I watched a race on television the other day, partly because I rather fell for the name Pourquoi Pas Papa who is, as you probably know, a French-bred four-year-old trained by Paul Nicholls. He arrived from D Cottin’s stable in … Read More »

Jacquard, Dieu Soleil, Broadway Melody. Tishan out of trap 6. Faraway places with strange-sounding names. Sterrebeeke? Work on Monmore Green first, it’s probably closer. Charles Malizia and Arno Rudolf. 1 and 3 in the last at Hackney Wick, gone to … Read More »

Enough is enough. Frankly, that phrase is rather too direct and often used by someone worn down by something. Which I’m not, although if I say I’ve been looking at the runners and riders just about every day since Halloween … Read More »

‘They are not long, the days of wine and roses.’ No indeed and we all know what the English poet Ernest Dowson meant when he wrote his poem well over a hundred years ago. Sadly, the line lived on many … Read More »

Ask me about Christmas and I come up with three or four vivid memories  –  not bad when you consider Halloween’s second triumph in the King George VI Chase came 71 years ago. My Aunt Em ferried the bets to … Read More »

November has always been my favourite month. Right from the day Gaykart just outpointed Pretty Puffin, with Eric Eldin getting the better of Lester Piggott on a bitterly cold Newmarket afternoon and urchins were begging ‘A penny for the Guy, … Read More »

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 »

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 tip Jimmy Deans a filly I like at Deauville, knowing full well that an appreciation of Un Homme et une Femme will follow; let’s just say he knows his films and leave it at that. It’s good to see … Read More »

A recent race at Newmarket was sponsored by the brewers Adnams, the full title being Adnams Pink Gin Gallop Handicap. I’ve kept up with the wine and spirits trade after spending several years in the industry but I hadn’t noticed … Read More »

Ian Carnaby