Monksfield & Night Nurse dead-heat in 1977 Templegate Hurdle

Monksfield & Night Nurse dead-heat in 1977 Templegate Hurdle

[@eugenekeher978]

One of the great if not greatest hurdle race finishes ever with two of the all time greats involved , Monksfield and Night Nurse , whip rules are tighter today , it was excessive .

[@SheffieldSteel1000]

Julian Wilson's closing stages analysis always seems to be very good whenever you hear it being played. He was always very observant and had an eye for small details. Pity we don't get to hear it more often!

[@kepnjem]

This was the golden era of national hunt racing. Magic!

[@seanofafrica]

This has to go down as the greatest meeting ever, in my book. A dead heat between two of the greatest rivals ever, and of course Red Rum's third victory. Wow.

[@leroyjoseph6896]

Night Nurse 45mins later, Red Rum was going to make history by winning his 3rd grand national

[@seanofafrica]

I'm with you on Red Rum, & with Night Nurse's determination. The Night Nurse, Monksfield, Sea Pidgeon rivalry will never be surpassed, and let's not forget in among that lot were the amazing Bird's Nest and Little Owl. Five absolute class equines! This era also gave us Peter O'Sullevan, who was at his usual best for this meet!

[@lessamuels3767]

There is no other and never will be

[@Kevin-lf4xx]

What legends of the turf these two champions were. I remember this epic race well as a young boy.

[@stevecampbell6294]

Night Nurse..Monksfield ..Sea Pigeon...Comedy of Errors ... Birds Nest... Lanzarote ....Now that was the GOLDEN age of hurdlers.

[@tigerboy1966]

It wasn't a level weights race in those days, Monksfield was receiving a few pounds from NN. That's why NN recorded the highest ever rating.

[@FORESTDONS]

Monksfield is a fighter unlike many other great champions.There will never be a horse like little Monksfield

[@paulclark4616]

He was always my favourite hurdler. Tiny little thing with a heart the size of a house.

[@mrbigshot1986]

@alipitogen my personal favourite 2 mile hurdle horse was golden cygnet he surely would of been a future great if he had not passed away so early in his career! won the supreme so easily and tanked his way through the whole race! at aintree he might night nurse and sea pigeon and as a novice he was only getting 2 pound from sea pigeon and was poised to strike before he fell at the last! my belief is he would of won quite cosy which only shows his potential even more

[@john131349]

Night Nurse was giving 6lb to Monksfield in this race, i think he was the best out of the golden era for hurdlers only istabraq would compare in recent years

[@billmensale7552]

A year later Monksfield gave Night Nurse 5lb, & beat him 2 lengths in the same race. Which only proves that they were both great horses. If only Golden Cygnet had lived to challenge them properly.

[@richardbranton7396]

Night nurse wasnt the horse he was though just 1 win from 8 races​@billmensale7552

[@benbim540]

Night Nurse the greatest hurdler that ever lived he was conceding 6 lbs to monksfield here.

[@debbiekinsella8806]

greatest hurdle race ever night nurse is the best hurdler ever.

[@PerfectoProductionsInc16]

Loved Night Nurse to bits but if I'd backed Monksfield I would have been fuming at result called !

[@aidanjoyce3248]

I'm still convinced monksfield won it

[@protarget1]

This race is accepted as the greatest hurdle race ever. With the 2 highest rated hurdlers of all time. Night Nurse on 182. Monksfield joint 2nd highest rated with Istabraq on 180. BTW. THE 1977 champion hurdle is still regarded as the highest quality race ever run over timber.

[@jon8474]

what about 1978

[@fawltyoldboybasil.2178]

This was the race that signaled the changing of the guard - but what an era this was. Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon and, Monksfield gave us 6 years of unmatched competitiveness. Brian Cooper thanking Dessie Hughes (RIP) after winning on Don Cossack brought these memories back. The only other race, imo, that comes close to this one was Hardy Eustace winning his 2nd Champion Hurdle.

[@richardbranton7396]

I'd say the golden era of hurdling started with Persian war and his foes through Bula, Comedy of Errors ,Lanzarote and host of others like major rose, Easby Abbey,Captain Christy,Tree Tangle,Flash imp,before you got too Night Nurse and ended with Sea Pigeon,14years!

[@kurman4749]

Night Nurse was a top-class hurdler/chaser. He won 35 of his 64 races over hurdles/fences. Night Nurse is the only horse to win the Welsh, English and Scottish Champion Hurdles in the same season.

[@alipitogen]

Was there a photo finish facility at Aintree this year?Was this actually the first year they installed a photo finish?I have a feeling it coincided with a Red Rum National win. It was installed in the 70s because I remember watching racing there those years and hearing the usual refrain in a close finish "It's too close to call and of course there is no photo finish here".Does anyone recall?

[@foriamonlyahorse11]

Both were battlers. Monksfield had the better of it overall though & did Night Nurse twice at Cheltenham. Both true greats.

[@allangreenley9901]

Was getting 6 pound in weight in that race surely night nurse the superior horse

[@looksliketouble]

Night nurse bred in Ireland trained in uk.monksfeild bred in england trained in Monksfeild ended up a stallion after being retired from racing.

