I am pleased to confirm we are covering the Cheltenham Festival for our 56th year! Wow what an achievement for our small team. Our contributors for the 2027 Festival are Marten Julian, Jodie Standing, Rodney Pettinga & Ronan Groome. Things … Read More »

After all the discussions and previews in the days leading up to Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, it all went according to plan for Daryz. To his great credit, the colt’s trainer Francis Graffard had never wavered in his … Read More »

I was left feeling a little confused by the outcome of Saturday’s Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. It came as no surprise to see Sun Goddess win as she did, especially following the hefty support that she attracted beforehand, but … Read More »

I cannot bear missing the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. By ‘missing’ I mean being at Lonchamp itself, of course; I realise there is full coverage on television but I miss the Bois de Boulogne, the build-up during the morning … Read More »

Following on from last week’s reflections on the ante-post market, I want to take a look at the likely contenders for some of the top autumn races. For many of us the highlight of this week’s Cambridgeshire meeting will be … Read More »

I used to love ante-post betting. It was one of the perks of holding a press badge because, if you were working on the track, you had access to the prices offered by the bookmakers’ representatives, clustered around the connections, … Read More »

The focus of the racing media’s attention over the weekend was, inevitably, the performance of Constitution Hill in the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton. Beforehand, I readily admit that I didn’t have great clarity of vision on the outcome. … Read More »

To be honest I thought it was a perfect day. Thirty years of sponsorship at Brighton came to an end with Dark Sun winning my Class 6 handicap and then, against all odds, we had a dead-heat in the following … Read More »

Life is never dull when you’ve got people like Emmet Mullins around. I say ‘like’, but I’m not actually sure there is anyone around who is quite like him. What makes him different is the unconventional way in which he … Read More »

There has been much to take out from the racing programme over the last few days. One surprising feature was the defeat of all bar one of Aidan O’Brien’s Group-race runners at York and Deauville. A week ago, who would … Read More »

I have visited this subject before, but once again I find myself asking who the backers are behind some of the market moves that we have witnessed these last few weeks. The most extreme example this weekend was the plunge … Read More »

In past years I have steered away from betting seriously on older horse maiden races from around July-time. This is based on my belief that if horses aged three or older are still maidens at that stage of their career … Read More »