Dobbin pays tribute to Go Ballistic Tony Dobbin recalled some fond memories of riding Go Ballistic, the high-class chaser who died of colic on Wednesday at the age of 23. The former jockey was in the plate for Go Ballistic's final two victories, but it was for his efforts in defeat that Sheila Lockhart's gelding was best known. Dobbin partnered him to finished second, beaten just a length by See More Business, in the 1999 Cheltenham Gold Cup, while he ran other good races for Richard Johnson. They included a second in the following season's King George and another narrow defeat when finishing a short-head behind Marlborough in the consolation Gold Cup at Sandown in 2001, when the Festival had been abandoned. "He was very good to me, as he gave me my first and second rides in the Gold Cup," said Dobbin, who now assists his trainer-wife Rose in Northumberland. "He was fourth to Mr Mulligan in 1997 and then second to See More Business, and I think I rode him when he was with four or five different trainers. "I won the Jim Ford at Wincanton on him for John O'Shea, when we beat Strong Promise and he was a very genuine horse with a very enthusiastic owner - she asked me to marry her after the Gold Cup! "He didn't do anything wrong, he just seemed to always find one too good. But many people would have loved a horse like him."
