Although probably less well remembered than some of his contemporaries, including El Gran Senor and Rainbow Quest, to name but two, Creag-An-Sgor was, nonetheless, one of the leading juvenile colts in Britain in 1983. Named after a hill near Ballater, Aberdeenshire, on the north-east cost of Scotland, Creag-An-Sgor was owned by Georgina Tulloch and trained by Charlie Nelson at the historic Kingsdown Stables in Upper Lambourn.
Having won his maiden, over six furlongs, at the second time of asking, Creag-An-Sgor ran well on his first attempt at Pattern level, albeit under controversial circumstances, in the Group Two Richmond Stakes at Goodwood. He originally finished second, beaten three-quarters-of-length, behind ‘very clever’ winner, Vacarme, ridden by Lester Piggott. However, following an objection by Graham Sexton, jockey of the third horse home, Godstone, and the subsequent stewards inquiry, Vacarme was disqualified and the second and third placings were reversed, making Godstone the winner, ahead of Creag-An-Sgor.
The following September, Vacarme, Godstone and Creag-An-Sgor reopposed in the Group One Middle Park Stakes, also over six furlongs, at Newmarket. Creag-An-Sgor was sent off rank outsider of the nine runners, at 50/1, but made all the running under Steve Cauthen to score a shock, one-and-a-half-length victory over Flying Childers Stakes-winner Superlative, with odds-on favourite Vacarme only third, a further short head away. At the end of his two-year-old campaign, Timeform awarded Creag-An-Sgor a rating of 122, which typically corresponds to a description of ‘very smart’. However, he won just once more, when rallying under Joe Mercer to win the Group Three Greenham Stakes, over seven furlongs, on his three-year-old debut in 1984.
Second favourite Creag-An-Sgor shows them how it’s done in the 1984 Clerical, Medical Greenham Stakes
Owned by Peter Savill, future Chairman of the British Horseracing Board, and trained by the late David Chapman, in North Yorkshire, Chaplins Club was a popular and prolific winner in the Eighties. Renowned for his toughness, Chaplins Club won a total of 24 races, including nine handicaps in a season twice, in 1985 and 1988, which was, at the time, a record since the turn of the twentieth century.
Indeed, in 1988 alone, Chaplins Club ran 27 times – at least once a month between April and November – and enjoyed a particulary productive period during the summer. In fact, in a 19-day period between July 16 and August 3, he won seven races, including the Tote Bookmakers Sprint Trophy Handicap at Ayr, from nine starts. During that purple patch, his winning tally included two victories in 24 hours twice, at Redcar and Doncaster on July 26 and July 27 and at Ayr and Pontefract on August 2 and August 3. Later in the season, he also recorded back-to-back victories at Haydock on September 30 and October 1. In between times, Chaplins Club came as close as he ever did to winning a mjor sprint handicap, running on well to finish second, beaten a length, behind So Careful in the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup Handicap.
Fittingly, Chaplins Club won on his 160th and final start, as a twelve-year-old, in the Jolly Sailor Selling Handicap, over seven furlongs, at Redcar on July 9, 1992. By that stage of his career, he was rated just 45, but ridden by regular partner, Kevin Darley, he ran on under pressure to lead close home and win by three-quarters of length at 12/1. According to Chapman, he enjoyed a healthy, happy retirement until finally humanly euthanised, at the age of 26, in 2006.
A decent performance by David Chapman’s Chaplin’s Club, in the 1988 Ayr Gold Cup. Although he placed second here, Chaplin’s Club had plenty of wins under his belt over the course of his career