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Mick Fitzgerald
Michael Fitzgerald (born 10 May 1970) is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey and current television racing pundit. Fitzgerald rode for the majority of his career in Great Britain and less often Ireland. Career as a Jockey Mick Fitzgerald's career lasted for over 15 years. After experience on the Pony racing circuit in Ireland he began riding out for Richard Lister, a local flat trainer in County Wexford, at the age of 16. This was followed by a move to the Curragh to ride out for John Hayden. Once he had left school at 18, a growth spurt led to an increase in weight forcing a switch to National Hunt racing. Fitzgerald's first National Hunt yards were in South West England with John Jenkins and Richard Tucker. His first two winners came during this association at the end of 1988, the first being a horse called Lover's Secret at Ludlow on 11 December. However it took until 1991/2 National Hunt season for Fitzgerald to obtain regular rides and winners. This was with Jackie Retter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Hunt
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Outline Most of the National Hunt season takes place in the winter when the softer ground makes jumping less dangerous. The horses are much cheaper, as the majority are geldings and have no breeding value. This makes the sport more popular as the horses are not usually retired at such a young age and thus become familiar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008 Grand National
The 2008 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 161st official annual running of the Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 5 April 2008 and attracted the maximum permitted field of 40 runners, competing for total prize money of £450,640. Joint-favourite Comply or Die and Irish jockey Timmy Murphy won the race (it was Murphy's eleventh attempt at the National), four lengths ahead of King John's Castle in second place and Snowy Morning in third. Competitors and betting Cloudy Lane, ridden by Jason Maguire, was the long-time ante-post favourite but was joined just before the off by Comply or Die, ridden by Timmy Murphy; the pair sent off as 7–1 joint-favourites. The top weight of 11 stone and 12 lbs was carried by former winner Hedgehunter, ridden by Ruby Walsh. The full order of betting at the off was as follows: Three riders were having their thirteenth rid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiutchev
Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Тю́тчев, r=Fyódor Ivánovič Tyútčev, links=1, p=ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈtʲʉt͡ɕːɪf; Pre-Reform orthography: ; – ) was a Russian poet and diplomat. Life Tyutchev was born into a Russian noble family in the Ovstug family estate near Bryansk (modern-day Zhukovsky District, Bryansk Oblast of Russia). His father Ivan Nikolaevich Tyutchev (1768—1846) was a court councillor who served in the Kremlin Expedition that managed all building and restoration works of Moscow palaces. One of Ivan's sister (1774—1837), was a hegumenia famous for founding the Borisoglebsky Anosin Women's Monastery.''Ivan Aksakov (1997)''. Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev's Biography. — Moscow: AO Book and Business, p. 172-173 ''Gennady Chagin (2004)''. Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev. — Moscow: Russkiy mir, p. 17 The Tyutchevs traced their roots to Zakhariy Tutchev mentioned in ''The Tale of the Rout of Mamai'', a 15t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arkle Challenge Trophy
The Arkle Challenge Trophy is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham, England, over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile, 7 furlongs and 199 yards, or ), and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading minimum-distance chase for novices in the National Hunt calendar. It is the second race on the opening day of the festival. History The Arkle Challenge Trophy was introduced as a replacement for the Cotswold Chase, a previous event at the Cheltenham Festival, in 1969. Its title pays tribute to Arkle, a three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the mid-1960s. The race was formerly scheduled to be run on the second day of the Festival, but it was switched to its slot on the opening day in 1980. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchanal
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and probably arrived in Rome itself around 200 BC. Like all mystery religions of the ancient world, very little is known of their rites. They seem to have been popular and well-organised throughout the central and southern Italian peninsula. Livy, writing some 200 years after the event, offers a scandalized and extremely colourful account of the Bacchanalia, with frenzied rites, sexually violent initiations of both sexes, all ages and all social classes; he represents the cult as a murderous instrument of conspiracy against the state. Livy claims that seven thousand cult leaders and followers were arrested, and that most were executed. Livy believed the Bacchanalia scandal to be one of several indications of Rome's inexorable moral decay. Modern scholars take a skepti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stayers' Hurdle
