being overtaken to finish second, two lengths behind the winner Toskano. Quixall Crossett's assistant trainer Geoff Sanderson, who also ran the horse's fan club, commented, "We brought him back to be unsaddled and he got the most tremendous cheer you've ever heard on a race course... The horse doesn't know he gets beat because he gets a bigger cheer than the winner". Over the next sixteen months Quixall Crossett ran 24 times and managed one third place when coming home last of the finishers in the Hartwell Ford Novices' Chase at Market Rasen on 8 August. After being pulled up a Kelso Racecourse in September 1999 he was off the track for well over a year. When Quixall Crossett returned to the track as a fifteen-year-old in 2000 his losing run began to attract increasing attention from the mainstream media. As the horse prepared for his comeback Caine commented that the reason for his long losing run was "probably a lack of talent" but added "the main thing is that the horse enjoys it". The gelding recorded his 98th consecutive defeat when finishing last of four at Wetherby on 26 December. The Daily Telegraph's Brough Scott commented "The unbelievable thing about Quixall Crossett is that he keeps coming back for more. You have to hand it to the old boy - he has got racing completely sussed. He has found a very clever way of getting his oats with the minimum of effort". After another defeat at Kelso in February the gelding was off the course for several months as National Hunt racing was interrupted by the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, before returning for his 100th race at Southwell Racecourse on 22 July. Before the race Geoff Sanderson was cautiously optimistic, saying "He's a great jumper. Safe as houses... His only problem, really, is the bits in between the jumps. Let's just say he's not the quickest". In the event Quixall Crossett soon dropped out of contention and was pulled up at half way leading Ted Caine to say "He just wasn't able to keep up today and he wasn't enjoying himself... a couple more runs like that, and maybe we might have to think about his future". Sanderson later said that he had been sacked by Caine after the race for urging that the horse should be retired. On 17 October the gelding was beaten more than eighty