Colin Williams

I popped down to the start at Cheltenham one day when Mad Moose was running, along with a few others (you know who you are), after he’d developed this idiosyncratic behaviour of ‘I’ll start if I feel like it.’ We wanted to see him at close hand and offer him some encouragement and support and hoped that he would jump off, enjoy himself, and run his race. It all seemed to be going very smoothly as he went to post nicely, he circled around at the start with the others, he looked happy and relaxed, as if he was just having fun with his mates, and I was pretty sure, given his body language, that on this occasion he would start. How wrong I was. As the starter called them in, he even lined up, took a step forward, and almost feigned a forward movement as if to go, but he stayed firmly rooted to the spot. It was almost as if he was humouring us all and given what I learned about him afterwards, I think he was. Racing needs characters. To me, it’s not about how much a pint of Guinness costs or whether you can drink it whilst watching the race, it’s about falling in love with the horses and their personalities, and returning to the racecourse time after time to see them, cheer them on, and develop that unique bond with them. And Mad Moose was certainly a character. You felt a connection with him. You empathised with him and related to him. He was the naughty kid at school, loved by all. Thank you Moose for bringing so much joy to all of us who loved and followed you. You had a good life. Now RIP x❤️ (I attach a photo from that day, taken on my old Sony Ericsson C905, as Moose looks onwards (@DavidCrosse up), as the rest of the runners head to the first, with that expressive, knowing look of “If I don’t want to run I won’t.” Love him.)