More Icons

The Icons keep coming thick and fast, and none has appeared on the scene more pleasingly than Anthony Knott. Wasn't that excellent? There are some races which you just watch and think, "That was really, really good", and his win on Wise Men Say at Wincanton on Thursday was definitely one of those. Hats off to him, and he's gone straight onto the list of National Hunt Icons. Thinking of really admirable amateurs, Dr. Pritchard should be on the list too: I don't know if he's still riding because I haven't seen him have a ride for ages - in fact, I haven't noticed him train a runner for quite a while - but he, like Anthony Knott, is a reminder of all that makes racing such a special sport.

Of all the great racing at the weekend, perhaps the horse who did most to stir my admiration was Endless Power, the ultra-brave Crisp-like winner of the Grand Sefton Chase over the National fences yesterday. That's just so nice that Jim Goldie has won the race twice in a row: he's one of my favourite trainers and, although I've always thought his stable more Flat- than jumps-oriented, he can be given National Hunt Icon status for this feat coming on top of his achievements with the little Mull Of Kintyre filly whose name escapes me. La Vecchia Scuola?

La Vecchia Scuola is, I think, Italian for The Old School, which takes us nicely on to the continued ubiquitousness of Ian Watkinson. We can't get away from him at the moment! Diligent readers of the Chatroom in the Racing Post might have noticed the regular contributions of The Old School, Newmarket, which happen usually to coincide with views which Ian might be expected to hold. The Old School was in the Racing Post today remarking on the supposed smallness the Aintree fences and, if that was not enough, Ian was then mentioned on the same page in Chris Pitt's letter about Eric Campbell's borrowing of Mr. T. Stack (7)'s whip in a novice chase at Kelso in March 1967. And of course I recently received the latest 'Bravissimo' catalogue - beautifully illustrated with lingerie designed for and modelled by shapely figures - the other day, and who but Ian could have put me on that mailing list?

To continue the Icon theme, it was too good to be true that The Ethical Tipster should be one of the winners of the Scoop 6 on Saturday. I presume that he bases his selections on which horses aren't owned by people who live off immoral earnings and which are owned by openly sceptical of the 'War On Terror' (a subject very much on my mind just now, as earlier today I finished John le Carre's outstanding 'Absolute Friends', and am now consequently shattered) so clearly Saturday must have been a day when the good guys won. So that was nice.

And what was also very nice recently, and which I feel should be applauded, was Steve Dennis' Melbourne Cup coverage in the Racing Post earlier this month. I don't know if you read it - and if you didn't, it's a bit late now to be alerting you to it, as the opportunity to read it has probably been and gone - but it was really, really good. It was feature-writing at its best: informative and very entertaining.