“The rest nowhere…..”

Born in 1764. Stabled for part of his life not more than 50 yards from where I’m sitting right now. Winner of all of his 18 starts. A legend of the turf…

Just checked “name availability” on the BHA website. “The name ECLIPSE is unfortunately unavailable.” Thankfully and obviously. Heritage names that can never be used again…

Foaled during a solar eclipse on April 1st 1764…

A solar eclipse later today. Which we will “witness” from the glamour venue that is Kempton Park. Where were you for the famous Eclipse of 2026…??

Four runners at the “glamour” venue later. LONGLAI (Benoit), KITARO KICH (Neil Callan), CUMULONIMBUS (Neil) and MUST BELIEVE (Benoit)…

Temperatures soaring. Again. Amber weather warnings. Racecourses providing buckets and buckets and more buckets of water. Thankfully…

Bow Echo retired. A short lived comet that blazed across racing’s universe. Imperious in The Guineas, getting the job done despite the “tactics” of others at both Ascot and then Goodwood. A career ending setback, and so off to Stud with a chapter or three untold…

Cool horse. Pivotal for Billy Loughnane, and further testament to the training skills of “GB Junior”, George Boughey…

New Team Member. RICHIE’S ROCKET wandering onto the yard yesterday. A 3-yr-old son of New Bay, he has performed to a decent level and has an official mark of 88. A cool horse to go to war with both here and across the seas in Bahrain this winter…

With the major Horses-In-Training Sales in the autumn becoming more and more competitive, and the “obvious” ones being sought out by the “obvious” buyers, we have to drift a little off piste to build our team. Richie’s Rocket in a Tattersalls online sale yesterday, and Tallulah and I managing to press the right buttons despite flaky signal and internet connections…

An exciting Winter team beginning to take shape. A few more pieces needed to complete that particular jigsaw…

#HaveHorseWillTravel

Before we see meaningful rain. According to a clever man on the radio. How on earth can he possibly be doing anything other than guessing…?!

1976. Memories of long days chasing other people’s cover drives and flicks to long leg. Never out of shorts. Baked brown lawns and cricket outfields…

The fabulous West Indian cricketers touring our parched land..

Fifty years on. Words that would have seemed a million years away – half a century ago..

Greenidge, Haynes, Holder and Holding. Joel Garner. Andy Roberts. The languid panther in the covers that was the skipper Clive Lloyd. Sir Vivian. Roy Fredericks…

Tony Greig. Alan Knott. “Deadly” Derek Underwood. Dennis Amiss. Keith Fletcher. Derek Randall…

And many more…

Gilded names from that golden summer of bronze brown turf…

In less edifying news, a fly has just landed in my tea…

This broiling heat creates a new dynamic on the all weather surfaces. Kempton riding deep and cloying and very very taxing. SHADOWMERE hated every stride of it yesterday and looked after himself. Who can blame him ? Line through that one…

With these surfaces feeling the strain of rising temperatures, options become even more limited for horses that like a bit of juice beneath their hooves. As ever, foreign Programme Books strewn across the office desks, and Deauville and the French provinces firmly on the late summer radar. Some Hungarian entries thrown into the mix. #havehorsewilltravel

Over at a packed Windsor, DESERT COP was beaten just over 5 lengths in the Fitzdares Sprint Final. Sprinters take it in turns. Hopefully, we can find another “turn” for our boy before thoughts turn to the Middle East…

FIZZY BEAR putting in an encouraging effort to finish 4th in the last. Still the gawky teenager and a bit of a goon to saddle, but he’s improving and will have his days for sure…

Nothing today. No heat laden journeys on steaming motorways…

Brian Close. Beyond brave. Mikey Holding a good mate – but thankful that I never saw him at pace 20 odd yards away…

AFC Totton one….

A home defeat to kickstart Farnham’s first season in the National League South. With promotion has come improvements – the muddy patch behind the stand is now concreted over. There is a Club Shop selling Home and Away kits. There are a couple of new stands. Including the Sir Alan Jones Stand…

I had better find out who Alan is…??

A towering centre forward knighted for services to goalscoring ? A local businessman who likes the idea of a Stand being named after him ? The Head Groundsman for 50 years….?

Tallulah and I watched the action from several viewpoints. Pints in hand. Not an option if Farnham go up into the National League. A big “if” judged by Saturday. I think our pints are safe for a while…

The sporting lull continues. The calm before the Premiership storm…

QPR taking Millwall to a penalty shoot out in the first round of the EFL Cup. And comically seeing their four penalties saved….?!

Aldershot provided the beacon of hope with a one goal victory away at Barrow…

Sport, Bloody Hell….!!

Back on Planet Racing, The Shergar Cup looked good fun. Ryan smiled. Big crowd. Turnstiles clicking in the sunshine…

Strange to read pieces by some in the media. Knocking the event. Not for everybody and most likely not the purists – but of no harm in the bigger scheme, and those with shots to fire too often opt for the “cheap” variety. Easy to knock holes in the team concept when associated with our sport, but if the day engages new folk to racing, let it be…

Double header for us today…

SHADOWMERE (Neil Callan) to Kempton. A stunning son of Sea The Moon, he is one of the plenty who would prefer ground on the easy side on turf. But no sign of that ?! “No appreciable rain for two months” – the man on the radio just now. And so to the All Weather we head…

In the forecast…

If you live in the rainforests of South America. Nothing of any moment in any forecasts for these parts. In fact, entirely the opposite – another of those lovely heatwavey thingies on the way…

A few fresher mornings have been welcome on the gallops, and a chill in the air as I write. But sun is creeping higher and workers to work before mercury soars…

As I have said previously, most racecourses have done superb jobs to produce fair ground in extremely taxing circumstances. I can count on less than the fingers of one hand the courses that have walked with “jar” in the ground or jockeys have reported lightning fast conditions….

