Paws and Jaws

We were at Plumpton races, watching the horses in the paddock before the fifth race. It was Monday March 22, back in 1982.

Her attention had been caught by number 13, a bay gelding with this unexpected name, walking round with the other seven runners for the Uckfield Selling Hurdle race.

A man beside us turned and said: "I would madam. That is my horse you are talking about."

Undaunted, my mother-in-law replied: " No wonder it hasn't much form, with a name like that!"

On five outings so far, Paws and Jaws had failed to make an impression, with 0P000 to his name.

Trained by Hugh O'Neill at Dorking, he had some successful stablemates like Colonel Christy and Grand Armagnac.

But his owner, a man named Peter Hampshire, was quick to defend his runner.

"He's a rarity, because he is a twin, and survived despite being the smaller one of the two," he explained.

He continued:" Just look at his feet when he comes round. They are tiny. He has been plodding round at the back of the field all winter in heavy ground, when he needs to hear his feet rattle on good ground."

Sure enough, Paws and Jaws had tiny feet, totally unsuitable for ploughing through the mud at Plumpton.

As a parting comment, Mr Hampshire predicted: "You mark my words. He's no chance of winning today, but I'm going to get all my training fees back at the end of the season. Paws and Jaws will run somewhere right at the end of the season, when the ground is firm and he will win at a really good price."

By coincidence I was planning to go to a vintage aircraft rally with my husband at Long Marston, near Stratford on Avon on Saturday May 8 that year, when I noticed that Stratford Racecourse had an evening meeting on the Friday.

And who was declared to run- none other than Paws and Jaws, along with stablemate Administrator in an earlier race on the card.

So we went a day early and found ourselves at Stratford races on that warm evening and were encouraged by Administrator's runaway win, which yielded us a decent profit from a small stake.

The ground was on the firm side and Paws and Jaws looked magnificent in the paddock. His jockey was Micky Hammond ( who now trains) and an early sortie to the bookmakers' stands showed he was 66-1 in places.

This was definitely it, we thought, and we each staked 5 at that price.

As soon as the tapes went up in the hurdle race, Paws and Jaws streaked off to an early lead, ears pricked and keen. By the time he was on the final circuit his lead had increased and he was leaving the rest of the field behind.

He jumped the second last 20 lengths clear of the remainder and headed for the final hurdle near to the stands with victory assured. We were mentally counting our profits.

He approached the last with a commanding lead, jumped well but dropped a shoulder on landing in a slight stumble, but soon picked up again and went for the line in a storming finish.

The only problem was that his jockey went straight over the handlebars and fell off when Paws and Jaws dropped his shoulder..... the horse crossed the line on his own.

We were standing on the rails, near to Hugh O'Neill, who like us, could hardly believe his eyes. He tipped his trilby back on his head, shrugged his shoulders with a wry smile and said not a word.

It just went to prove that there is no such thing as a racing certainty!