The Herring Queen Final being a novices handicap for mares, the weight allocated to all runners will be key to their chances – we can’t wait to see if there are any jokers in the pack when entries are published on 1st April…
Continue readingEconomically Active
One of the big questions that has arisen since the pandemic is: Where did all the workers go?
Having taken a few days off this week, I’m happy to report that I’ve found them…
Continue reading →Small Tracks, Big Personalities
One of the greatest strengths of horseracing in Britain is the diversity of the racecourses. There are left-handed ones and right-handed ones, flat ones and hilly ones; they can be urban or countryfied, grand, scruffy, modern, ancient, huge, small, spacious, fun, intimate, awe inspiring or combinations of all the above…
Continue reading →A Gleaming Elixir
bet365 Morebattle Hurdle Day: a gleaming elixir of undiluted horseracing tonic for the soul.
Continue reading →The Value of Dreams
I gave my friend an elephant for her room. She said thanks, but I said, “Don’t mention it.”
I keep reading that prize money is the most important thing, and that there isn’t enough of it, but that’s not the whole story…
Continue reading →Who Do You Think I Am?
Several young racegoers left the races today with a great collection of autographs. It’s not the first time that I’ve been asked to sign a racecard – but it is the first time that I’ve actually signed my own name…
Continue reading →Lies, Damn Lies, and Racing Statistics
To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, there are lies, damn lies, and horseracing statistics. That’s what makes the sport so much fun to debate in pubs, betting shops, and the back of the bus on the way back from Leopardstown.
Guess, for example, which trainer saddled the most losers over the course of the two-day Dublin Racing Festival…
Continue reading →A Sterling Idea
Lossiemouth put up a sterling performance to win the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend. In fact, to be precise, it was a 71,187 Pounds Sterling performance – or a 83,289 Euro performance, depending on which side of the Irish sea you’re standing…
Continue reading →Weights & Measures
There is a saying in racing that “weight stops trains”, which probably used to be the case – although recent experience suggests that nowadays the cause is more likely to be industrial action or high winds…
Continue reading →A Tall Story
Finally, this week, the answer to a question that I’m sure has been on your mind for ages: why is that there aren’t any famous Bulgarian jockeys?
Continue reading →