The 2016 Cheltenham Festival

ONE part of my day job is to write about racing. Well, it beats working… Sometimes I’m lucky enough to get to talk to leading figures in the sport of kings and while he might be in a different league financially to Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson, I was delighted to chat to Sandy Thomson, …[Read More]

Hennessy Gold Cup preview

JUST five may have turned up for the Betfair Chase last Saturday but the Hennessy Gold Cup promises to be something completely different. Seventeen go to post for the £200,000 contest, one of the oldest and greatest races of the season on Saturday. It is the major highlight of the three-day bet365 Festival at Newbury, …[Read More]

Balder Succes: a wonderful legacy

Picture: Michael Stevens THE sport lost one of its favourites yesterday. The gorgeous Balder Succes succumbed to a shoulder injury sustained in a fall in the Melling Chase at Aintree on Friday. He was a real favourite of this blog and was a horse who somehow captured the imagination of thousands of true racing fans. …[Read More]

Garde La Victoire to make winning return

A YEAR ago GARDE LA VICTOIRE made his hurdling debut at Aintree’s October meeting and kick-started an impressive campaign with an easy win over Regal Encore. On Saturday he returns to the scene of that success in the valuable opening handicap that kicks off Aintree’s two-day meeting. Philip Hobbs’ five year old goes well fresh …[Read More]

Kilgeel Hill one to note

TODAY’S Huntingdon card has been hit by the atrocious weather. About 35mm of rain fell overnight turning the ground soft and heavy in places. The star attraction, PRESENT VIEW, has been pulled out of the 2m 4f novices hurdle that was intended as his prep race for the Paddy Power Gold Cup. PRESENT VIEW did …[Read More]

Daily Punt: Piazon to go one better

BACK after a hiatus, which included a couple of fab days at Newmarket. The National Stud and National Horseracing Museum are must-visits if you haven’t done them already… On to today and there’s no doubt that PIAZON would have won on his seasonal reappearance at Nottingham if he had not fluffed his lines at the …[Read More]

Daily Punt: A load of Bull and Bush

THIS column has been performing wretchedly this week. In fact, since a  stupendous Saturday six days ago, we’ve failed abysmally to spot a winner. Pentiffic ran okay but was never allowed to get his own way at Ludlow yesterday. No excuses. So the law of averages suggest a winner could be nigh. Today’s cursed subject …[Read More]

Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy

VALDEZ has always been a real favourite of mine. Maybe it’s his big white blaze or the way he tries to pull Choc Thornton’s arms out, but since he won his two bumpers as a very young horse he has captured my imagination and promised to be very, very good. As a novice hurdler last …[Read More]

Cheltenham Festival: D-day for Alan King

I’M a huge fan of the Alan King yard. I’ve followed his fortunes closely this season, when a golden autumn quickly changed into a grey, grim winter of discontent. The yard sensibly shut up shop in January to contain and eradicate a bug that affected most of the Barbury Castle inmates. Happily, the tide is …[Read More]

Two Rockers has world at his feet

POSSIBLY the best race ever to take place at Haydock Park graces the northern racing circuit on Saturday. The Betfair Chase has been dealt with elsewhere on this site. But there is a great supporting card and the £50,000 Betfair Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle over 3m is traditionally a competitive race. It sees the seasonal …[Read More]