Barney Curley is, in my view, by far and away the most intriguing man in racing. What is more, that has been the case for many years and certainly throughout my career. It is not widely known that Barney was … Read More »

Last week I said I would bring to mind a few cases of touches landed by low-profile trainers which, on initial impressions, defied all logical explanation. There are not many examples which fall into this category. More often than not … Read More »

It is generally assumed, especially among betting shop punters who are for the most part a cynical bunch, that if connections land a touch with a horse then there has, at some point, been some skulduggery along the way. This … Read More »

Last week I concluded that cheating, as interpreted within the rules of racing, probably did happen but on relatively few occasions. What does seem likely is that the temptation to cheat for somebody professionally involved with a horse is strong … Read More »

Back in the late 90s racehorse trainer Lynda Ramsden, her husband Jack and champion jockey Kieren Fallon won almost £200,000 from the Sporting Life in libel damages after the paper alleged that the three of them had ‘cheated’ the public … Read More »

We live in an age of conspiracy theories … did the men really land on the moon, or was it a studio set-up? – and racing has a fair share of them. John McCririck never fails to inform us, with … Read More »