THE ‘50 great two-mile chasers’ series that the Racing Post ran recently was a fascinating read. It marked some outstanding feats by steeplechasing’s sprinters in some excellent essays.

You will always be able to argue with the presence or absence of any (would-be) member of any such finite grouping, and with the position of any member therein, but you would have thought that Bobsline would have been higher than 50th of 50, and that Buck House would have been higher than 46th.

Bobsline won the Arkle in 1984 under Frank Berry, getting the better of Noddy’s Ryde in an epic, and he was travelling well in the Queen Mother Champion Chase the following year when he came down at the third last fence, thereby leaving the path clear for Badsworth Boy to complete his Champion Chase hat-trick. Unfortunately, the Francis Flood-trained gelding sustained an injury that day that compromised the rest of his career.

Maybe that is why he is 19 places lower on the list than Noddy’s Ryde, who was tragically cut down in his prime at Exeter the following November.

Buck House won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 1983 and, after giving best to Boreen Prince in the Arkle in 1985, he won the Champion Chase under regular rider Tommy Carmody in 1986, beating Very Promising and Bobsline and Badsworth Boy.

The Mouse Morris-trained gelding also won the Easter Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse and the Future Champions Novice Chase at Ayr and the Motor Imports Handicap Chase at Punchestown. And, lamentably, he never got the chance to go back to Cheltenham to try to win another Champion Chase.

Even so, his talent and his achievements were of sufficient quality to cement his place among the very best two-mile chasers.