Dahlia e Brigadier Gerard

[@neilcarpenter2669]

Brigadier Gerard was the greatest racehorse over a mile in living memory in my opinion, there have been greater over a mile and a half infact the early seventies was a golden era for great horses Nijinsky and Mill Reef being two of the greatest over the slightly longer distances.

[@mizofan]

Of course Brigadier Gerard remains among the greatest, and Dahlia was a superb horse

[@ramierechristiane]

Quel crack ce Brigadier Gerard. Un de mes plus grand amour. Juste après Sea Bird. Quant à Dahlia, c'était une jument extraordinaire qui a eut le malheur d'être née la même année qu'Allez France.

[@ThefightingCelt]

Great ride from Joe Mercer to get a non stayer ( Brigadier Gerard ) to outstay an out and out stayer ( Parnell ) . Mercer was a great jockey and quite underrated in my opinion . Henry Cecil had the good sense to employ Mercer as his stable jockey after he left Dick Hern' s stable .

[@roywebstercuckoo.]

I agree Joe Mercer was an underrated jockey.But Brigadier Gerard brought the best out of Joe..They hit it off straight away.I always knew that in the Guineas of that year he would beat Mill Reef.What a Great Horse and Jockey.Yes Henry Cecil knew what he was doing to have Joe as his Stable Jockey.He Rode some Great Horse's in that year.When he became Champion Jockey also I that year.Great Jockey and Great Horse.Joe and Brigadier.x.

[@asquithsealy6290]

Brigadier Gerard, what a super horse he was

[@slickwillywize]

Simply the greatest..

[@TheNotrac]

What a horse! What a commentary!

[@losarman]

@Pactrolus Frankel does look exceptional but you must remember that BG ran in 6 top races and won the gns without a prior race and beat Mill Reef and My Swallow. Those were two great champions in their own right. Also BG was a weaver which makes the training of him a true masterpiece

[@katewild2194]

Went to France to back Parnell in a race where he came second behind a horse called Recoupie or something like that. I remember I asked Tony Murray the jockey if he would like to share a taxi at the airport he said someone was picking up Lester. No ride for me that day. I remember the woman at the tote window could not believe I wanted to bet so much. Backed a winner in only the other race I played so ended up even on the day.

[@andymatthews7617]

GREAT MEMORIES.

[@Pactrolus]

@losarman Never really thought about it like that before because the general assumption was that BG had run below his best. However, as I only know of the event as a history lesson I can' really comment. What I do know is that I have never seen a horse over a mile, and that includes Miesque, Zilzal, El Gran Senor, Dancing Brave, George Washington, Goldikova, Canford Cliffs etc etc etc, that could beat Frankel (at his best).

[@anthonya7169]

How do you know?

[@RandyWatson69]

Zarakhast..I much as i love DB(he is my fave horse).Sometimes we have took beyond our rose coloured specs and accept there were some great great horses before DB.The brigadier is one of the alltime greats.Over a mile there is not or has there ever been a horse to match him.You need to digest and accept this. As far as DB and BG over a 10 furlongs..well that is a totally different matter.I would have DB on that one and over 12 furlongs too. But over a mile...noooo wayyyy

[@michaeldowd5545]

Dr Fager is the best miler of all time, probably the fastest TB horse of all time. I love DB my fav, and BG is awesome, but watching Dr Fager break the current mile world record on dirt 50 years ago on you tube is something on a different Level.

[@andymatthews7617]

Impossible to judge one seasons horses with another, the list of great winners is very long.

[@losarman]

It was his 4th race in 9 1/2 weeks. BG was a great racehorse but there is nothing, pn that day, that suggests that he didn´t run up to form. He beat the rest of them well enough and if Roberto wasn´t in the race they would have all been bleating what a great performance it was. Roberto imo put up one of the greatest performances of any thoroughbred that day.

[@KennethPoole-y7z]

Parnell may have won that if he had not been squeezed, was geeting back up towards the end.

[@kourtlandperry1698]

Dahlia is the only horse to ein the king george twice... Enable...hold my beer #3times

[@kepnjem]

Then along came Enable!

[@nightowl7459]

In a due respect Enables last king George was a farce of a race, plus Dahlia beat better opposition, she ran in the king George when it used to attract a good field.

[@glynnevans1851]

@@nightowl7459 Quite agree with you.Late 60s n 70s were Momentous years for this race. The Brigadier was magnificent and that sad defeat at York in August 72 was due to infection, Joe Mercer said he coughed up a whole bucket of mucus after the race . Joe like Lester Light years ahead of Today's ego driven mamby Pambys and prima donnas too. Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands UK 🤝

[@nightowl7459]

​@@glynnevans1851True, I always think that it was the King George that actually took the edge of the Brigadier, it was testing his stamina to the limits and York just came too soon afterwards, greetings from Manchester and sorry about my late reply. 👍

[@kepnjem]

...and then Enable came along!

[@markperryman1797]

Swain?

[@Pactrolus]

@darwinbhoy I wonder if your last statement is still true...........

[@losarman]

@darwinbhoy no he didn´t win 13 gr1s, he won the middle park, gns, sussex, champion, eclipse, king george and a 2nd champion. a total of gr1s the same as Mill Reef who won 6 gr1s off the bat. When he was beaten Roberto Timeform said that he had probably ran to form and that Roberto had just way above his usual form but would not rate him as such as it was a freak. which imo was wrong, Roberto put up the greatest performance of any thoroughbred ever that day

[@losarman]

@Pactrolus see my comment below

[@geebeetee1]

Losarman, you're wrong my friend BG's record Middle Park Stakes (1970) G1 2,000 Guineas (1971) G1 St. James's Palace Stakes (1971) G1 Sussex Stakes (1971) G1 Goodwood Mile (1971) G2 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1971 & 1972) G1 Champion Stakes (1971 & 1972) G1 Westbury Stakes (1972) G3 Lockinge Stakes (1972) G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes (1972) G1 Eclipse Stakes (1972) G1 K. George VI & Q. Elizabeth Stakes (1972) G1 Winner of: 12 x G1 races 1 x G2 race 1 x G3 race 1 x Listed winner 2 x Maidens

[@markperryman1797]

How do you win 2 maidens?