The turf
When nice guys come first
With shorter days and leaves falling, I begin to itch for the more sporting, less obviously commercial world of jump…
Excessive gambling is dangerous – a flutter on the horses is not
Sorry is allegedly the hardest word to say — so Carolyn Harris, chair of the all-party parliamentary group studying gambling-related…
All is not well in the murky world of bloodstock sales
Carried away on a day at the races a successful businessman bid for and bought a horse from a seller.…
Why do race-goers have to subsidise the post-sport entertainment?
Before this year’s Shergar Cup meeting all I had seen of Australian flat jockey Mark Zahra was a memorably painful…
Saturday’s King George was the finest contest I have ever seen on a racecourse
It is stupid to become attached to inanimate objects but when modern technology finally forced me to ditch the Olivetti…
One to watch: the 5lb claimer Theodore Ladd
Newmarket’s wisest trainer, Sir Mark Prescott, once noted: ‘The greyhound is propelled through the pain barrier by its desire to…
Why female jockeys are a better bet
When Hayley Turner was made, she wasn’t just given a competitive spirit, a sensitive pair of hands and excellent balance.…
In praise of geldings
Boris Johnson, Remainers might like to be reminded, does sometimes change his mind under pressure. Some years ago, as editor…
Why the Derby is the ultimate test
There is a danger that memories of the 2019 Epsom Derby will be swamped by statistics. By training his seventh…
In praise of older horses – and their trainers
Newbury is as fair a test for a racehorse as you can get with its galloping track and a wide-open…
Farewell to the greatest jump jockey of all time
So the Silver Fox has called it a day. We will never see Ruby Walsh, the man whom even Sir…
The genius of Henry Cecil
There are people I know who regard racing as a cold-hearted business that exploits animals and achieves little besides putting…
The Grand National is one of the great days out
If you’ve never been to a Grand National and are approaching an age when it is appropriate to list ten…
Will horse welfare become racing’s Brexit?
As jockeys, trainers, punters and media folk gathered at Newbury on Saturday to say farewell to Noel Fehily, the ultimate…
While some bookies behave admirably, the BetBright debacle is a disgrace
Encountering a generous-hearted bookmaker is normally as rare an occurrence as finding a picture of the Duchess of Sussex without…
Why we need to support middle-ranking trainers
Owner Phil Simmonds from Rochdale was 17 when he first went racing, joining a friend’s stag party at Haydock Park.…
Did the BHA call it right on equine flu?
The pre-war Fabians Sidney and Beatrice Webb apparently had a pre-marriage agreement. It wasn’t like today’s Hollywood prenups, designed to…
My miraculous winning streak
Last Saturday morning, Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google, was on the radio explaining his algorithm for happiness,…
In defence of the Cheltenham Festival
‘Deer-stalking would be a very fine sport,’ W.S. Gilbert once observed, ‘if the deer had guns too.’ We who love…
Racing in 2018 gave us plenty to celebrate
I don’t know who coined the old racing saying ‘The only person who remembers who came second is the guy…
‘Concussion doesn’t count’: memories of a racing dynasty
The Scudamores are one of the bedrock families of jump racing. After being shot down and spending two years as…
How 250 cows may have changed the course of racing
It may yet turn out that the most significant development in racing this year was the sale of some 250…
My hot tips for the coming season
Trainer Dan Skelton and his jockey brother Harry have 100 winners on the board already but for most of us…
Why racing will miss Luca Cumani
Fairy tales can happen. On Sunday the filly God Given won Italy’s only Group One race of the season, the…
The dirtiest racehorse names
Watching whip-thin jockey George Baker, just short of six feet, greeting his mounts used to make me think of the…
