The turf
It is glorious at Goodwood
If I get to choose where to spend my last day on earth it will probably be at Glorious Goodwood.…
A day with the West Ilsley trainer Denis Coakley
Through a stormy July weekend our task was to prevent four feisty grandchildren from murdering or mutilating each other before…
An eye for quality
Through a stormy July weekend our task was to prevent four feisty grandchildren from murdering or mutilating each other before…
Ralph Beckett's winning way with the fillies
Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…
Fit as a filly
Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…
Yes, I'm biased – but this was a great Royal Ascot
The one sight I was determined not to miss at Royal Ascot was that of the Queen from over the…
Winning ways
The one sight I was determined not to miss at Royal Ascot was that of the Queen from over the…
Cambridge, meet your first professor of racing lore
Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…
Epsom delights
Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…
Will racing waste its Scoop6 jackpot?
Eight people became millionaires last Saturday, collecting £1,342,599 each when the Scoop6 bet, which had been rolled over for 12…
Confidence boost
Eight people became millionaires last Saturday, collecting £1,342,599 each when the Scoop6 bet, which had been rolled over for 12…
My 12 tips for the racing year
In sport, winning is everything. Come second and only your parents and the dog remember. Most readers will have forgotten…
Twelve to Follow
In sport, winning is everything. Come second and only your parents and the dog remember. Most readers will have forgotten…
Own up, Twelve to Follow fans – which of you sabotaged my BMW?
Mrs Oakley takes a dim view of my using the BMW that consumed much of her savings to ferry sacks…
Settling up
Mrs Oakley takes a dim view of my using the BMW that consumed much of her savings to ferry sacks…
Sympathy for the bookies
We all have to adjust to reality, like the lady who entered a Barbados bar having already enjoyed several gin…
Taxing questions
We all have to adjust to reality, like the lady who entered a Barbados bar having already enjoyed several gin…
Why the other jockeys love Jamie Moore
In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…
True sportsmen
In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…
Comebacks, longshots and cruel disappointments: what makes Cheltenham Festival great
No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…
A Cheltenham of contrasts
No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…
How Paul Bittar has kept British racing together
British racing is such a quirky minefield that some were surprised when in 2011 the authorities chose Paul Bittar, a…
Commercial approach
British racing is such a quirky minefield that some were surprised when in 2011 the authorities chose Paul Bittar, a…
The Grand National needs kinder weather
This year you don’t want to be a jockey’s valet. Never have their washing machines spun so vigorously. From every…
On course for thrills
This year you don’t want to be a jockey’s valet. Never have their washing machines spun so vigorously. From every…
