Greatest Racehorses: Comedy Of Errors

Pedigree Details

Sire: Goldhill

Dam: Comedy Actress

Dam’s Sire: Kingsway

Breeder: Elizabeth Sykes

Foaled: 1967

Race Record & Factfile

Hurdle Races: 48

Wins: 23

Owner: Ted Wheatley

Trainer: Fred Rimell

Profile

Comedy of Errors made history in 1975 when becoming the first horse to regain his Champion Hurdle crown, a victory which saw him overtake Arkle as National Hunt racing's leading prize-money earner. He was the leading hurdler of the mid-1970s, when his battles with the Fred Winter-trained pair Bula and Lanzarote were defining moments in this era of the sport. The fact he was dubbed "the best horse we ever had at Kinnersley" by Fred Rimell is further evidence of the gelding’s greatness when one considers the plethora of top-class jumpers the legendary trainer handled during four decades at the helm of those historic Worcestershire stables. In addition, his two Champion Hurdle wins are all the more meritorious when one considers that many of those closely associated with Comedy of Errors felt he was unsuited by the track (he lost five times at Cheltenham in total). "He had a tendency to jump to the right, which didn’t help at Cheltenham," explained 1973 Champion Hurdle-winning jockey Bill Smith, whilst Rimell’s wife Mercy (who was an integral part of the training operation at Kinnersley) opined: "I always wondered if he really came down the hill because he was such a massive horse." Indeed, Comedy of Errors was over 17 hands high and very much built to be a chaser, but he was actually bred for the Flat and was the only winning jumper his dam produced – "he was a freak" was Mrs Rimell’s verdict.

1971/72 Season

The mating of northern sprinter Goldhill and Lancashire Oaks runner-up Comedy Actress was hardly one expected to yield a leading jumper and Comedy of Errors duly began life on the Flat. He developed into a useful middle-distance performer in that sphere for Shropshire trainer Tom Corrie before Rimell bought him for £12,000 on behalf of new owner Ted Wheatley, the millionaire boss of Allied Carpets. He soon became the apple of his new trainer’s eye, so much so that the normally mild-mannered Rimell vented his fury at long-time stable jockey Terry Biddlecombe after Comedy of Errors had been collared on the line in the 1972 Gloucestershire Hurdle (now the Supreme Novices’). "Fred was very incensed about the way Terry had ridden him. Everybody rides a bad race and everybody makes mistakes, but that was a shocker," Mrs Rimell said, explaining that Biddlecombe (who never rode the gelding again) had disregarded orders and kicked for home too soon. That Cheltenham Festival appearance was just the gelding’s third start over hurdles (he’d made a winning debut over timber for Biddlecombe’s understudy Ken White) and he gained some compensation by completing a quickfire hat-trick during the closing weeks of the season.

1972/73 Season

Bula sat atop of the hurdling tree in the early-1970s and he got the better of Comedy of Errors in the 1972 Cheltenham Trial Hurdle (which later became the Bula Hurdle), when his younger rival could only manage a distant third. Comedy of Errors beat him on all three subsequent meetings, though, and ended the season as the undisputed new star of the two-mile hurdling scene. He was runner-up to Captain Christy (with Bula only fourth) in the Sweeps Hurdle but went through the remainder of the campaign unbeaten, notably winning a high-quality renewal of the Champion Hurdle back at Cheltenham. Bula (odds-on) and Captain Christy dominated the betting but, in the end, 8/1 shot Comedy of Errors was pushed closest by northern raider Easby Abbey, who had also chased him home when they had filled the same placings in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle much earlier in the season. Comedy of Errors cemented his position as the division leader with another comprehensive defeat of Bula (who was receiving 6 lb) in the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Chepstow on his final start.

Major races won

• Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Newcastle
• Berkshire Hurdle, Newbury
• City Trial Hurdle, Nottingham
• Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham
• Welsh Champion Hurdle, Chepstow

1973/74 Season

With Bula now chasing, Fred Winter unearthed another challenger to Comedy of Errors in Lanzarote and this was to prove an even more enduring rivalry. Their first meeting came in the 1974 Champion Hurdle, where Comedy of Errors was sent off 6/4-on favourite ahead of 7/4-shot Lanzarote, who had gone through the campaign unbeaten. The favourite’s campaign hadn’t been too shabby either, the highlights being a second Fighting Fifth win and an imperious display in the Sweeps Hurdle at Leopardstown. Alas, he couldn’t reproduce that form at Cheltenham and, in a case of déjà vu, that proved to be the final straw in a fractured relationship between the Rimells and their stable jockey. Connections felt Bill Smith was guilty of letting Richard Pitman get first run on the front-running Lanzarote, who won by three lengths. "He definitely wasn’t right that year. He was gone at halfway – this was a horse you could cruise on, and he wasn’t cruising," complained Smith. "Richard Pitman always maintained he pinched the race, but he couldn’t pinch a fat lady’s bum!"

