Frank McAvennie and Tony Cottee are looking to become winners all over again after having a horse named after them by an Irons-crazy fan.
CotteeMcAvenniGoal has been sent to top trainer Kim Bailey where he is currently undergoing a “breaking in” process before he hits the racecourse probably around March or April next year.
The final e of SuperMac’s name has been omitted as there is a limit on the number of characters allowed in a racehorse’s name.
Hammer Simon Keane, who bought the horse, said: “Kim Bailey is one of the few National Hunt trainers to have trained the winners of all three of the top national hunt races, The Champion Hurdle, The Gold Cup and The Grand National.
He is a bit like WHU in that he has had his ups and downs but is currently back on the up and his current group of very good horses include Vindication, Red River and First Flow.”
Simon approached his two favourite Hammers, Macca and TC with the help of Claret and Hugh who immediately gave him permission to use their names and were delighted to be asked.
Simon said: “I am absolutely convinced that WHUFC were the best team in that league in the famous 85/86 season and were only robbed of the title due to the backlog in fixtures. But my overriding memory was the terror that Tony and Frank installed in the opposition with their brilliant and deadly partnership.
One thing that has always stuck in my mind was Frank coming back from international duty with Scotland from Australia on a Saturday morning and coming on to score the winner against QPR. Make no mistake the naming of the horse is a tribute to two fantastic players in a brilliant team. “
Trainer Kim was happy to discuss the three-year-old with CandH and said: “He’s a nice looking horse but it’s very early days and is currently being broken in. He will celebrate his fourth birthday on New Year’s Day and like the guys he’s been named after looks very athletic.
“It’s obviously too early to think in terms of what races he will be entered for as I wouldn’t expect him to be ready for the course until around March or April next year. But his first outing will be in a bumber (a flat race for National Hunt horses) before he is sent over the hurdles, after which we will hope to see him make up into a chaser.”
When Frank McAvenie was contacted he said “I feel honoured that an out and out Hammer should have named his horse after us. I’m not into racing like I once was but this is a terrific thing for the old firm of Frankie and TC. He texted me up and asked permission and I couldn’t have been more pleased to say ‘yes..’ We will be following the horse with terrific interest when he hits the track next year. Kim Bailey is a top trainer so we all have to have high hopes for Cottemacavennigoal. I hope he wins us all a good few quid.”
We also spoke to Tony Cottee also who added: “I do feel honoured, as far as I know, I have never had a horse named after me, and to have one with Frank and the aspect of a goal is special, it is a huge honour, I said to Simon keep in touch, keep me up to date and it would be nice to watch it run and maybe it will get a few wins. I do like a day out racing, I go to Cheltenham every year and my dad was a very keen horse racing man so he bought me up with gambling and horse racing.”