The race that made Martin Pipe? It has to be the Paddy Power Gold Cup

Has it really been more than 18 years since Martin Pipe retired? The realisation struck me as I read last week's instalment of The Horses Who Made Me. 

The interview with the Wellington genius (as he was commonly known) could have extended to a few thousand words given the number of horses who defined Pipe's extraordinary career and, as tends to be the case with these thought-provoking pieces, you can spend more time discussing which horses weren't mentioned rather than the merits of those included.

Baron Blakeney, Carvill's Hill, Miinnehoma and Granville Again were predictable inclusions, and it was both enthralling and heartbreaking to revisit the career of Carvill's Hill, who looked all set to be crowned winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup (one of the few races to elude Pipe) before his jumping frailties were cruelly exposed.