[@paullynton-green6570]

Was he a successful station in terms of siring winners.

[@ebonyguy69]

well red rum is my number 1 horse of all time .. but when it comes to sheer determing brutal horse racing of night nurse..who gave 100% in every race ..and the 70s rivalry between night nurse,monksfield and sea peaguin

[@raborian]

yes.. they always took each other on, never ducked a fight, and they all contested the major handicaps like the ladbroke and the tote gold trophy or the schweppes as it was known then

[@december2364]

If two jockeys fought out a finish like that nowadays, they'd be stood down forever. Whatever, it's a fantastic race from the Golden Age of hurdling.

[@ArtietheArchon]

Night Nurse was faster than Monksfield but Monksfield....infinite determination, never gave up on a race

[@arkle73]

Incredible post JJ . You really are the Indiana Jones of Racing . Next you'll be showing us Pigeon winning the Ebor !

[@bernardthegwp71020]

Quite possibly the greatest day in National hunt history, not only this the greatest hurdle race ever,then an hour of so later Red Rums 3rd Grand National

[@markbosley26]

Who can argue with that? And notice the crowd lining the inside rail too..people being trusted to watch and enjoy the terrific spectacle in a mature manner - not like today where spectators are just fleeced for every penny and then treated as delinquents, kept well away from the action and needing watching over like infants by lots of security guards and police.

[@markbosley26]

... Take me back to Grand National day 1977! Ha ha.

[@protarget1]

If you stop the vid on the line Night Nurse's is clearly in front, but draw a straight line through the angle of wining post it is a dead heat

[@JakeWalshMusic]

Terrific performance by Night Nurse giving 6lbs to the indomitable Monksfield...

[@foriamonlyahorse11]

Bloody hell...still talking through your pocket 40 years later! lol!

[@jadervason8623]

gosh monksfield was such a fighter

[@paullynton-green6570]

They both were.

[@protarget1]

Mmmm. Peter O'sulliven in his comentry said It's a PHOTO FINISH. Night Nures the best ever.

[@trotter2087]

Anyone know what Monksfield’s race record was?

[@jon8474]

Timeform rate him 2nd best hurdler of all time. Head to head with Night Nurse, Monksfiled had the better record & they both won two Champion hurdles. Monksfield won 3 Aintree hurdles in total. To me Monksfield was a pound or 2 better than Night Nurse at their best... but Night Nurse is no.1 in the Timeform list.

[@glynnevans1851]

@@jon8474 Hi Jon, read your comments with great interest but would rate Night Nurse the slightly greater. I have followed racing since 1967 but time form as never really bothered me, I would have to rate Bula up there too and I am sure you can enlighten me' please do sir. Would also rate Pendil up there as well just sad he never really coped with the Cheltenham hill. Also may I ask how the ill fated Killiney rated , for me he could have been the New Arkle and it was tragic his death at Ascot as a novice in April 1973.Kind regards Glynn n greetings from Stourbridge West Midlands 🤝

[@jameshope398]

I thought Monksfield just shaded it there

[@alipitogen]

Who did you want to win, Julian?

[@tatherne]

I refuse to believe that this was a dead-heat. I'm not certain but I'm sure I read somewhere that the photo finish equipment was upgraded the following year. I'd only barely believe that there was short-head or nose in the finish

[@mrbigshot1986]

@alipitogen how was istabraq bad on soft ground??? he destroyed french holly in ireland on soft easier than he destroyed him at cheltenham on good ground! istabraq was a very verstaile horse who could win over a variety of trips on different ground! was he the greatest i cant say if he was but he dominated his divsion and the only time he was allowed to actually put a stamp on the race was his first champion hurdle the other two he won as easily as charlie swan could do!

[@tonymcgrath700]

I would want to see the photo if I had backed Monksfield, surely he won by a head

[@cameronw3159]

Horse on the near side looked ahead tbh

[@HIPCPETER]

as much as I love Night Nurse it looks like Monksfield was robbed

[@1414yorks]

it didnt look like a dead heat to me,thought Monksfield edged home i know its easy looking back to think jockeys not so stylish,but they were so agricultural particularly Broderick it was ridiculous you would struggle to see an amateur look so awful

[@richardbranton7396]

may have looked awful but he along with Pat taaffe where effective and they where OK for the likes of Arthur Stephenson Tom dreaper Peter Easterby Fred rimell,at the same time there where great stylists like Johnnie haine and David Mould .

[@alipitogen]

@foriamonlyahorse1 Ooh, not sure about your Istabraq comment.There wasn't enough supremacy shown by any of those three horses to be sure who would win.Night Nurse and Monksfield came along in a time of great hurdlers while Istabraq had no adequate rivals, and was bad on soft. It's not, however, like those silly arguments about Arkle against Best Mate or Kauto Star which are a bit like talking about sitting Elton John and Johann Sebastian Bach down at keyboards and wondering who'd play better!

[@ibanez777vbk]

night nurse was some horse so was monksfeild.racing was way better 1977-1985