"It was a shattering performance!" | Watch back Dancing Brave's 1986 Arc win with Guy Harwood

[@mickydroyboy1542]

That withering run down the outside still gives me goosebumps nearly forty years later .what a fantastic racehorse I believe there were nine or ten individual group 1 winners in that arc that year and the brave made them look pedestrian

[@jakemitchell1626]

Still my favourite horse of all time, just a brilliant horse in the jockey wasn't too bad either.

[@alankicks788]

Mine too. The best horse I have ever seen

[@PaulGrice-rt3fd]

Ye Starkey was very good

[@johncopeland3826]

In the Arc de Triomphe of 1986 there were 11 group one winners facing Dancing Brave that day . I still get chills 38 years later .By the way , the starting price that Sunday afternoon was a rsther generous 2/1 . 2's for the greatest horse i have ever seen on a racecourse ! Steal of the decade ... I hope you were on too ?

[@LeeParfitt]

This is the only post I have respect for! The rest of them no nothing about legend racehorses. No horse in the history of the Arc would have beaten Dancing Brave that day! FACT!

[@michaelthatcher3825]

I was lucky enough to see his great, great grandfather, Northern Dancer run at Goodwood in Toronto, Canada in November 1963 winning at 10/1 on.

[@brit8013]

Abdullah as had some absolutely fantastic horses . Glad juddmonte are still going

[@Newworldman66]

Dancing Brave, Frankel, Rainbow Quest, Enable, Midday, Zafonic, amongst others.

[@genestrachan5040]

How good was Pat Eddery..he knew the horse he was riding and rode to perfection..Legend RIP...

[@Hanamy7777]

Brave too. My favourite jockey growing up.

[@mabbrey]

1986 was a great year, the derby, the arc, wayward lad v dawn run what a year

[@countbasi4680]

I had the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show on tape for years and the racing segment was amazing like you say.

[@tonysinnott2785]

Brilliant year , the magic of racing , dancing b had a searing turn of foot , and what can you say abt johnjo and dawn run , sheer magic , the mare is beginning to get up , shes made it 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂😂

[@johnwilson783]

This horse was phenomenal and I would think he's one of the best there's ever been

[@suemaher5282]

Worthy winner fantastic jockey and incredible horse. That's a Pat Eddery masterclass.

[@mrringway1733]

It is difficult to say he was the best horse ever because (although I'm predominately a jumps fan) I like so many others and was so pleased that Henry deservedly got the wonderful Frankel. However, as much as I loved Frankel, I have to say that Dancing Brave is the best horse I've seen and I consider him to be unbeaten, in that the dirt race should never have been entered and the horse had a rough time and then in the Derby poor Greville Starkey HAD to ride him to get the trip - closer to the pace that day and he would have won alright! What has to be remembered about the 1986 Arc is the quaility of the opposition. The unbeaten Bering, Sharastani, and the magical Triptych to name but a few were just... brushed aside... at will, by a truly magnificent horse and a cracking jockey.

[@suemaher5282]

Loved your comment

[@countbasi4680]

The fans of the last 20 years who didn't live through that time will never understand the strength in depth then. It was frightening really.

[@darrenmaples3451]

He actually ran in the breeders cup turf not classic

[@Mike20216]

Racing Post readers got it right, the greatest race i ever saw, I'm biased Horse and jockey were and still are my favourites.

[@zimmer651]

Never take away the brilliant ride from Pat Eddery. Superb jockey.

[@RO-uf9ii]

PE RIP’ beautiful soft hands for a jockey 🏇

[@jjsmith4829]

Sea Bird's Derby and Arc were also mighty impressive. If he had raced in the 21st century with superior video technology and its extensive media and social media coverage he would be talked about like no other horse.

[@kurman4749]

Cannot fault your assessment of Sea Bird. His wins in the Epsom Derby and Arc were simply breathtaking and effortless.

[@michaellovell1368]

Sea Bird is still the one for me. He didn't race too often but when he did he was simply staggering. He pulverised one of the best Arc fields of all time. Dancing Brave ?? Also a wonder horse. A Rolls Royce of a horse. And a big shout out for Sea The Stars.

[@shanecopner7827]

Thankyou juddmonte,thankyou khalid abdullah,pat guy,dancing brave my favourite horse of all time

[@peterhannon9972]

The best year for horses over flat and jumps. What champions. And then to top it all we witnessed the greatest. Maradona in world Cup.

