So important in all walks of life. So important for those who ply our trade amidst the churning maelstrom of sporting emotion. Supreme highs mixed with gut wrenching lows…

Sometimes, when the Sporting Gods are hiding their favours, it can be very tough…

Sometimes, when those same Gods allow a little rope and leeway, it can be utterly brilliant…

But whichever way the celestial whims drop, perspective remains so important…

Because sport is sport. It is a fabulous release for many and a business for others. But at the end of every match or game or tournament, it is just sport. Scorebooks and history books filled with great tales – but just sport…

Perspective is polarised by the gnawing misfortune of others…

Yesterday’s news that that fine Rugby International Lewis Moody has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease is heartbreaking. A wonderfully talented sportsman. A talismanic flanker and a respected leader of men. A good man. And now having to cope with the dread brutality of tragic diagnosis…

Perspective. I wake up in the middle of the night and sometimes struggle to sleep again as the mind whirs and the conflicted thoughts tumble about in a muddled mess. Get over yourself GB….!!

How lucky am I that my petty worries, that seem so polarised in the dark depths, are precisely that – petty. Certainly in the bigger scheme. Important to us and our business and our aspirations and ambitions of course – but I’m not dragged through the dog hours by the mental trauma of desperate news…

The really bad and sad news will be around the corner for some for sure. So we had better get on and enjoy ourselves, and keep bloody kicking, and live the privilege of every day…

Perspective….!!!

Head to head through the final Longchamp furlong. Coolmore and the Aga Khan…

Two dynasties. When two tribes go to war…

Dynasties are built through generations. But when mantles are passed, ongoing success defines the commitment of those left to preside…

The Aga Khan was an iconic racing figurehead across several decades. His daughter is now in charge of the Stud and the famous family bloodlines. Days like yesterday cementing that dynasty..

A cool race on “tres souple” ground. Fast ground Arcs as common as Blue Moons. DARYZ and MINNIE HAUK pulled well clear of the toiling peloton. Two superstars. Exciting if they are back in the starting stalls a year from now…

The hard luck stories were few and far between and the cream on top at the winning line…

And what a season the Aussie mare ASFOORA has had. Huge credit to her Trainer Henry Dwyer for sending her this way when the prize money “Down Under” is of a different league. A Nunthorpe and now an Abbaye…

A minute and a half away from being withdrawn as her passport was not on the lorry across Paris with her. Thankfully, an Uber driver grasped the importance of his journey and channelled his inner Max Verstappen. Fine margins. Sport, Bloody Hell…

With the Arc in another history book, we really are into the season’s dying embers…

Paddocks here at Epsom and on the farm in Sussex filled with those on a break. A dry and sunny week ahead which will do wonders for bodies and minds. Reset and reboot…

Storm Amy was pretty dramatic. How many more this winter ? Will we get to Zacchary ? Or mid division with Maureen or Norma….??

Arsenal top of the league. Barney and Tallulah delighted…

QPR in the Championship Play-Off placings. A very long shot that they stay there, and a very long way to go….

With us….

The first named Storm of the year making her presence felt. Rain lashing against the windows here in Sussex…

Headed to Kempton to gallop a few. No harm at all in giving some an “away day….”

Must dash up that A3…

So just time for the greatest Arc of my lifetime. I have posted this one before but repetition does not dull the brilliance. Pat Eddery taking a pull at the top of the straight….?

Heavy silence that comes with thick fog….

Fog that is unlikely to hang around for long. Storm Amy is incoming tomorrow and over the weekend. But polarised to the north. Tallulah in Edinburgh will get more of the brunt of it than those of us on the Southern Riviera….

Tallulah riding out with Nick Alexander at Kinneston. Hang on tight darling…

The Flat season’s “last hurrahs”. Arc Weekend. And then that is pretty much that save for Champions Day at Ascot when the Weather Gods need to play ball…

25 Goodwood Members with us yesterday. Excellent cakes and sausage rolls. Happy dogs…

The Arc field taking shape. MINNIE HAUK supplemented for what it would cost to buy an easy moving filly at Tattersalls Book 1. But I guess that sort of money to this team in the bigger scheme. “The Lads” have deeper pockets than most…

Rain in Paris over the weekend. Soft ground expected. When we had those few days of late summer drought and there was talk of a fast ground Arc, I began to regret my decision to take Get It out of The Abbaye. Fast ground and a draw against the rail could have been a lot of fun…

But in company with many, he’s on a break. And spending his days in grassy paddocks. Reboot. Reset. Time to get over what he did twice at Ascot earlier in the year. Races that in hindsight most likely knocked the edge off him as they were Herculean in the extreme…

Holiday time for plenty. Time for a new life for several as well. Those that have come to the end of their racing roads head off to pastures new. It happens to many every year – and we always find fabulous ongoing homes for our departing friends….

