I LOVE autumn. Change is in the air. From green to brown, from sun to rain and from flat to jumps. October is the month where dreams begin to form for starry-eyed National Hunt owners, trainers and jockeys. Chepstow’s two-day meeting kick-started the jumps season last weekend with potential stars Ballyoptic, Rock The Kasbah and …[Read More]
THE dreams start now. The crisp autumnal mornings give birth to the hopes of hundreds of owners, trainers and jockeys. Jump racing is back in earnest this month and with it the glorious visions of Cleeve Hill in March and Aintree in April. But there’s no need to remind Richard Johnson. He has already amassed …[Read More]
THE lady, bedecked in tweed, would not shut up. The horses were walking in for the RSA Chase and Mrs Tweed was rattling on regardless: “What’s happening now? How many times do they run round? Do they jump the fences? Have they started yet?” Some folk were chuckling. Others were quietly seething. As the race …[Read More]
IF last weekend’s three-day Open Meeting failed to whet your appetite for the Cheltenham Festival in March, then nothing will. My advice is: if you haven’t booked for the Festival then book NOW. There really is no better week’s racing in the world…. So what did we learn from the Open Meeting? On the racecourse …[Read More]
NOT many were leaving Cheltenham. The last race of a pulsating opening day at the 2014 Festival had just finished. Present View had passed the post half a length ahead of Attaglance but the stewards were deliberating whether the interference suffered by the runner-up at the hands of the errant winner was enough to warrant …[Read More]
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]
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