[@mabbrey]

guy Harwood was always my fave trainer

[@elgransenor1472]

The greatest race of all time

[@davemitchell6990]

Best ever IMHO

[@countbasi4680]

This is great but surely the vote and everything warranted a longer edit? Like half an hour even? Could have asked him about his gallops leading up to the race after the Goodwood canter. Guy says he was absolutely spot on on the day of the race. Seems a perfect cue to talk about his homework in the lead up. Where do I apply for this interviewing job lark??

[@Newworldman66]

In prep gallops for the Arc, DB worked with Harwood's best older horses, giving them a stone or more in weight and a start but still went past them.

[@Andy-y7y]

I’ve just watched the race again , and still didn’t think Dancing Brave would get up .

[@WESSERPARAQUAT]

Extra-Ordinary acceleration , yes!! Amazing horse and as Guy had stated previously that was due to how low of an angle he grabbed the ground at his unusual stride pattern was very different to other horses and that was the key to his greatness the Parrott mouth made no difference , Guy was very lucky to have got him Jeremy Tree had first choice and didn't like him! that is extra ordinary too in retrospect

[@mikedavies9953]

Anyone who thinks Frankel would have beaten DB after watching this race needs to visit Specsavers

[@Hanamy7777]

Frankel never raced over a mile and a half. He never raced outside England. If Henry Cecil had Dancing Brave the horse would have been winning claimers at Chelmsford.

[@mikedavies9953]

He wouldnt have beaten DB over 1m2 either , maybe at 1m@@Hanamy7777

[@johnfaw]

Maybe over 5f or 6f.

[@KevinMunday-oh6xq]

Sea Bird and pent celebre would have beaten him. They both excelerated in even more excillerating style. Pent celebre actually excellarated twice at the end. Dancing brave great horse tho.

[@mikedavies9953]

@@KevinMunday-oh6xq I dont think so myself , i never saw Sea bird apart from grainy BW pics, Pentre Celebre would not have got near him , had he won the derby he would be rated alongside Sea Bird at 146

[@keithblack1336]

Never been a horse born by his mother who would have beat the brave on arc day

[@hummerman62]

Just to have been Pat, aboard a living breathing rocket, not much in life is that exhilarating!

[@teenoso4069]

IMHO, Dancing Brave was the best middle distance flat horse I have seen in the best generation of 1986, but as for the best horse race, it was one defined by a loser...1973 Grand National. Honourable mention - the 1984 Whitbread wasnt shabby

[@londonlady4521]

Yes indeed, Dancing Brave was the best middle distance horse that I have ever seen, and as you say from a vintage year. I remember watching the 1973 Grand National as a 10 year old willing with all my heart for Crisp to hang on and win. Red Rum broke my heart that afternoon! But if Crisp had to be beaten on that day then there was no finer horse than Red Rum to do it, and without Crisp the track record never would have been broken.

[@chrisvassiliou889]

One of the strengths of Pat Eddery was that he always with the horses he rode he knew how much of a horse had beneath him and that gave him the ability to bring Dancing Brave to the fore at the 1 1/2 furlong , magnificent ride magnificent race magnificent horse , but still think Grundy beating Bustino in 1975 was a greater race , why ? run at blistering pace that even the sixth horse home broke the track record

[@pauldonohoe3646]

He didn't seem to know what he had under him with El Gran Senor

[@chrisvassiliou889]

@@pauldonohoe3646 out of 4600 wins , do not let that one race to blind your judgement

[@johnfaw]

DB is the greatest horse that has ever been born in the greatest race ever run. The sectionals in the Arc are unmatched to this day. Ratings of the first five home are 140, 136, 132, 135 and 134. Such high ratings have been achieved before or since

[@genestrachan5040]

The greatest race ever..no less than ten group one winners and Dancing Brave won pulling up..the jockey Pat Eddery rode an immaculate race..perfect timed ride..easily the greatest jockeys ever..Piggot a distant second...

[@michaeldowd5545]

They were 10 very good G1 winners. Probably all better then the the ordinary we are loaded with this year.

[@Hanamy7777]

Lovely piece. Nice to see Guy Harwood. I think he's half saying that Pat gave him a heart attack waiting so long.

[@Alp560]

Exactly, because I think you also saw that Pat Eddery interviews on KZbin. 😂

[@shanecopner7827]

And the greatest arc ever,dancing brave a genius,pat eddery a legend❤❤

[@GenghisCohen257]

As someone who doesn't know what D Brave looked like, I had to wait till the end of the race to know who to look for.

