I approach my 77th birthday not in trepidation but with much to ponder. I am greatly interested in quotes attributed to famous people. I don’t always agree with them, of course. Francois de La Rochefoucauld, whom I studied at school and … Read More »

On any ordinary afternoon Aidan O’Brien’s achievement in sending out the winners of six of the seven races at Leopardstown would have been the main headline of the day. But that spot came under pressure when news came through that … Read More »

There is so much media coverage of racing these days that it was refreshing to be reminded of the value of old-fashioned ‘inside’ information over this last week. Andrew Balding has always struck me as being a sound judge, and … Read More »

Having approached last weekend this time a week ago with no strong views about the Longchamp programme, exacerbated by the uncertainty over the state of the ground and the draw, I worked until the early hours on Friday and Saturday … Read More »

Hi there, With the passing of time I find myself looking back more and more to my earliest days on the racecourse and recalling, some with affection, the characters that used to be around. One who never missed a local … Read More »

Hi there, You have to keep an eye on everything at the moment, with Group-class two-year-olds making their debuts in midweek maidens, but last week my eyes were drawn to two horses in France. The first was Velikaya, who showed … Read More »

I’m not alone in having felt the last few days have passed through in a bit of a whirl. We had 31 thoroughbred races over the four days of Doncaster and then a clutch of Pattern races over the weekend … Read More »

The ‘number crunchers’ will have their say at some point, but without having access to all the figures my impression is that this year’s crop of middle-distance three-year-olds is distinctly ordinary. Dual-Derby winner Lambourn finished fifth of seven in the … Read More »

I’m not sure how much money it would have taken to move a horse’s odds from 16/1 the night before to a starting price of 11/8, especially at a late-August Sunday afternoon meeting at Brighton, but an otherwise low profile … Read More »

Anyways looking back I think about the mare before anything else. Don’t get me wrong. I think about the Grinder and his sumbitch missus and the Crawfords, especially Miss Jenny, as well. But the mare was something special. When a … Read More »

I can’t recall a major Flat meeting when as many of the competitive handicaps were won by horses at the head of the market as at York last week. The opening 20-runner sprint handicap on the first day was won … Read More »

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the potential benefits of finding what I referred to as a ‘golden thread’ of form. This was in relation to the 1m 1f novice stakes run at a Carlisle evening meeting at … Read More »