Empty stables to be filled. Sales catalogues thumping onto my desk. Reset and reboot. Juggle the team sheet. Make a few new signings. Search for that strength in depth that means that we will be able to compete…

Nottingham (Clipper – Charlie Bishop) and Chelmsford (Massimo Blue – Pat C) today…

Work and progress apply to both…

1999 Arc. Day one of married life. Mick Kinane helping the honeymoon fund. Just…

Far away in the East. Nervous Shepherds I guess….

Frost. Not a bleak midwinter frost but a definite chill in the dawn air. Early riders dotted across the Downs. Riders of the dawn silhouetted against pastel sky…

Epsom’s limited fixture list done and dusted for the year. And so the chance to gallop a few on the racecourse yesterday morning. No harm in getting the feel of grass beneath young hooves before winter breaks…

Paris. Autumn leaves in the Bois de Boulogne. Rain expected on Saturday and Sunday. Get It and Desert Cop with Prix de L’Abbaye entries – but they will not be headed over the Channel this time. Both their trodden roads now firmly tracked towards the Kingdom of Bahrain in December…

The Bahrain Team taking shape. And to be bolstered, freshened and strengthened in the weeks ahead. With the Middle Eastern “swing” of Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain becoming more alluring year by year, the right horses are harder to come by. More and more folk are chasing the same type. We will have to be canny, and most likely a little “off piste” and “left field…”

The fact that the Bahrain Turf Club (BTC) transport our horses to the Kingdom at their cost is a massive positive for our owners. Add in a $10,000 payment to be spent during the duration of the Turf Series and you do not need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out why so many of our friends have inked Bahrain into their winter calendars…..

Prize money is increased again for this season’s Turf Series – as no brainers go for racehorse owners, this is right up there. Still plenty of time to get involved and join in the Winter fun…

January and February, racing around for chocolate cake and rosettes at Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Chelmsford, Lingfield and Kempton ?? Or Bahrain in $100,000 races….??

A tough call….??!!

DANGER ALERT’s race at Bath not panning out as we hoped and planned. A wide draw there is always tricky and those on the inside forced our boy wider and wider and the right gaps never came. He will have his days….

Aldershot 1 – Braintree United 1….

A “massive” crowd of around 1500 – “including 69 from Braintree…..”

Sport, the great release. Although I’m not sure last night’s “release” will live very long in my memory…

Sunday’s Racing Post. A fascinating piece by David Jennings on the Master of Ballydoyle….

Riches beyond compare in terms of firepower. What a joy it must be to see so many regally bred heads looking over stable doors at every turn. Pressure too. Sport is defined by winners…

At the end of the season, nobody follows up the question about how many winners you have trained with, “oh, and how many seconds and thirds….??”

“Second is effing nowhere” as the late great Mick O’Toole told me at the bar one afternoon at Ascot….

Winning defines. So does losing…

Our year pretty much defined by a Royal Ascot head. Our Olympics. Our Gold Medal. The difference between Gold and Silver is a massive yawning void…

Aidan – “It’s not five or six days a week, it’s seven. And it’s not 22 or 23 hours a day, it’s 24…”

Yup, good point. If somebody could invent a switch that numbs the brain at silly o’clock in the morning when the doubts and worries cascade into the darkness, they would be a billionaire. But “switching off” is hard in so many walks of life – and busy is good blah blah blah…

An exciting time of year. Actually, and luckily, in this game there is no time of year that is not exciting. New Yearlings bring new life and hope to the place. New dreams. Plenty of Sales to go before the Turkey is carved. A Bahrain team that needs bolstering. We are akin to a Football Manager piecing together a squad for foreign forays….

Marsh Benham a non runner yesterday as Brighton’s ground turned proper fast…

Bath today. DANGER ALERT (Jason Watson). A tough draw and a 16 runner field. Roll those dice with a horse in good form…

Rachel at The Labour Conference. Waters seemingly muddier than before she took to the stage…

Ben Keith of Star Sports – “Everything we have built and our entire industry and sport’s future is depending on the decision of someone who has never betted in their life…..”

November 26th. Etched in diaries in thick ink. Pivotal….

But no point ending with Rachel doom and gloom – so here’s a throwback to a cool evening in Istanbul. Tallulah picking up the trophy. These are the days. This is why we do it…

That Fairytale in New York…

“In the drunk tank….”

Scenes. The saunter to decisive victory turned to trudge through cloying treacle. A fantastic US fightback amidst sporting pandemonium…

The crowds have received plenty of comments – and, for sure, some have overstepped the mark. But a small percentage of the whole. This is a “one off” occasion when golfing etiquette, both inside and outside of the ropes, becomes frayed and blurred. Traditional values and ethos torn to pieces amidst the heated maelstrom of high intensity competition…

There has been plenty of tutting and rolling of the eyes – but this is a unique event. And to my mind, the raucous nature of the spectators adds to rather than diminishes from the spectacle….

