DO you ever record television programmes which you intend to watch at some point in the future but you never seem to get the chance?

Right now we all have a bit more spare time on our hands and, if you are a racing fanatic, there is not a lot on the box to watch.

On Sunday morning, when the Hong Kong Group 1s were over, I scrolled through my list of recorded shows, desperate for some more entertainment. There were Cheltenham replays and random racedays, and then up popped a great surprise, Hearts Of Joy – Nashwan’s Story. My favourite racehorse! How had I never watched this?

The one-hour documentary tells the story of that wonderful summer of 1989 when the flashy chesnut trained by Major Dick Hern swept all before him. What a pleasure it was last weekend to relive those races and hear Willie Carson, Marcus Tregoning and others recall that truly brilliant racehorse, who left such an impression on me. At 17 years of age, I had only recently discovered horse racing and Nashwan took my interest to another level.

Amazing to think it was 31 years ago today that Nashwan quickened away from a star-studded field to win the 2000 Guineas. That was the magic moment for me. And, yes, there was a few quid at stake. Allow me to wind back the clock.

Bad crowd

If anyone asks me how I became involved in racing I tell them “I fell in with a bad crowd at school and ended up in snooker halls and betting shops”. That’s how it happened. I quickly learned that you couldn’t go far wrong backing anything trained by Henry Cecil or Vincent O’Brien, but the prices were short and there were sometimes painful defeats.

I started to study the pedigrees and befriended another schoolboy, William, who seemed to know a lot more than I did about racing and bloodstock. He spoke about Dick Hern as if the Major was the equivalent of Cecil and O’Brien, if not better than those living legends. I struggled to understand that opinion as I had missed the Major’s glory days and it appeared to me the old boy’s career was coming to an end.

But then in 1988 along came Minster Son who won the St Leger for the wheelchair-bound trainer. And he beat the Cecil hotpot Diminuendo too – ouch! And so I learned the hard way never to underestimate anything trained by W.R. Hern in future.

A month earlier Nashwan had made a winning racecourse debut in a decent Newbury maiden, the same maiden Minster Son had won the year before. The omens were good, my pal insisted. After all, Nashwan’s grandam Highclere had won the Guineas for the Major. For the first time I could see the patterns, the trends, the traditions of flat racing laid out before me. It was like being welcomed into the gang. I became a Nashwan believer.

Derby horse

The piggy bank was smashed open when Nashwan came out again in October for a listed race at Ascot. Bolted up at 4/6. The experts generally agreed he was a Derby horse. The Major had two better Guineas candidates in Dewhurst dead-heater Prince Of Dance and the Futurity winner Al Hareb.

Winter came and passed, and nobody was talking about Nashwan. Not until one Saturday in April when word got out that Nashwan had destroyed some older horses in a gallop at Hern’s West Ilsley stables in Lambourn. According to the Racing TV documentary, John McCririck broke the news on Channel 4’s racing coverage, his card having been marked by the big bookmakers who had been taking bets on Nashwan for the Guineas all morning.

We didn’t have the English channels in our house but I do remember seeing the late Noel Reid presenting the racing update on Sports Stadium that same day and he too relayed news of the Nashwan gamble. Backed from 33/1 to 6/1, he said. About four seconds later I was on my bike and pedalling like a maniac.

Bookies in those days did not have a bank of television screens showing real-time odds. The latest Guineas prices were the ones printed in The Sporting Life that morning. In my local, Nashwan was still 33/1. Even the lads in Hern’s yard didn’t get that price! I backed him to win £1,000.

Tough test

The first Saturday in May rolled around and I was beside myself with excitement. Nashwan was now the 3/1 clear favourite. In my eyes, he couldn’t be beaten but, looking back, what a test he faced on only his third start, off a rushed preparation, and against future Group 1 winners Danehill, Exbourne, Markofdistinction and Shaadi.

Riding to orders, Carson had him prominent and in a position where he could use his giant stride. They hit the front two out but Danehill and Exbourne were set to pounce on either side, and Markofdistinction was staying on well.

Graham Goode takes it up: “They’re inside the final furlong and Nashwan just has it, from Danehill. Exbourne finishing strongly. But Nashwan quickens again inside the final furlong. And Nashwan wins from Exbourne, Danehill and Markofdistinction.”

The sheer thrill of those few seconds are the reason why, for me, top-class flat racing will always have the edge over the jumps. It’s that moment when there are a handful of horses holding a chance, and then yours just accelerates away. That extra bit of speed, class, athletic ability, which separates the very best from the very good. That is racing.

I played up a share of the winnings on Nashwan to win the Derby at around 5/4 and, watching Epsom, there was never a moment’s doubt. A pure formality. Go and collect.

Quest for the Best

Next came the Eclipse, billed as the ‘Quest for the Best’ with Nashwan taking on the older stars Warning and Indian Skimmer. He won that too but it was fascinating to hear Willie Carson admit in the excellent Racing TV broadcast that this was the race which bottomed Nashwan.

Fearing that he had given pacemaker Opening Verse too much rope, Carson sent Nashwan in pursuit over three furlongs out. “I had to hit the panic button and of course, full throttle, I picked him [Opening Verse] up about a furlong and a half out. But I’ve hit the front too soon and I know a hundred yards before the line Nashwan had cut out. It was a little bit of jockey error, I did panic.”

Incredibly, Nashwan was back racing just three weeks later for the King George at Ascot, where he registered a hard-fought success over his old Derby foe Cacoethes. Marcus Tregoning reflected: “We got away with it in the King George but Cacoethes gave him a hard race that day and I don’t think Willie had a lot of horse left.”

Retirement

After a short break Nashwan was prepared for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe but that plan was abandoned when he failed to produce his spark in the Prix Niel. The horse was retired almost immediately. Carson recalled: “Pat Eddery told me afterwards ‘your horse was gurgling and making all kinds of noises when I passed you’. I blame myself for that sort of thing, I could have caused it when I burst him in the Eclipse. I stretched the elastic band too far that day.”

The joyous journey was over. To this day no other horse has won the Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and King George in the same season. It was a fantastic achievement, though hats off also to Sea The Stars, who did as much and more in his classic season.

Dick Hern had to move to a new yard in 1990 but he still managed to train more big winners, such as Dayjur, Alhaarth, Elmaamul and Harayir, all for Nashwan’s owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan. The Major passed away in May 2002 and Nashwan followed a few months later. He didn’t reach the same heights as a stallion but that will never take from his record as a racehorse.

In the summer of 1989, he thrilled and filled many hearts with joy including mine, and that big. beautiful stride of his will never be forgotten.

Web: Search YouTube for ‘Hearts of Joy – Story of Nashwan’