[@ahmedalsaaidi3714]

He was an amazing horse.he was versatile,with incredible turn of foot.its difficult to compare him with frankel.the latest was more consistent,DB was vulnerable at times and didnt win as often as frankel.but both of them were magnificent horses.

[@dewistaplesjones6338]

It’s not difficult to compare Dancing Brave with Frankel as only one of them won the Arc🎉 The Brave would’ve walked past Frankel in his day and the owners new it that’s why he never went to the Arc protecting his stud value £££

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@dewistaplesjones6338 Frankel never went to the Arc because you do not try 1m4f for the first time as a 4YO in a race like the Arc.

[@Alp560]

Pat Eddery said Harwood stormed out of the Jockeys room when he told him he was going to throw down last. 😅😅😂😂😂

[@carlobalzer3238]

Brilliant 🐎 world class jockey

[@gordonwilliams6942]

I'm by no means a horse racing fan and hardly ever watch it, but for me Dancing Brave stands out . The acceleration to go to the front was incredible. The only horse that has ever captured my imagination. Only disappointment was coming 2nd in the Derby, and i think that was mistiming the run in.

[@mickydroyboy1542]

Mistiming the run lmao ..greville starkey gave that the worst ride I’ve ever seen

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@mickydroyboy1542 No he did not, he gave the horse a similar ride to the one Pat Eddery gave Dancing Brave here.

[@mickydroyboy1542]

@@seanscanlon9067 come on Sean do your homework ,the derby was slowly run and starkey sat second to last graham Goode on commentary even says not that much pace on .starkey gave the brave more than ten lengths to make up on the handily ridden sharastani in the last three furlongs a criminal ride for me contrast that to the arc which was run at a much faster tempo and the genius Pat eddery never had the brave more than seven lengths off the pace the derby that year was run in 2m 47 the arc on admittedly slightly faster ground 2m 37 fully 10 seconds faster .pat eddery a top class pilot greville Starkey a good jockey who on derby day gave one of the best I’ve seen in 50 years watching the sport of kings a horrible ride and it’s still one of the worst I’ve seen .cheers Sean 🤟🤟

[@totallybonkers2447]

Still gutted over being 2nd in the derby , backed him at 10/1 ante post plus in a double 😡

[@pauldrohan322]

Can’t we forget about the betting for once?

[@WESSERPARAQUAT]

The Brave could have won the July Cup in 86' if he had been aimed at it the distance really made no difference at all with him

[@rockybudgeboa]

Great horse but sorry, Red Rum winning the Grand National was my fave

[@davidfoster2006]

That a handicap.

[@michaeldowd5545]

Rb was great because the opposition was amazing. I think Frankie was better at 4, but Flightline and Frankie never had opposition like this. This field was loaded

[@seanscanlon9067]

Frankel beat numerous Group 1 horses from all over the world.

[@kurman4749]

Dancing Brave was a brilliant racehorse, but I would say Sea Bird's Arc win was better.

[@paulyeomans850]

Frankel was great.He wouldn't have beaten the machine in 1m 4f events anyway.The blue riband events.Frankel was essentially a miler.

[@paulyeomans850]

Hands and heels job.Easy!

[@andrewduggan1018]

The brave the best flat. Horse ever

[@jimmysharkey1665]

Jockey and horse in perpetual motion 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

[@frankmcnally01]

Nonsense, Grubdy and Bustino in the King George was the best I've ever seen

[@richardbagshaw4534]

Ridiculous Frank

[@TrisWood]

Why wasn't Starkey riding?..... Oh yeah.

[@csb7376]

He wasn't riding, because after winning the Eclipse on DB AFTER The Derby, he got injured and couldn't ride in The King George. Eddery only replaced him because he was injured, but won and kept the ride. So many people think he was jocked off after the Derby, which just isn't true.

[@frankschlanker]

@@csb7376 Greville also rode Dancing Brave to win The Select Stakes at Goodwood his Arc prep race. So Pat was only on him thrice King George, Arc and Breeders Cup

[@ajvindiesel8517]

Gotta put him 2nd to Sea The Stars. In addition as a sire there's no comparison.

[@mallafets]

DB would of picked off STS no problem. DBs Arc sectionals are simply way above all other winners. The last 600m 2 secs quicker than STS and his finishing speed 110.6 to 106.3.

