Sports movies tend to offer a single, over-used trope to the audience, namely, the idea that a group of loveable but useless misfits can win some significant competition or other. On the more comedic end of things, 2004’s Dodgeball pitted the Average Joe’s squad against the monolithic Globo Gym to save a local fitness center. Of course, then there’s the horse racing film Seabiscuit, which basically told the same story one year earlier.
Noble Yeats
Seabiscuit is about a horse described as lazy, as well as trainer John Pollard (Tobey Maguire), who is mentioned in similar terms, and the much more self-assured horseman Tom Smith (Chris Cooper). Its motivational message was stirring enough though, and it proved popular with critics, even the famously cynical critic Roger Ebert.
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Rarely do these films actually have much bearing in real life, with the possible exception of Australian speed skater Steven Bradbury, who came from last to first at the 2002 Winter Olympics after all his opponents crashed into each other. Having said that, the Irish racehorse Noble Yeats pulled off something rather spectacular in 2022 by winning the Grand National, despite starting as a 50/1 prospect.
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Any Second Now
The Grand National is well known for producing the occasional surprise. Mon Mome (100/1) found victory in 2009 under Liam Treadwell, while Ayala (66/1) claimed the Grand National in 1963, despite only joining the line-up two weeks before. Finally, in 2021, the race at Aintree was won by Rachael Blackmore, the first female rider to take the coveted prize. Noble Yeats was perhaps a more likely winner than these few racers but the outcome was no less surprising.
Making things slightly more dramatic is the fact that Yeats’ rider Sam Waley-Cohen had chosen both the horse and the Grand National for his swansong. Waley-Cohen would retire after the race. Previously, favorite Any Second Now had been expected to dominate the steeplechase but finished 2¼ lengths behind the Emmet Mullins-trained Noble Yeats. Twenty lengths further back, Delta Work finished third. Due to Noble Yeats’ sterling performance in 2022, the horse is now an 8/1 bet on Grand National online for the renewal on April 15. However, Noble Yeats does not have a confirmed jockey yet, which is part of the reason why Corach Rambler is in the favorite spot at 6/1.
Cotswold Chase
Noble Yeats’ lack of favoritism may lie in its 3rd place in the Cotswold Chase back in January. Ridden by Sean Bowen, Yeats was pipped by Sounds Russian and Ahoy Senior. Grand National third-place finisher Delta Work was also in action in the Cross Country Handicap Chase, once again finishing third. For Noble Yeats, the Cotswold Chase was the first time the horse had failed to finish first since its Grand National victory.
While Noble Yeats may be well out of fairytale territory now, reducing its Hollywood blockbuster appeal, there’s still plenty of potential left in the 8-year-old.
