1991 Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase

Date: Thursday 14th March 1991 |
Course: Cheltenham |
Distance: 3m 2f |
Going: Good |
Winning Time: 6m 50.0s |
Winner: Garrison Savannah (Mark Pitman) [Mrs J Pitman] |
Runners: 14

[@SteveMullington]

Much as I love Sir Peter O'Sullevan he did make his fair share of commentating gaffs like the end of this race. Still, none of us are perfect.

[@andrewdavies4955]

Lucky enough to have looked after two horses in this race. Arctic call & garrison savannah. Long time ago.

[@rasslem]

I never realised what a good race this actually was. Quality wise. 5 gold cup winners, including the winner and the first 4 places were all gold cup winners (eventually) A Grand national winner etc...a good race.....But hey what a walk down memory lane! Thanks for positing all these videos.

[@seanscanlon9067]

Celtic Shot won the Champion Hurdle too and Desert Orchid an Irish Grand National.

[@uhegbu]

This was to be Desert Orchid's last Gold Cup appearance at Cheltenham. Great effort by the great grey. The winner nearly made National Hunt history by achieving the Gold Cup/Grand National double that year.

[@williamwharton7545]

I had the winner 3 years running garrison Savannah nortons coin and cool ground happy days

[@Hen71557]

One of my favourite horses of the 90's, so unlucky not to win a National too, never forget Seagram running him down & spoiling my party...

[@julzyboy1973]

Yes just like his dad in '73 Mark Pitman lost a grand national on the run in.

[@uhegbu]

What a renewal this was including a former Champion hurdler in Celtic Shot who won it in 1988.

[@horseracingstuff]

Richard Pitman was getting up at the end from his position to go and congratulate his son on winning and (possibly Richard Lindley) said he'd better sit down.

[@dawnkeir549]

love these classic races

[@carriecanter]

the wonderful old boy still in the money at the age of 12 in the most exclusive race of the season.

[@raymondclark1458]

I made a lot of money that day. Good memories. Classic race.

[@PepsiBoy3000]

I have literally waited YEARS to see this renewal!

[@csb7376]

The Fellow is my all time favourite n.h. horse. Looking back he made some really bad blunders in this which cost him the race. For an unemployed 17 year old at the time, having a 33/1 shot pipped on the line was GUTTING.

[@gazowenowen250]

It broke my heart when garrison Savannah got touched off in the national

[@petermcmanus6338]

And mine. I backed him in the gold cup and the national. He was well clear over the last and Seagram cought him

[@michaelmoran9399]

Watching this I know why I much prefer the best jump racing than the top flat racing.

[@paulclark4616]

Desie was in decline here, combine that with his dislike of Cheltenham & this was a most gallant effort. He had beaten The Fellow & Celtic Shot just behind, hollow in the King George.

[@seanscanlon9067]

I personally think his dislike of Cheltenham was overplayed a little and probably what was more significant was that connections were trying to win big 2 mile races like the Tingle Creek which he won and the Queen Mother with him in which he finished 2nd, yet how many in this Gold Cup field could have done the same? When you then think that Dessie also won races like the Irish National at 3m4f and the Whitbread at 3m5f then that just shows how hard it would have been to beat specialist 2 mile horses at Cheltenham.

[@arkle1964]

​@@seanscanlon9067 There is no doubt he jumped to the right which is why he won precisely two races running left-handed. If you watch his races at Cheltenham he's always on the outside coming into the final turn as when he got tried he jumped more to his right. In his book about Desert Orchid his owner Richard Burridge wrote that the reason Desert Orchid never entered the Grand National was the Canal Turn and he specifically mentions the second circuit when he'd be more tired. Flyingbolt and Kauto Star both won major races at 2m and at 3m 5f and 3m 2 1/2f respectively in the same season.

[@myfrobert]

Pretty good to see this 1991 edition of the Gold Cup, which was, I could say, an all-star steeplechase which could be rarely seen throughout history.

[@gazowenowen250]

This was a fine renewal but anyone who said dessie hated Cheltenham look at the stats never finished out of the first 3 in a chase at Cheltenham that included 2 wonderful races against in my mind the finest 2 mile chaser ever pearlyman OK better at kempton but never hated Cheltenham as much as people said

[@john131349]

i always wondered why Carrick Hill Lad pulled up

[@michaelhill6230]

The horse went lame and never ran again. A crying shame as he was moving into contention when pulled up..😞😞👎👎

[@julzyboy1973]

Am shocked that The Fellow was such a long price!

