This is one of those weekends when things have not worked out in that three of the four horses I was looking at will not be in action. Briefly, impressive Cheltenham winner Call To Order misses the Pertemps Qualifier at … Read More »

Houblon Des Obeaux, Ian Carnaby, Jumps 2016/17, Kingsley Klarion

It’s a shorter blog this week with the racing fairly ordinary apart from two or three contests at Sandown. I shall be accused of bias where SAINT ARE is concerned but he did us a good turn when second in … Read More »

Briery Queen, Ian Carnaby, Jumps 2016/17, Saint Are

I’ve thought for a while that there might be a tiny race in Annabel Murphy’s Rigolleto, who contests a weak-looking Class 6 sprint handicap at Lingfield on Saturday. He seems to handle this surface better than Kempton and finished a … Read More »

Ian Carnaby, Jumps 2016/17, Lil Rockerfeller, Tenor Nivernais

I could not be all that confident about Tenor Nivernais last week because he was stepping up to three miles and I’d been waiting for him in a top handicap chase over two and a half plus, as you know. … Read More »

Glaring, Ian Carnaby, Jumps 2016/17, Tenor Nivernais, Unowhatimeanharry

Things worked out well enough last week with Aso showing a small profit for his each-way second, though I think it would have been very close with better jumps at two of the last three. He is capable of winning … Read More »

The telephone line picked up with the easy success of Briery Belle at Warwick on Thursday and the Weekend Card included a strong recommendation for Call To Order in the three-mile handicap hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday. Both were needed … Read More »

As things turned out there was no need to cover Vicente in the Hennessy Gold Cup last week and it was a case of first thoughts turning up trumps because Native River was a game winner. Between the last two … Read More »

I was pleased and relieved when Venetia Williams took Tenor Nivernais out of a valuable handicap chase at Newbury on Friday. It was a cold, dry day in the south and the ground would have been nowhere near as soft … Read More »

I hardly ever take all that much notice of tips from owners and trainers for the simple reason that they’re likely to be biased; in addition, they often don’t know much about the opposition, which is a crucial factor. I … Read More »

The only source of profit last Saturday was Growl’s last-gasp victory in the Wentworth Stakes at Doncaster. He has been on the go for a long time and is a credit to Richard Fahey but I think he will be … Read More »

I have never been particularly enthusiastic about the Breeders’ Cup, partly because of the drugs employed across the water but also because I think it’s virtually impossible to predict which horses trained in Europe will still be capable of producing … Read More »

I have to admit I was disappointed with Right Touch last week. Although he seemed to be flying quite high in the conditions race which rounded off the Doncaster card, he had been lightly raced by Richard Fahey, was racing … Read More »