The Ballad Of Thunder Gulch

Record Label: A&M
Country Of Release: private release
Catalog Number: none
Year Released: 1995
Total Playing Time: ?

Tracks:

1. The Ballad Of Thunder Gulch

Comments: This song was a private CD release for Michael, Doreen and Ashley Tabor in celebration of "Thunder Gulch" winning the 121st Kentucky Derby on Saturday 6th May, 1995

This is what Chris de Burgh said about this song in the fanclub magazine the Getaway Gazette in October 1995:
[...] I see that I went to an event in Limerick, run by a guy called J.P. McManus. He has had two big golf classics, and these are totally remarkable because this is a man, a very wealthy man, who started life as a bookmaker and then got involved with all sorts of other business deals - but he's also extremely supportive of charity. [...] Anyway, he had a two-day golf classic, in which I played with Christy O'Connor Jnr and various friends, including Robert Sangster and Charles Benson, a friend of his. At the gala dinner, they had politicians falling out of your ears. There was the Prime Minister, the ex-Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and many, many famous people. At the auction after the dinner, there was this picture - it was cartoons of various celebrities who were attending the event - and it must have been worth about 500 pounds or, at best, 1000 pounds. But a guy from Monaco, called Michael Tabor, paid five...hundred...thousand...pounds for it. 500,000 pounds, at auction! There was an underbidder who was prepared to go up to 490,000 pounds. Anyway, this guy Tabor had a horse called Thunder Gulch, which won the Kentucky Derby in March of this year. Now, McManus had come up to me in May and said, as a special favour to him, would I ever consider writing a song commemorating the winning of the Kentucky Derby - which, in America, is just huge. It's like Wimbledon and a Test Match all rolled into one. So I wrote a song called "The Ballad Of Thunder Gulch", which involved getting all the horses right in the right positions at the right time with the right names. It was actually very tricky to do, but kind of fun to do. We recorded that in July, as a special private commission, and this guy Michael Tabor received a copy of it. I think he's going to put a limited amount out on CD for his friends. That's one the fans will never hear! I actually performed it that night of the auction, for this guy Michael Tabor - who had just spent half a million pounds. He was very emotional indeed, hearing his big win being commemorated by me...