Doreen Calder still rues the one that got away for pointing icon Flying Ace

Racing addicts will know the pleasure of pondering great horses while thumbing through books and watching films to glean details of their achievements. It is no different for devotees of point-to-pointing, for the sport is plentiful with horses who became great through victories and endurance.

It grieves me to admit I missed Spartan Missile, the horse rated the greatest pointer/hunter chaser, although I watched on television his second to Aldaniti in the 1981 Grand National, and I also failed to witness the marvellous Flying Ace, who knocked up 59 wins between
1983 and 1992.

“It should've been 60,” reflects his rider Doreen Calder on the disqualification. Her father Adam bred and trained the son of Champion Hurdle winner Saucy Kit at their Berwickshire home.