[@ajvindiesel8517]

@@mallafets I wouldn't argue against that. I would argue all Frankel followers as Frankel's ability will always be subjective as he didn't beat anything and never travelled overseas and never raced the 12f

[@mikedavies9953]

@@mallafets I believe DB still holds the record for the last furlong at Epsom

[@mallafets]

@@mikedavies9953 not sure. Was 10.2 or 10.8 from memory.

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@ajvindiesel8517 Frankel beat numerous Group 1 winners from all over the world that had won Group 1 and Grade 1 races all over the world.

[@genestrachan5040]

Pat Eddery is easily the greatest rider ever..period

[@andrewgoldie1970]

Not expecting anyone to agree with this, but I thought his Eclipse was even more impressive - he was under pressure to deliver after the Derby and it's not always an easy race to get right. He destroyed a good field there, and whilst I agree this is better quality, everything here was teed up for a 10f horse - good pace, lots of effort from those in front of him, it was all there for him to pick them off. I'm not saying it was that easy, but the race couldn't have been run better to suit him - and there have been plenty of bad-luck stories in the Arc where the best horse didn't win. It helped that Eddery is the sort of jockey who is impervious to criticism so rode his own race (Starkey a bit more sensitive to that sort of thing, even though I still feel Eddery wouldn't have won on him at Epsom either! the pace was unusually slow) Great to see Guy Harwood in good form.

[@mallafets]

Pat would have won on him at Epsom, Starkey would have 99/100, he just rode that 1. Starkey rode a poor race in the Eclipse, he let Triptych box him in 2 out but luckily the DB turbo got him out and away.

[@mrk24107]

Peintre Celebre was equally as impressive..

[@mallafets]

Sectionals for PC fall quite a bit behind DB sectionals.

[@mrk24107]

@@mallafets If time is your yardstick, I'll have to throw in Trempolino as well... Dancing Brave was brilliant that day, and his Arc was the best Arc spectacle of them all imo, but Peintre Celebre was equally as impressive.

[@seanmcmanus867]

Hahahaha just fantastic

[@Bloons-er3xl]

Not secratariat? 😂

[@michaeldowd5545]

Secretariat beat chumps. This was a real horse race with the top 7 easily beatings horses like Enable.

[@charlescooke8786]

You have the right jockey but the wrong horse race. The greatest is the King George won by Grundy beating Bustino in a war of attrition. The third place finisher, Dahlia, had won the previous year's race in record time. She finished third beaten 5 lengths and even then eclipsed her own course record. Star Appeal, which finished fourth went on to win the Arc later that year. Other also fans in that race such as On My Way went on to frank the form. Bustino never ran again, Grundy one more time but failed miserably beaten by much inferior horses. That race took everything from those two great horses. There is no question that that was the greatest race ever. You can look it up.

[@londonlady4521]

Grundy was a fabulous horse. However, not in the same league as Dancing Brave who won 3 Group one races over different distances - the 2000 Guineas, the Eclipse, and the King George VI therefore a mile, a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half, beating older horses in the latter two races and of course his fourth Group one the Arc. Grundy's racing record cannot match that.

[@countbasi4680]

Tell the thousands of Racing Post readers who voted. I'm sure they'll all agree with you.

[@petefisher9157]

Didn't look anything super special really....

[@StephenSmall-sf5um]

Wouldn't of even beat trempolino who had a better turn of foot and would not of got within 3 lenghs of pentire celebre

[@selfemployedmortgagehub]

Well, everyone's entitled to an opinion I suppose. But to say Trempolino had a better turn of foot is laughable frankly. DB ran sub 11 second furlongs at the end of both the Derby and Arc. His sectionals were sensational, to suggest Trempolino would somehow outkick him is absurd. Pentire celebre was a great horse, but again there's no statistical evidence I'm aware of to suggest he would have outsprinted DB.

[@StephenSmall-sf5um]

@@selfemployedmortgagehub celebre is the only horse that kicked twice watch his arc it's up their with the greatest

[@selfemployedmortgagehub]

@@StephenSmall-sf5um PC was a great horse that day. But neither he nor Trempolino would outkick DB in a million years. DB ran under 22 seconds for the final two furlongs in the Arc. One of the furlongs was 10.8 seconds. Some sprinters can't go that fast. Trempolino's Arc looked impressive because Eddery knew Reference Point would make it a strong pace, so he wisely sat out the back, along with Tony Bin who finished second.

[@StephenSmall-sf5um]

@@selfemployedmortgagehub well we will have to differ