The turf
Ascot was a high-profile disaster for jump racing
The government may for the moment have disbanded its circular firing squad, but racing has never shown a greater ability…
My Twelve to Follow over jumps
The dozen recommended in May left us with a decent profit
Lesson to self: don’t put a bet on in autumn
When things went wrong in his days running the Daily Mirror, the scoundrel Robert Maxwell used to shout: ‘Which effing…
The making of a Classics winner
For a Radio Four programme she was hosting Clare Balding once had the idea that it would be fun to…
The lessons of Newmarket
The swallows who nest yearly in my garage have agreed that ‘that’s enough baby-making for this year’, and started their…
My racing moment of the year
It takes a little bit of magic to train any racehorse. It takes plenty of magic to keep a 13-year-old…
Goodwood was glorious but it highlighted the range of problems facing the sport
Irish trainer John F. O’Neill owes the stalls handlers at Goodwood a good drink or two. In Ireland this season…
Is this the death of horse racing?
I don’t miss too many from the political world I once inhabited but I was saddened by the death of…
This year, Glorious Goodwood had it all
‘You’re being unfaithful,’ says the punter’s wife brandishing a note found in her husband’s suit pocket: ‘Dorothea 07440 521321.’ ‘No,…
Horse racing’s invisible heroes
President George W. Bush used to quote his fellow Texan Robert Strauss who famously declared: ‘You can fool some of…
Why racing needs Frankie Dettori
Heading for a holiday in Sardinia, I remembered that the last time we were there our engine-less, drifting boat was…
The joy of Royal Ascot
In a disintegrating country, stuck for the moment with a Prime Minister who can’t see the difference between a proliferation…
How modesty triumphed in the Derby
In the absence on her Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty, such an avid Derby attender in the past, and following…
Poor prize money is killing British horseracing
Seeing Fully Wet win the European Breeders Fund Maiden Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday was a genuine source of pleasure,…
The art of picking winners
‘Some of our players can hardly write their names,’ moaned one leading football manager. ‘But you should see them add…
The unacknowledged stars of the jump season
The Irish aren’t just good at winning horse races: they are in the Super League when it comes to celebrating…
The glorious return of the Grand National crowd
How wonderful after three years to have the crowds back to enjoy the glorious concoction of skill, bravery, razzmatazz and…
The British shone at Cheltenham
For Barbara and Alick Richmond, Living Legend’s game 12-1 victory in Kempton’s 1m 2f Magnolia Stakes last Saturday was their…
He knew a swan from a duck: remembering Andy Turnell
You don’t always have to win to enjoy it. At the end of the £100,000 Paddy Power Imperial Cup at…
My top tips for Cheltenham Festival
Even when the authorities were refusing Milton Harris the right to renew his training licence after he got his finances…
The young trainer Sam Drinkwater is one to watch
Certain sections of the media love to run a knocking story and when champion trainer Paul Nicholls’s horses failed to…
Clash of the two-mile titans
The engine wasn’t what it was, they said. At ten years old the spark that had once made him a…
The new Tote is a ray of hope for British racing
There is nothing like visiting a stud early in the foaling season. As amiable mums-to-be saunter up to the paddock…
The turf
Seen any groundhogs your way? In racing the New Year began much as the old one had ended. At Cheltenham’s…
British horse racing’s debt to the Middle East
A joyful Saturday at Ascot recently reminded me that when the old Hurst Park Racecourse (near Hampton Court Palace) closed…
