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Flyingbolt is generally considered second to only Arkle in the list of the greatest National Hunt horses of all time. Remarkably, Flyingbolt and Arkle were both trained by Tom Dreaper during the same period of time. Flyingbolt was the more versatile of the two horses and there is an argument to be made that if Flyingbolt hadn’t been afflicted with illness and injury, he could well have proved superior to Arkle.
Trainer: Tom Dreaper
Principal Jockey: Pat Taaffe
Notable Wins: Irish Grand National (1966), Queen Mother Champion Chase (1966), Thyestes Handicap Chase (1966), Massey Ferguson Gold Cup (1965), Cotswold Chase (1965), Gloucestershire Hurdle (Flyingbolt 1964)
Early Days
The story of Flyingbolt’s conception is an interesting one in itself. His sire Airborne was believed to lost his fertility and having been given away, he was housed in a field with a 19-year-old retired broodmare for company. Remarkably, the two successfully mated and the result was Flyingbolt.
Flyingbolt ended up in the care of Tom Dreaper and having had an educational run in a Flat race at Leopardstown in May 1963, the following October he made a successful reappearance in a bumper at Navan. Coincidentally, Arkle won a Flat race on the same card just 30 minutes later. Following another win in a bumper, Flyingbolt embarked on a highly-successful novice hurdling campaign that culminated in a win in the Gloucestershire Hurdle (now known as the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle) at the Cheltenham Festival in March 1964. Later that week, Arkle gained his famous first win over Mill House in the Gold Cup.
Chasing Beckons
Hopes were high that Flyingbolt would make up into a top-class novice chaser in 1964/5 and so it proved. He went through the season unbeaten in five starts, with the highlight being his win in the Cotswold Chase (now known as the Arkle Chase) at the Cheltenham Festival.
He began his 1965/6 season with a defeat in a warm-up race over hurdles, his first defeat in over two years. However, normal service was soon resumed, with Flyingbolt going through that season unbeaten over fences. The highlight of the campaign was his win in the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup at Cheltenham in December in which he gave 25 lb and more to his rivals and slaughtered them by 15 lengths. The win was the cause of much discussion, as a line of form through Scottish Memories suggested there was very little between Flyingbolt and Arkle. Back on home soil, Flyingbolt produced another remarkable performance in the Thyestes Handicap Chase at Gowran Park, again giving 28 lb and more to his rivals and beating them by a distance.
From there, Flyingbolt returned to the Cheltenham Festival, winning what is now known as the Queen Mother Champion Chase in facile fashion. Remarkably, Dreaper turned Flyingbolt out again the following day to contest the Champion Hurdle, but under a ride from Pat Taaffe that was widely criticized, he was beaten just over three lengths in third. That said, it was still a remarkable bid for a double that is unlikely to ever be attempted in the modern era. Flyingbolt rounded off an incredible campaign by winning the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse by two lengths under the burden of 12-7, giving away 40 and 42 lb to the second and third home respectively. At this stage of his career, Flyingbolt was unbeaten in 11 starts over fences, had won three different races at the Cheltenham Festival and was still only a seven-year-old. However, his win at Fairyhouse would prove to be the last time that Flyingbolt was seen at his very best on the racecourse.
Illness And Decline
As usual, Flyingbolt was turned out for the summer amongst other horses and cattle in the summer of 1966. When he returned to training, the public anticipation of him finally clashing with the great Arkle was reaching fever pitch. He made his reappearance at Cheltenham in October 1966, but despite being sent off as the 2/7 favourite, he weakened rapidly from the second-last to finish a well-beaten third. It clearly wasn’t his true running and exhaustive tests revealed that he had contracted brucellosis, a debilitating disease that he almost certainly contracted from the cattle he was turned out with during the summer. Tragically, the great Arkle suffered his career-ending injury just a couple of months after Flyingbolt was struck down with illness, robbing National Hunt racing of its two biggest stars in quick succession.
The prognosis for Flyingbolt making a full recovery was not good and whilst he returned to the racecourse a year later, he met with defeat in both his starts. Tom Dreaper wanted to retire him, but his owners choose to persevere and sent him to be trained in Britain. While he did win again, he never recaptured the brilliance of his early career, for all that he did manage to finish second in the King George VI Chase at Kempton in 1969. He would eventually be retired after taking the first fall of his career in the Topham Trophy at Aintree in April 1971.
Legacy
While his post-illness career took some of the shine off what he achieved as a young horse, the feats that Flyingbolt accomplished during his unbeaten streak over fences were truly remarkable. It is considered one of the biggest disappointments in National Hunt racing that he never had a chance to meet Arkle on the racecourse, though there is a story of a schooling session between the two in which little separated them. While Arkle is universally hailed as the greatest National Hunt horse of all time, Flyingbolt rarely gets the recognition that his achievements merited and he deserves to be remembered in the same manner that his illustrious stable mate is. To put them both into perspective, Timeform rated Arkle at 212 and Flyingbolt at 210. To put those numbers into a modern context, the great Kauto Star is rated just 191.
Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland – Updated January 2011
