The weather here in my very little part of deepest Devon is mostly purple today. Interspersed with bright shafts of light of varying hues. A varegated sky of blues, heading towards violet, pink and then the yellows of the sun sneaking through clouds and raindrops. If I look hard enough I might see a rainbow later on.
In honour of this mostly purple day I am thinking of two oppositite ends of purple, and the two racehorses I am remembering whose jockeys wore these silks illustrate them well. These horses are both well loved giants in more ways than one. Horseracing is often called The Sport Of Kings, and of course purple is a royal colour. I am not sure where either of these photos came from, and for this I sincerely apologise to the photographers. Both photos are real favourites of mine for personal reasons and are, I think, wonderful representations of the spirit of horseracing.
Persian Punch was a magnificent giant of a horse who raced over long distances on the flat and loved nothing better than a battle for the prize. To the uninitiated the quality most admired and desired in racehorses is not beauty or even speed - it is courage. To his many fans Punch was quite simply the bravest one of all. His jockeys wore the mauve and Heavenly blue silks of owner Jeff Smith. In this photo jockey Martin Dwyer salutes the cheering crowd that welcomes their favourite into another Winner's Enclosure. Sadly Punch is no longer with us, but has left behind many glorious memories so I think it is appropriate to remember him this week during Glorious Goodwood where he won the Goodwood Cup on Ladies Day and where there is a slate plaque to commemorate him by the winning post.
About the same size as Punch but a horse of a different colour is Denman. Here he is with his jockey Ruby Walsh wearing the lovely dark purple and white silks of co-owner Mrs Margaret Findlay flying the water jump at Cheltenham in fabulous style. He will be back in action in the coming National Hunt scene and will surprise no one if he were to take another Cheltenham Gold Cup home to his owners. See him race if you can.
I think in honour of this purple day and these two horses I am going to go and put something purple on.