Cheltenham: The scene of One Man's greatest win.
In the latest instalment of our Cheltenham Memories series, Matt Gardner takes a look back at the career of One Man and his victory in the 1998 Champion Chase...
It is often speculated upon what is truly the key to a person's heart, and clearly opinions differ greatly between men and women. It has long been common knowledge (apparently) among women that the key to a man's heart is his stomach, and the whole "feed him well and he won't stray far" argument does resonate rather strongly; I, for example, always feel fairly content when full to the brim of Shepherd's Pie which is a sensation that is in stark contrast to the anger and sulkiness displayed when I'm running on empty.
Ask any man and he will tell you that the odd breakfast in bed, coupled with a regular supply of flowers and chocolate, is enough to prevent his Mrs from ending up under the sheets with Dave from Number 43, but I would like to suggest a new key to this most problematic of locks: grey.
Now I'd be willing to bet that many of you, at that point, cast a glance out of the window at the murky skyline and instantly assumed that my marbles have been well and truly lost, but bear with me. Yes the colour grey does have something of a poor reputation, being associated with miserable weather and the distinct signs that it may be time to collect our bus pass, but it is also the colour that adorns many of the things we find exciting.
Gunmetal grey cars readily get the pulses racing, mainly due to them vaguely resembling the Batmobile, and you show me a man that doesn't go weak at the knees for a fighter plane or a battleship, decked out in grey, and I will show you someone who had a most misspent youth. It works on women too; they will always side with grey when choosing household appliance, because it looks modern and neat, a grey Mini Cooper for when they fancy a change of motor and the main character in that most saucy of novels, whose title we shall not utter on these pages, is a Mr Grey.
The horse racing public is no different. Greys punctuate racing's history, particularly the National Hunt game, with horses such as Desert Orchid, Teeton Mill and Monet's Garden capturing our imagination over the years. The first-mentioned will be touched upon in a later article but for now our attention must turn to the scintillating, but ultimately tragic, career of yet another distinguished grey, One Man.
One Man's hurdling career was one of steady progression but it was not until he tackled the larger obstacles that a real zeal for the jumping game emerged, a stepping stone in his path to the top which coincided with him being bought out of Peter Cheesbrough's stable for 68,000 gns and joining Gordon Richards.
One Man tasted success on his first five starts over fences, including the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices' Chase, prior to meeting with his first defeat in his new discipline at the Cheltenham Festival of '94, where he could finish only ninth in the Sun Alliance Chase. Though sent off a warm favourite, One Man did not have the leading form chance that his market position suggested although he did shape considerably better than his finishing position would indicate, travelling as well as the eventual winner Monsieur Le Cure for much of the way but weakening markedly after the third-last.
Wins in the Hennessy Gold Cup and the King George, among other successes, came about before One Man again took to Cheltenham, this time in the Gold Cup in 1996. The race was supposed to see him cement his position at the top of the chasing tree, and he was again sent off a warm favourite in anticipation of him doing just that, but despite having his effort delayed for longer than in the Sun Alliance two years earlier a similar story unfolded, the mighty grey floundering on the home turn and eventually finishing a tired sixth.
Many said it was too early to label One Man a non-stayer, with successes in the following season's Charlie Hall Chase and the King George going some way to justifying that argument, but the alarm bells were ringing once more as he again failed to convince with his stamina in the Pillar Chase, a race which connections had hoped to use as a Gold Cup trial. Clearly they weren't satisfied as they dropped him in trip at Ascot the following month, presumably to see if he had the pace for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, but if anything that only served to muddy the waters even further as he finished second to Strong Promise, not jumping with his customary zest and eventually going down by a length.
One Man would contest the Gold Cup, that was the decision made in the build up to Cheltenham 1997. His running in the race was almost identical to how he had performed 12 months earlier, finishing in a near-distressed state having tied up alarmingly in the closing stages, and it would prove to be the last time he would contest jumps racing's blue riband event.
Bearing in mind One Man's Cheltenham record up to this point it is somewhat staggering that the phrase "Thank heavens he had Cheltenham" seems to be readily applicable. He could not complete the hat-trick in the King George, faltering in a style akin to his Gold Cup capitulations, and it seems that this was the final nail in the "three-mile plus" coffin as he was then aimed at Ascot, where he reversed the form from the previous year with Strong Promise, before taking his chance in the Champion Chase.
Those not of a grey persuasion will point to the fact that favourite Ask Tom failed to give his running and that both Klairon Davis and Viking Flagship probably found conditions a touch on the lively side, but what has to be remembered is the style of One Man's success which encompassed everything that made him such a popular performer. A flawless round of jumping led to One Man storming up the hill, galloping his rivals into submission and in doing so providing a definitive answer to those who said he didn't act at Cheltenham.
It was not the horse or the venue that had been out of line over the years but the distance, and given what was to follow at Aintree both his supporters and his doubters were grateful that he finally had the opportunity to put the record straight. Sporting stories rarely end on a high and so it was to prove with One Man, who fell at the ninth when in the lead in the Martell Cup, veering slightly right on approach to the obstacle before ploughing through it, falling and breaking his right tibia. Sport can, in a way, be summed up by One Man's final two outings, relishing the highs of the Champion Chase and the crushing lows of Aintree, but what is always evident is that the public remembers a champion, and One Man most certainly was that.
Look out for Brand new features with Timeform Race Passes - In-Play Hints, Running Notes & Warning Horses. Find out more at timeform.com.
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