The Stayers' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain. It is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles (2 miles 7 furlongs and 213 yards, or 4,785 metres), with twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading long-distance hurdle event in the National Hunt calendar and the feature race on the third day of the Festival. History The inaugural race was run in 1912 at Prestbury Park over 3 miles with £100 (£200 in 1913) prize money to the winner and £10 to the runner-up. It was called "Stayers Selling Hurdle" and was a Weight for Age Selling type of event with the winning horse being sold for £50 after the race. The race was dropped from the festival programme twice during 1928–1929 and in 1939–1945 but in 1946 it replaced the Spa Hurdle which was pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Call Equiname
Call Equiname (foaled 28 May 1990) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse who competed under National Hunt rules. In a racing career frequently interrupted by injury he raced twenty-one times in eight seasons, winning eleven races. Despite an undistinguished pedigree, he showed promise in his early career, winning the Kennel Gate Novices' Hurdle in 1995. He reached his peak in the spring of 1999 when he won the Victor Chandler Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He was retired from racing in January 2001. Background Call Equiname was a grey gelding bred in the United Kingdom by Mrs L Steele. He was by far the most notable horse sired by Belfort, a moderate racehorse and an obscure breeding stallion. Call Equinames dam, Cherry Season, won one minor race from fifteen starts in 1982 and 1983. As a yearling, Call Equiname was sent to the Doncaster bloodstock sale in September 1991 and bought for 1,500 guineas by Don Eddy acting on behalf of Karen McLintock. Although it was ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Mother Champion Chase
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online betting company Betway, the race is now known as the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile 7 furlongs and 199 yards, or 3,199 metres), and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading minimum-distance chase in the National Hunt calendar, and it is the feature race on the second day of the Festival. History The event was established in 1959, and it was originally called the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It was given its present title in 1980 – the year of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday – in recognition of her support to jump ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presenting '' Grandstand'', ''Match of the Day'', Wimbledon, the Grand National, ''Sportsnight'', the World Cup and Olympic Games, as well as presenting non-sporting programmes such as ''Holiday'', ''How Do They Do That?'' and ''Countdown''. Early years Lynam was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, and moved with his family to Brighton, England, at the age of six. He recalled having a strong Irish accent at that time, but eventually lost it. He passed the eleven-plus in 1954, to attend Varndean Grammar School. After sitting his A-levels, he went into the insurance business. Broadcasting career 1968–1999 Lynam started his career in broadcasting as a freelance radio journalist on BBC Radio Brighton (1968–1969). He quickly joined national BB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AP McCoy
Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year that he was a professional. McCoy recorded his first winner in 1992 at age 17. On 7 November 2013 he rode his 4,000th winner, riding Mountain Tunes to victory at Towcester. Even in his first season riding in Britain, as an apprentice for trainer Toby Balding, McCoy won the Conditional Jump Jockeys Title with a record 74 winners for a conditional jockey. McCoy claimed his first Champion Jockey title in 1995/96 and went on to win it every year until his retirement in 2015. McCoy has won almost every big race there is to win. His most high-profile winners include the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, King George VI Chase and the 2010 Grand National, riding Don't Push It. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Racing School
The British Racing School is one of the two racing schools in the United Kingdom. Established in 1983, it is a charitable trust providing training for young people working in the horse racing industry. The school is based in Newmarket, Suffolk, and offers a wide range of courses for jockeys, trainers, exercise riders, and racing secretaries. It also runs the Pony Racing Academy and bi-annual Pony Racing Camps for children aged between 11 and 16 who wish to compete in the growing sport oPony Racing It is accredited by the British Horse Society, and a 2011 inspection report outcome of 2, Good. Grant Harris is the current chief executive of the British Racing School. History The British Racing School first started in 1969 at Great Bookham in Surrey before moving to the National Equestrian Centre at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. In 1979 it moved again to the Earl of March’s Goodwood Estate until finally a permanent base was set up in Newmarket at the 120-acre site just north of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV (TV Network)
ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was for four decades a network of separate companies which provided regional television services and also shared programmes between each other to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs the ITV1 channel, and STV Group, which runs the STV channel. The ITV network is a separate entity from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004. ITV plc holds the Channel 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
