Jonbon and El Fabiolo battle it out at Aintree

Jonbon and El Fabiolo - have a lot to live up to

Sporting Life Arkle memories: Bobsline versus Noddy's Ryde

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Sat March 11, 2023 · 3y ago

If you’re of a certain vintage even the mere mention of the Sporting Life Arkle brings back memories of an epic 1984 renewal.

Ireland v England, Bobsline v Noddy’s Ryde, and an absolute thriller at Prestbury Park. They still talk about it on both sides of the Irish Sea. You can re-live it on Youtube to your heart's content and, if needed, try to convince yourself the British hope has slipped his rival going over the third last.

A thunderous duel - but what made it special?

“We just had the classic Cheltenham scenario; a great British hope and a great Irish hope locking horns. They had distinctive running styles too,” remembers Timeform senior handicapper Phil Turner.

“Noddy’s Ryde was very much in the Tingle Creek mould, a flamboyant, flashy front runner, with Bobsline the stalker, and you just had to decide who would come out on top.

1984 Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase

“It wasn't just the fact they were two good horses, it was where they were trained and their running styles which made it so fascinating.

“And they both really delivered. Noddy’s Ryde was a great sight out in front but Bobsline joined him at the last and was soon in front. His rival rallied and was no pushover on the run-in and they pulled well clear of the rest. It was a high quality race and just the sort you want to see. Why do we go on about Grundy v Bustino all these years later? It’s a similar sort of thing."

It wasn't a race that had dominated the previews of the Festival that year - although they were much lower-key in those days. Shudder at the thought, but even preview evenings were only a glint in a visionary's eyes.

“In the build-up to the meeting you wouldn’t have had the same level of anticipation as you get nowadays. We weren’t talking about it for months in advance. Roll on 12 months, though, and we were when Bobsline took on Badsworth Boy in the Champion Chase; that was probably one of the most anticipated clashes in Cheltenham Festival history," Turner adds.

“It didn’t pan out that way, he fell three out just as the race was taking shape, but in terms of build-up, that’s one of the races I remember most from that era and a lot of that is down to what he did in the previous season’s Arkle - it was that special.

“They were both effectively unbeaten, Noddy’s Ride had fallen when clear down the back straight at Sandown and sprawled on landing two out in the Dipper, which was then run at Newcastle, and would have won there too.

“Bobsline was indeed unbeaten, they were the two great hopes either side of the Irish Sea, they brought a high level of form into the race and there were no hard-luck stories. Everything went to plan for both and it was a very close-run thing."

Tragically they were never to meet again.

“The next season Noddy’s Ryde went down to Exeter for the Haldon Gold Cup and was miles clear of some very good horses, he was beating the likes of Fifty Dollars More by half the straight, but after jumping the last fine he just sprawled on landing, a little like Galopin Des Champs at last year's Cheltenham Festival, and sadly broke a leg and had to be put down,” Turner recalls.

“Bobsline plateaued a little bit afterwards and I just wonder if that’s down to how the horses were campaigned compared to nowadays. He was an eight-year-old when he arrived at the Arkle and it was his 20th career start. Compare that to El Fabiolo, say, he arrives at Cheltenham for his ninth career start and third over fences.

“He’s already run to a rating with Timeform which is four pounds higher than Bobsline achieved in winning the Arkle.

“The novice chase programme is very different now too. These horses are forced to go into better races sooner and that's why they’re posting bigger figures. Jonbon’s rating is from beating Boothill who had won a valuable handicap at Ascot at the end of October, beating another novice, and that wouldn’t have happened 30 or 40 years ago.

“It's not that they’re wrapped in cotton wool now, it’s a totally different programme. Bobsline headed to Cheltenham with eight novice chase wins, it’s very hard to run up that sort of sequence in the current era.”

So 39 years after one Sporting Life Arkle classic – can Jonbon and El Fabiolo serve up another this time around?

“We already have a sense of rivalry after one very close finish at Aintree between the pair and that adds spice to it,” says Turner.

“We have the Britain v Ireland element too and while Dysart Dynamo can’t be completely ruled out, there are other horses in there too, you do think it’s going to be set up perfectly for a head-to-head between the big two and hopefully the first of many down the line over fences.

“We are somewhat starved of these rivalries that keep going and it would be great if this was a close race and the start of something special."

So if you're new to the sport, watch the action very closely on Tuesday. You might just find yourself purring over the video of the race 40 years down to the line to the latest generation of racing fans.

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