Huge collection of hair from racehorses including Red Rum goes on sale for eye-watering price
A HUGE collection of hair from legendary racehorses including Red Rum and Desert Orchid has gone on sale for £45,000.
Gee-gees fans can romp home with strands of tail and mane from 102 flat and jumps runners of the 20th century.
Many are from the collection of racing historian and author Michael Tanner, who gathered them from trainers and owners or in person.
A second album was compiled by an enthusiast during the 1980s and ’90s.
Grand National winners featured in addition to three-time champ Rummie include Aldaniti, Corbiere and Hallo Dandy.
There are also hairs from Cheltenham stars such as Dessie plus flat-racing great Nijinsky.
A memorabilia expert said: “This may seem utterly bizarre but this collection will be hugely sough-after.
“You could not get another collection with modern-day equivalents because of increased security around horse and race meetings – so you wouldn’t get near the horses. This is what makes this unique.
“It is a one-off and should sell quite quickly as there are a lot of race collectors with plenty of money sloshing about.
“It is particularly likely to go to someone who has earned decent winnings from one or more of the horses in the collection.
“It is also obviously immaculately-sourced and totally genuine, as reputation is everything in the auction game.”
Paul Fraser, founder of Paul Fraser Collectibles, said: “The list of racehorses in the collection is impossible to recreate. Red Rum, Desert Orchid, Arkle, Nijinsky, Secretariat.
“These are the flat and jumps greats of the 20th century. Horses you adored. Horses who won you a few quid perhaps. Horses you roared over the final fence. No piece of racing memorabilia gets you closer to these great champions.”