I know 118 starts is a lot, but i think they tried to retire him, but when they put him in a big paddock with lots of grass he hated it and tried to escape (i think that was him).

He hasn't got the class he has anymore, but from seeing him today, his coat was gleaming, his ears were pricked, he was looking around at the crowd in the paddock as if to say "i'm here........ i love this sport". I'm glad to report he looked really happy, MMSC.

I'm happy about that anyway and no I had never heard the story...

Oh well.

118 just seems like too much but I've been wrong before.

Still, I'm always afraid for him.

I get worried about him, too....... but if he loves doing it (which he does) why stop him.

Persian Punch was the same, and i was SO upset when he went at Ascot but after a while, i realised that is what the horse would have wanted. He went doing something he loved, and everytime i think of him, i just smile :)

Its quite funny some horses just love to run, Eric musgrove had a jumper named Gilligan Loved to jump & did so until the age of 13 when they retired him , he was dead within 3 months:( after that Collic.
One of my horses had a foal but just loved to run so we put her back in work we got a couple o 2nds & was great to see the person i sold it to got a 3rd with her the other day:D .
It really does depend on the horses attitude i reckon why stop a animal doing what it loves to do ?.

If my horses tell me theyve had enough i reckon put em in a paddock as fast as you can better to have a Happy Hack:D Than a grouchie Racehorse:mad:

Thank you for the pictures..... they're really beautiful. :)

Glad you liked them :)

A replay for anyone who hasn't seen the race yet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OYw56xP78

by Lee Mottershead and Tony Elves

THE Nunthorpe Stakes was on Saturday described as only a "minor possibility" for Britain's new star sprinter Sakhee's Secret, on Saturday hailed the best winner of the July Cup since champion Oasis Dream.

An impressive defeat of Dutch Art in Friday's Newmarket Group 1 was enough to earn the Hughie Morrison-trained Sakhee's Secret a Racing Post Rating of 126, and he looks set to bid to improve that mark next in the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 8.

Morrison, who on Saturday reported his new flagship to be in good order, explained why the Coolmore-sponsored Nunthorpe is unlikely to be on the colt's agenda.

"The Nunthorpe is a possibility but, I suspect, only a minor possibility," said Morrison.

"I'm not gung ho about going to York as it's a very fast five furlongs and the ground there can get very firm in the summer.

"We'll see how he is in the next few weeks but Haydock may fit in better - going there gives us a bit longer and we also know how good he is over six furlongs. After Haydock, I'd imagine we'd end our season at Longchamp, as I have no real desire to go to the Breeders' Cup." Racing Post handicapper Simon Turner's July Cup rating for Sakhee's Secret was the highest since Oasis Dream notched 128 in 2003. Pastoral Pursuits, who won the race for Morrison in 2005, was allotted a figure of 124.

Turner said: "We haven't seen a performance like that from a British sprinter for some time and it's nice to see two three-year-olds leading the division."
Unlike Sakhee's Secret, July Cup fifth Dandy Man is Nunthorpe-bound after running out of stamina on Friday.

Trainer Tracey Collins said: "He lost nothing in defeat and showed blinding pace until he hit the final furlong and the uphill finish. It is a stiff six furlongs on the July course, and he just didn't get home."

Asset, who finished one place behind Dandy Man when 4-1 favourite for the July Cup, is likely to visit Deauville according to Harry Herbert, managing director of owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.

"Asset ran a bit flat at Newmarket and didn't travel as easily as he can," said Herbert. "He finished like a train but he lacked the brilliance he showed at Newmarket and at Ascot.

“Maybe he just had a quiet day. Despite that he ran a very good race, and we will aim him for the Prix Maurice de Gheest next."

So glad he's not going to the Breeder's Cup. That would probably have ruined him this year.

In my opinion, he is the best sprinter in the world, and as a three year old.... that is some status. He will will improve with another year on his back. I hate to think how good this horse will be in the next two years!!

Do they sometimes make them stable ponies like they do over here?