Major races won

• Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Newcastle
• Cheltenham Trial Hurdle, Cheltenham
• Sweeps Hurdle, Leopardstown
• City Trial Hurdle, Nottingham

1974/75 Season

Subsequent events rather vindicated Smith’s view as Comedy of Errors defeated Lanzarote on all three meetings in 1974/75, though Smith wasn’t on board for any of them, with Rimell instead finally promoting his long-time number two jockey Ken White to the top job. White’s sympathetic style suited Comedy of Errors down to the ground and the jockey soon worked out how to get the best out of him: "He had two gears – a good cruising pace to lay up, doing nothing, and an overdrive. He didn’t come to life all at once, it took 100 yards to get him wound up because he had such a big stride." The partnership went unbeaten on all six completed starts in 1974/75, including a third straight Fighting Fifth win and defeats of Lanzarote in the Cheltenham Trial and Sweeps Hurdle. The Champion Hurdle market was dominated by Comedy of Errors (11/8) and Lanzarote (2/1) again, but it proved a very one-sided affair on this occasion – seventh-placed Lanzarote got bogged down in the very testing conditions, whereas Comedy of Error powered eight lengths clear of runner-up Flash Imp to reclaim his crown. The gelding rounded off his magnificent campaign with victory in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr.

Major races won

• Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Newcastle
• Cheltenham Trial Hurdle, Cheltenham
• Sweeps Hurdle, Leopardstown
• Champion Hurdle Trial, Wolverhampton
• Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham
• Scottish Champion Hurdle, Ayr

1975/76 Season

Wins proved harder to come by in 1975/76 for Comedy of Errors, though this was largely due to the emergence of an outstanding batch of younger hurdlers than any significant decline on his part. Indeed, he actually emerged as the best horse at the weights when splitting Night Nurse and Sea Pigeon in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle, whilst it was a similar story when runner-up to Bird's Nest in the Wolverhampton Champion Hurdle Trial after the turn of the year. He’d proved no match for Night Nurse (four years his junior) in the Sweeps Hurdle on Boxing Day, however, and that rival proved in a class of his own on Champion Hurdle day, making all to beat Bird's Nest by two and a half lengths, with Comedy of Errors only fourth (albeit a place ahead of Lanzarote). The nine-year-old still picked up three decent prizes, though, notably a thrilling last-gasp defeat of top-notch novice Grand Canyon when upped in trip for the inaugural running of the Templegate Hurdle at Aintree.   

Major races won

• New Year’s Day Hurdle, Windsor
• National Spirit Challenge Trophy, Fontwell
• Templegate Hurdle, Aintree

1976/77 Season

That Aintree win proved a sign of things to come for Comedy of Errors, as the even longer Lloyds Bank Hurdle (now the Stayers’) was nominated as his target for the 1977 Cheltenham Festival – in the event, any stamina doubts were a side issue as he was found to be lame after finishing a disappointing fifth. The veteran was still capable of high-class form at around the minimum trip, though, as he showed when runner-up (a place ahead of future star Monksfield) to Master Monday in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown prior to landing the odds in the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell later in February, which proved to be his final win.   

Major races won

• National Spirit Challenge Trophy, Fontwell
  

1977/78 Season

A switch to chasing had long been mooted for the physically-imposing Comedy of Errors and, at the age of ten, he finally made his debut over the larger obstacles in the ATV Today Chase at nearby Worcester. Although he jumped adequately under John Burke (who had replaced White as regular rider upon the latter’s retirement at the end of 1975/76) to finish runner-up to Casamayor, connections opted to draw stumps immediately – a decision possibly influenced by the recent deaths of both Lanzarote and Bula in that sphere. He was retired after four unsuccessful runs back over hurdles and spent the remainder of his days (he died in 1990) as Mercy Rimell’s hack. "He was as perfect a ride as he was in appearance – there has never been a handsomer champion hurdler," she enthused.

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