Win QIPCO Champions Day tickets… and more prizes

IT is the richest day of the year in British racing and the occasion when the eyes of the world focus on Ascot racecourse. Now YOU can win a pair of tickets to QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot on October 17. HolidayCheck.com is running a great competition to win the fabulous prize on its website. …[Read More]

Five to follow at Glorious Goodwood

GLORIOUS Goodwood is looming like a shimmering shaft of light. Course officials may not have Frankel to boost numbers this year but they are still confident that more than 100,000 people will visit during the wonderful five days of top-class racing. Here are a few Glorious Goodwood tips to hopefully make it a Glorious betting …[Read More]

Glorious Goodwood infographic

GLORIOUS Goodwood? What comes to mind? Well, there’s Mark Johnston, who tends to reign supreme. There’s Vacarme, Sir Henry Cecil’s brilliant two year old who was disqualified in 1984 after Lester Piggott’s daring lunge for the smallest gap you’ll ever see, prompting owner Daniel Wildenstein to throw his dummy out of the pram. And there’s …[Read More]

Royal Ascot Ante-Post Focus: The Queen Anne Stakes

THE sun is shining and Royal Ascot is looming large. Last year Frankel scared away the opposition in the opening race of the meeting, the Queen Anne Stakes. But this year’s renewal looks much more of a betting proposition. Finding the winner of the Queen Anne can set Royal Ascot punters up for the week; …[Read More]

Dark Horses: Will Jammy Guest get lucky?

THE gallops grapevine is buzzing today. Newmarket’s Craven meeting kicks off with a couple of fascinating 3yo races. But I don’t mean the Nell Gwyn or the Free Handicap, which are both traditional classic trials. The two maidens could turn out to be more informative in the long run. They are both awash with unraced …[Read More]

Frankel: All his races on video

Sometimes words are not enough. They certainly don’t do justice to the equine phenomenon that is Frankel. This Saturday he runs in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot and it is 99.9% certain to be his 14th and final race. Below is footage of all 13 of his races, from his narrow Newmarket maiden victory …[Read More]

Famous horses: Classic Dewhurst footage

Trainers dream of winning the Dewhurst. Why? It means they probably have the best two-year-old in the land ensconced in their yard and a wonderful chance of classic glory the following year. The Group One race over seven furlongs of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile has traditionally been the unofficial blue riband of the juvenile season and …[Read More]

A chat with… Willie Ryan

WILLIE RYAN is a UK horse racing legend in my eyes. Why? Well, he produced probably THE best Derby ride in history on Benny The Dip in 1997. And then there was his unstinting loyalty to Sir Henry Cecil during a 20-year association. Willie retired from the saddle in 2004 and I made it my …[Read More]

Just So Wild About Coco

HOW do you follow Frankel? Inevitably, there will be a sense of anti-climax at York today after the tumultuous events of yesterday. It was probably the best performance I’ve ever seen by any horse and the spine-tingling reception afforded to the beast, Tom Queally and Sir Henry Cecil will live long in the memory. I …[Read More]

Sir Henry Cecil – an (unlikely) working class hero

I HAVE always had a strange obsession with Sir Henry Cecil. When I was about seven or eight I started to follow his horses. I made lists of his two-year-olds and three-year-olds. Wollow and Kris were among the early favourites. A bit like a child deciding to support a football team just because they were …[Read More]