Versatile career of a young pretender to Arkle's throne
Flyingbolt very nearly the equal of his great contemporary and stablemate
Is it really the case that the two greatest steeplechasers in history were housed in Tom Dreaper's County Dublin yard in the 1960s?
Hard for the modern racing brain to assimilate, especially since Arkle and Flyingbolt belonged to a string of no more than 35 horses, overseen by a man who described himself first and foremost as a farmer.
Save for one unintended encounter on the Dreaper gallops, reputedly a flat-out, neck-and-neck affair over four fences involving the pair's regular rider Pat Taaffe on Arkle and Paddy Woods on Flyingbolt, they were never tested together.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inSeries
Last updated
- We believed Dancing Brave could fly - and then he took off to prove it
- 'Don't wind up bookmakers - you might feel clever but your accounts won't last'
- 'There wouldn't be a day I don't think about those boys and their families'
- 'You want a bit of noise, a bit of life - and you have to be fair to punters'
- 'I take flak and it frustrates me - but I'm not going to wreck another horse'
- We believed Dancing Brave could fly - and then he took off to prove it
- 'Don't wind up bookmakers - you might feel clever but your accounts won't last'
- 'There wouldn't be a day I don't think about those boys and their families'
- 'You want a bit of noise, a bit of life - and you have to be fair to punters'
- 'I take flak and it frustrates me - but I'm not going to wreck another horse'