West Tip was a bay gelding bred in Ireland near Fethard, County Tipperary, by Joe Hayes. He was owned by Peter Luff and during his racing career he was trained by Michael Oliver at Elmley Lovett near Droitwich in Worcestershire.[citation needed]
In 1982, West Tip was injured in an accident involving a lorry just down the lane from Michael Oliver's stables in Elmley Lovett. It was a foggy morning and Oliver's string was waiting for the arrival of jockey Philip Hobbs to join them riding out. As the horses were walking along Walton Lane the lorry approached and went past them. West Tip was the last in the string and whipped round as the lorry went by. Unfortunately a hook on the bed of the lorry caught West Tip on his near side hindquarters and tore a huge hole. The lorry did not stop. West Tip required over 70 internal stitches and many external stitches. It was feared that the horse would have to be put down, but thanks to the expertise of veterinary surgeon Peter Thorne, the horse made a complete recovery and went on to win on his racecourse debut at Warwick on 29 December 1982, at 50–1, ridden by Philip Hobbs. West Tip was left with a distinctive large scar on his hindquarters.[citation needed]
Racing careeredit
In 1985 West Tip won the Ritz Club Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He started joint-favourite for the 1985 Grand National but fell at Bechers Brook on the second circuit while disputing the lead. West Tip returned to Aintree for the 1986 Grand National and started the 15/2 second favourite under a weight of 151 pounds. Ridden by Richard Dunwoody he was always amongst the leaders and jumped the last fence in second place behind the Scottish-trained outsider Young Driver. West Tip took the lead on the run-in and got the better of a sustained struggle with Young Driver to win by two lengths.[1]
In subsequent runs in the National he finished fourth in 1987 and 1988, second in 1989, and tenth in 1990. On each occasion between 1985 and 1989 he was ridden by Dunwoody, and on his last appearance in 1990 he was ridden by Peter Hobbs. [2]
west, 1977, july, 2001, racehorse, grand, national, 1986, siregala, performancegrandsirenative, dancerdamastryldamsirevulgansexgeldingfoaled1977countryirelandcolourbayownerpeter, lufftrainermichael, olivermajor, winsritz, club, handicap, chase, 1985, grand, na. West Tip 1977 July 2001 was a racehorse who won the Grand National in 1986 West TipSireGala PerformanceGrandsireNative DancerDamAstrylDamsireVulganSexGeldingFoaled1977CountryIrelandColourBayOwnerPeter LuffTrainerMichael OliverMajor winsRitz Club Handicap Chase 1985 Grand National 1986 Last updated on 7 March 2009 Contents 1 Background 2 Racing career 3 Grand National record 4 ReferencesBackground editWest Tip was a bay gelding bred in Ireland near Fethard County Tipperary by Joe Hayes He was owned by Peter Luff and during his racing career he was trained by Michael Oliver at Elmley Lovett near Droitwich in Worcestershire citation needed In 1982 West Tip was injured in an accident involving a lorry just down the lane from Michael Oliver s stables in Elmley Lovett It was a foggy morning and Oliver s string was waiting for the arrival of jockey Philip Hobbs to join them riding out As the horses were walking along Walton Lane the lorry approached and went past them West Tip was the last in the string and whipped round as the lorry went by Unfortunately a hook on the bed of the lorry caught West Tip on his near side hindquarters and tore a huge hole The lorry did not stop West Tip required over 70 internal stitches and many external stitches It was feared that the horse would have to be put down but thanks to the expertise of veterinary surgeon Peter Thorne the horse made a complete recovery and went on to win on his racecourse debut at Warwick on 29 December 1982 at 50 1 ridden by Philip Hobbs West Tip was left with a distinctive large scar on his hindquarters citation needed Racing career editIn 1985 West Tip won the Ritz Club Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival He started joint favourite for the 1985 Grand National but fell at Bechers Brook on the second circuit while disputing the lead West Tip returned to Aintree for the 1986 Grand National and started the 15 2 second favourite under a weight of 151 pounds Ridden by Richard Dunwoody he was always amongst the leaders and jumped the last fence in second place behind the Scottish trained outsider Young Driver West Tip took the lead on the run in and got the better of a sustained struggle with Young Driver to win by two lengths 1 In subsequent runs in the National he finished fourth in 1987 and 1988 second in 1989 and tenth in 1990 On each occasion between 1985 and 1989 he was ridden by Dunwoody and on his last appearance in 1990 he was ridden by Peter Hobbs 2 Grand National record editGrand National Position Jockey Age Weight SP Distance 1985 DNF Richard Dunwoody 8 10 1 13 2 JF Fell at fence 22 Becher s Brook 1986 1st Richard Dunwoody 9 10 11 15 2 Won by 2 lengths 1987 4th Richard Dunwoody 10 11 7 5 1 Fav 1988 4th Richard Dunwoody 11 11 7 11 1 2 lengths 1989 2nd Richard Dunwoody 12 10 11 12 1 length 1990 10th Peter Hobbs 13 10 11 20 1References edit Green Reg 1993 The History of the Grand National A Race Apart Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 0 340 58515 3 Racing mourns West Tip BBC co uk 25 July 2001 nbsp This article about a racehorse is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title West Tip amp oldid 1222010475, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