Rory. Rising to the bait – but more than rising to the occasion…

The cakewalk turned to muddled slog meaning that the planned Sunday early night went awry…

But Hey Ho. Sport, Bloody Hell. Ireland in two years time. That will be fun…

Next sporting stop is “Down Under”. The Ashes looming. England’s battalion of fast bowlers collectively wrapped in cotton wool for a few short weeks longer. Stay safe boys…

No runners for us over the weekend. And so I took in an FA Cup qualifying round on Saturday. A glamour tie in front of 700 odd spectators. Farnham Town 3 – Dorchester United 0. Sport, Bloody Hell…

The seaside today. Brighton. The mercurial Marsh Benham. Beaten a neck there a fortnight ago…

Of New York….

“It was Christmas Eve babe, In the drunk tank…..”

Not quite a fairytale. Yet. But a superb start from Team Europe on day one of The Ryder Cup…

That Bethpage crowd…..??!!

Good fun – and one senses that the European boys are neither intimidated or fazed by the “subtle” barracking from the NYC hordes. And plenty of away supporters shouting their partisan support…

Day One done and dusted. What will Day Two bring….??

Back here, Cambridgeshire day at Newmarket….

We have had several runners in this iconic handicap down the years but never troubled the judge. In 2013, both BELGIAN BILL and JACK’S REVENGE headed down the Rowley Mile to the start. Pat C up on Bill, a young Kid claiming 5 aboard Jack….

Pat C knew Bill as well as anybody and so no instructions needed there…

But Jack was beyond mercurial, needed holding up to the bitter end and delivered literally on the winning line. I vividly recall a masterclass from Richard Hughes one evening at Windsor. I asked him to “dink” Jack’s head in front on the line, and that is precisely what he did. Winning by a head. Hughesie when unsaddling – “that was a pretty good dink…..”

Back to the Kid and that 2013 Cambridgeshire…

Instructions issued. “Hold onto him for as long as possible……”

Somewhat surprising, therefore, when Jack and the Kid took up the running three from home. Racing Post comment – “Led group and pressing overall leader 3 out….”

Hmmmmm…..

Jack had plenty of very cool days – but that day was a complete waste of time. Kids eh…..??!!

He learnt though. And his riding career has gone pretty well since that day. And he has paid us back for that Cambridgeshire ride on many occasions. He can ride a bit, that Oisin Murphy….

The greatest release….

The psychology of red hot competition. Frayed nerves. Pressure…

The Ryder Cup. A vociferous and partisan crowd. The fine margins. The ball that skips through the bunker to fairway safety. The putt that horseshoes around the hole and lips out….

Three days. Too close to call by Sunday afternoon ?? Or one side gone beyond recall ?? Let The Games Commence….

The Miracle of Medinah defined sporting drama. What will unfold at The Battle of Bethpage…??

A couple of late nights ahead I suspect. Which don’t always go superbly well with early starts…

Racing Post – “Labour MP’s call for hike in Betting Tax……”

Poorly considered and irrational – with nil understanding, it would appear, of the domino effect across several industries. Driven, I sense, by the opinion that all gambling is wrong and should be discouraged at all levels. The Fun Police…

No runners for us today. Or for a day or three…

Paddocks filling with those headed off on their holidays and winter breaks….

On the life changing Cheltenham Festival Accumulator that is financed by Guinness savings…

Better to wait for “Non Runner No Bet” or launch in now at crazy odds….??

We sit on the cusp of the first flurry of antepost quotes as impressive flying machines are launched across the lands – and primarily out of a stable in Closutton…

Willie’s dominance is unparalleled and he added a Listowel National (quite early in the season for a National…??) to the growing trophy cabinet. Actually, thinking about it, how many trophy cabinets must there be in Closutton….??

Have I mentioned that we have The Stewards Cup and The Wokingham sitting on our dining table? Probably not. Willie must have a lot of cabinets or a lot of dining tables…

Willie mentioning the prohibitive cost of accommodation at Festival time as a key factor in reduced Irish crowd attendance. Tough one. Hard for the racecourse to do anything other than lobby the hotels and pubs to be realistic and fair – but “realistic and fair” can become a little blurred when the rooms are filled with those who can pay the premium prices year on year…

There was that hilarious experiment of bringing empty containers into a muddy field and charging people a “reasonable” price to stay in them. I think 3 people turned up….

Anyway, plenty of Cheltenham talk already. Only 6 months to go….

Ryder Cup upon us. All kicking off tomorrow. Love it…