I was sad to hear that my former horse, Berkhamsted, was put down on Saturday after breaking down at Towcester. Evan Williams bought him off me in the February sale at Tattersalls and immediately took him novice chasing – this was a pretty bold move by Williams as Berky was a flat horse who had only run a couple of times over hurdles and had pulled up both times.
It was probably a reasonable gamble to take him chasing. Tom once said Berky had “legs of steel”, he jumped well enough in the two chases he completed and if he made a mistake in the race I didn’t see it. I can’t help wondering though if Williams was asking for too much too soon from the horse.