[@csb7376]

Don't forget this was only his second run in Britain after a promising but ultimately well beaten run in the King George. I'm sure he was only 6 or 7 at the time as well, which to British bookmakers/punters was a major negative.

[@julzyboy1973]

csb73 I bet he was never 28/1 ever again

[@csb7376]

+waqar khan he had run in the King George at Kempton a few months before this.

[@csb7376]

+waqar khan He didn't win the King George before this but he did win 2 after this.

[@seanscanlon9067]

John McCririck was always harping on about how bad foreign jockeys were supposed to be, plus I would imagine many UK and Irish punters had their own home favourites too.

[@donnasharp54]

Irish Grand National he won.

[@dawnkeir549]

dessiehated Cheltenham his breathing heart made hi m win one

[@seanscanlon9067]

Winning a Gold Cup and being placed in a couple of others, as well as almost winning a Queen Mother at 2 miles when 2nd doesn't suggest he hated Cheltenham. That's just a bit of a fallacy really, mainly due to many of his big race wins coming at right-handed courses like Ascot, Fairyhouse, Kempton, and Sandown yet it didn't stop him winning at left-handed courses like Aintree and Cheltenham too. What many might also forget or not be aware of is the Dessie also ran well when up with the pace for a long way in Dawn Run's Champion Hurdle too.

[@mervyncharter]

Carrick Hill Lad went lame after the third Last and never raced again. Real shame, as a Novice Chaser he was held in similar esteem as Carvills Hill. Gordon Richards lost so many of his crack chasers over the years, One Man, Dark Ivy & Playlord spring to mind.

[@matthat66]

Such a shame as he was only an 8yo. He'd won 8 of 11 chases prior to this and last time out had been second in the Welsh National giving 11lbs to the future Gold Cup winner Cool Ground.

[@andycook7244]

also lost Full Strength that season as well, who was unbeaten over fences until touched off by Blazing Walker at Ascot.

[@mervyncharter]

@@andycook7244 Yes remember that he fell at the water jump in the SGB chase at Ascot when favorite. Could also have developed into a Gold Cup Horse.

[@anthonycamilleri845]

Say what you like it was a poor commentary.

[@lessamuels3767]

You are a numpty and thats being kind BBC gave it all b4 greed God why am i wasting my time in you Clueless pratt

[@andijw79]

Brilliant commentary

[@daljeetkalirai6708]

The best!@@andijw79

[@horseracingstuff]

Clearly a terrible commentary in which he correctly calls the winner who had only won by a short-head!

[@cmcg3738]

Every time I watch a race from yesteryear, I realise more and more what an overrated commentator Peter O'Sullevan was. Can you imagine the reaction if Holt or Hoiles made this final furlong call? In the 1987 Champion Hurdle he also called See You Then (who had won the previous two renewals so wasn't some unknown horse) "See You Again." He had a tendency for long pauses too, and only reporting when a horse fell/unseated/pulled up 2 or 3 furlongs after the event. Shockingly poor when you compare him to the legendary figure so many make him out to be.

[@richardjames712]

He was a Francophile and was pally with The Fellow's owner so I feel sure he was commentating on what he wanted to happen rather than what was happening. Too true, by today's standards he was a shockingly bad commentator. Basically then his only competition were the dire on-course commentators and those that worked for Extel who knew noone could see their blunders. He had it easy, just 3 or 4 races most weeks and the likes of Tony Cook or Graham Goode to compare with. ( Maybe Raleigh Gilbert was a bit better than the latter pair but he still sounded bad compared to O'Sullevan).

[@bernardthegwp71020]

When you get to 75 like he was at the time then you can have a go at calling the Gold Cup and see how you fair.

[@horseracingstuff]

Richard Hoiles' commentary on the 2018 Grand National wasn't great. Not every commentator is great all the time.

[@tonyparkes9541]

desert orchid never ran in any national

[@marcusblack2143]

Desert Orchid won the 1990 Irish Grand National..

[@myfrobert]

He probably refers to the one at Aintree.

[@fahadwaqar6260]

Story of the day cnn arshia clashed the moongose over the cliff 🦧🧪

[@cmcg3738]

Sir Peter O'Sullevan should have retired to stud long before the 90s. Awful. Just awful.