Andrew Nelis racing

The transformation began at one Cheltenham Festival and was completed at the next. What came before and after were largely mirror images of each other, but it is in no small part due to the before and the after that what came in between was so wonderful to watch. Nobody could fully explain quite why  Rooster Booster  suddenly blossomed in the way he did, and there were times when even those closest to him seemingly found it hard to believe what was taking place, but the racecourse evidence was impossible to deny. A horse who had spent his already long career playing the role of valiant loser had metamorphosed into a regular and brilliant winner. For a memorable autumn, winter and spring we had to redefine our understanding of an animal we thought we knew well. We found there was more to discover about Rooster Booster and the more we learned the more we loved. It helped, of course, that he was grey. No harm was done, either, by the fact he had such a frivolous and cat...

Few would have fancied Monkerhostin to snap a near 30-month losing streak when he lined up in the 2008 renewal of the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown. Philip Hobbs’ runner was a 25-1 shot and seemingly up against it as he tried to claim a first win since beating Kauto Star in the Haldon Gold Cup of November 2005, a race marred by the death of triple Gold Cup hero Best Mate. Monkerhostin had blotted his copybook for plenty of punters when sent off co-favourite for the previous year’s Grand National won by Silver Birch, not taking to the Aintree fences at all before refusing at the seventh. But those that kept the faith were handsomely rewarded, with Monkerhostin defying his veteran status as an 11-year-old to run out a two-and-a-quarter-length winner from Royal Auclair in the hands of Richard Johnson. The four-times champion recalled: “The Bet365 is one of those races you always want to win – the big prize at the end of the season. “Monkerhostin was a real favourite in the yard, h...