From Dessie to Best Mate: 50 years of Huntingdon's biggest day

Huntingdon's biggest day effectively has two anniversaries on Sunday. It is 50 years since Mazindale won the first running as a handicap chase in 1969, but perhaps more significantly it is 40 years – after one reprise as the FA Standen Chase – since the plain old Peterborough Chase was born as the conditions race we know today.

The Huntingdon faithful were immediately treated to a steep rise in quality, with Midnight Court and John Francome reunited for a first racecourse appearance since winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup 20 months earlier.

Unsurprisingly after such an absence, he could finish only third to his Fred Winter-trained stablemate Chumson, so beginning something of a trend in the race. Another three times a Gold Cup winner would line up and on only one occasion would they justify the cramped odds.