year, he looked to have ended Japan’s Arc wait when he raced clear well into the Longchamp straight. However, he drifted in sharply, hit the rail and the somewhat mediocre four-year-old mare Solemia – in terms of Arc winners anyway – raced past to deny Japanese hopes yet again.
And hey, any excuse to show this video of the devastated Japanese again.
At least Orfevre was able to retire in a blaze of glory 12 months later with a crushing eight-length win in the Arima Kinen, with none of his crazy antics on display.
Perhaps the likely favourite for Sunday’s Tokyo Yushun, Duramente, can join Orfevre in the future, for he shapes as a nutcase to watch – definitely possible if his Satsuki Sho win is anything to go by.
Watch as he knocks half the field down on the home turn, under a man familiar to Hong Kong punters, Mirco Demuro.
Will he become the new Orfevre?
POSTSCRIPT: Since we suggested a few of the craziest horses to have graced the racetrack, a whole stable of lunatics have been put forward by those on social media. These include:
Aqua D'Amore - Coolmore-owned mare, good enough to finish second in the 2006 Caulfield Cup and fourth a week later in the Cox Plate, but who made a nasty habit of sitting down in the gates. It was so bad, she was barred from coming to Hong Kong to contest the Champions Mile.
Mad Moose - Dual purpose galloper in the United Kingdom who refused to race a number of times, both on the flat and over the jumps. And even when he did jump away, on many occasions he was reluctant to continue and it was an exercise in futility. A ban was placed on him in late 2013, but he was allowed to return to the racetrack again in December 2014. Of course, he refused to race once more and was retired.
Spicer Cub - American galloper Spicer Cub was only a claimer, but he turned plenty of heads with his erratic run at Pimlico last year. Seemingly travelling well on the lead, he ducked out sharply approaching the bend. Jockey Xavier Perez straightened him up again, but he ducked out to the outside rail in the stretch, coming around the dormant starting gates. Somehow, he still ended up in a photo for first!
Pravda - Trainer Paul O'Sullivan is near the top of the Hong Kong ranks again through his feats with noted nutter, gun sprinter Aerovelocity, but he is well used to some crazy antics. O'Sullivan prepared Kiwi staying mare Pravda for a tilt at the 2000 Melbourne Cup, and all went swimmingly - until the time came for her to gallop down to the start. She dug her heels in, refused to move and was withdrawn from the race.
Vanilla - The one-time Australian Derby second may have run second at Sha Tin on Wednesday night, but it took a long time for him to acclimatise to Hong Kong. In particular, all he wanted to do was to return to his box. At what was to be his third start, he was withdrawn after dumping the jockey and heading for the stables, while he also pulled the same stunt before the 2014 Classic Cup but was recaptured and passed fit to start.
Helmet - The striking Darley galloper was as wayward as they come, almost throwing away certain victory in two juvenile Group One events in Australia. In the second of these, the Champagne Stakes, Helmet hugged the rail and looked all over a winner before ducking out sharply to the middle of the track. Somehow, he maintained momentum and still won the race.
Storming Home - There are few American references on this list, but Storming Home can give a bit of an American flavour. The English-bred American-trained galloper spooked near the finishing line of the 2003 Arlington Million, dumping jockey Gary Stevens and causing mayhem all around. The horse crossed the line first with Stevens still holding onto the reins, but Storming Home was disqualified, with Sulamani the new winner.