Which is a relief as we have been able to run horses that would not normally be considered fast ground beasts…

No runners over the weekend. A few balloted out of the 10 runner Shergar Cup contests. Not our money to dish out – but support from several for the idea of spreading the £25,000 top stable prize across all races…

Ryan Moore turning up at Ascot adding extra lustre to the day..

With no runners yesterday, to Warnford to watch some cricket and for a fun lunch. Presidents Day for The Hampshire Hogs. Runs aplenty racing across baked concrete outfield. Dr Sarah Fane OBE interviewed after lunch about her remarkable work across cricket’s outposts and Afghanistan in particular. Emotive, enlightening, inspiring…

The great game a force for good in so many ways across physical and political boundaries..

With no runners today, Farnham Town might be a port of call. The football season is back. Farnham a league higher, now in the National League South. Home to AFC Totton this afternoon – glamour fixture…..!!

QPR in League Cup action. A Club that has hardly been manically active in the transfer market this summer. I fear that another long winter of mid table mediocrity awaits…

Sun rising. Stable doors clanking. Stirrups clinking. “Riders up !!”. Workers to work…

Ebor meeting upcoming. A decent horse from a few years ago…

“And Frankel just missed half a beat….”

Jeez, was it really 14 years ago…??

That time in midsummer when so many major events have been and gone. And live sport is harder to find after a deluge of high profile contests thrown on top of each other…

Wimbledon, The Open, Test Matches, a football World Cup etc etc…

And then not much for a week or three apart from a silly cricket tournament called The Hundred..

A bit of a “lull” in the racing world as well. Between Festivals…

The Shergar Cup tomorrow. Innovative and fun and funny. A great opportunity for some global jockey superstars to showcase their talents. A well attended day filled with “once a year” racegoers. Let’s persuade them that “once a year” ain’t enough…

The luck of the draw as to who ends up on your horse, and there will be trainers busily googling replays from far flung outposts…

The issue with “far flung” can sometimes be the disparity in rules across jurisdictions, especially when it comes to use of the whip. I know that my namesake George Baker is very involved in ensuring that all who are riding are fully briefed, but “fully briefed” can fly out of the mind in the heat of Ascot battle…

It is entirely up to Ascot how they spend their money. But at Sandown last night in conversation with a couple of well respected trainers (2 out of 3 is not bad…), the chat turned to the £25,000 on offer to the leading Shergar Cup stable. To be shared, I assume, amongst stable staff…

Pretty obvious where this pot will head – and certainly not to a smaller yard…

How about having a draw before every race instead ? £2000 random draw to be won by the lucky stable lad or lass whose name comes out of the hat for each race ? Or simply allocate to the “Best Turned Out” winner. Spread the largesse ?

As I say, entirely up to Ascot how they spend their money – but that £25,000 is destined to be won by one from a pretty small pool…

“Passing through”…

Sad to hear of the death of Glen Hansard…

Passing through. Is what we are all doing. So better get on and make the most of it…

No regrets….

Roll with the punches. Weave and bob. Duck and dive. Keep bloody kicking…

Highs and lows. Fine margins. By the barest of margins…

“Fly like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee…”

Days get turned over and upside down by dull news, or when the luck does not fall your way. Other days are brilliant and fabulous and fun and funny – and could be lived over and over again…

Not our day yesterday. But so nearly so..

TEX should have won the historic Brighton Mile and the iconic trophy that is a replica of the Brighton Pavilion. But “should” does not win horse races…

Right race, wrong track, and a fast diminishing neck the difference between fun and less fun. But in the past fortnight, TEX has gone from frustrating conundrum to talented star on the rise. A fortnight ago, we would have taken Ascot winner, “eyecatcher” at Glorious, unlucky loser in The Brighton Mile – and there are days ahead for him for sure…

The fine margins. The difference between the morning stride being skip or leaden..

We move on…

Much encouragement in the runs of both LUNAR TIDE and PURPLE MOON at Kempton. Cobwebs blown away. Both will be better on turf. Just not this bonkers baked turf…

Sandown today. VESPER HONEY (Jason Watson). Not much has dropped right for her, and no real surprise to see her at 7 million to one in the betting. Early days. Learning her trade. All will be well…

Office politics. The Racecourse Association looking like a busted flush. Racecourses and Racecourse Groups breaking cover and breaking free. What next ?? Yet another fissure appears within our sport, and we feel more rudderless, confused, vested and flawed than ever before. Simon Cox, our new BHA Chair, has not exactly raged out of the traps in terms of public announcements – keeping his powder dry before launching into his scary in-tray….??

Meanwhile, those of us on the shop floor will battle on, providing the product that turns so many wheels and oils the engines for the benefit, mainly, of others. Mad fools that we are…?!

In much more fun news…

Tallulah launching a Golf Channel on TikTok and Instagram. Charting her golfing journey.

TazzTeesoff. Go check it out…

Grey skies, windy, hint of rain. But no more than a hint…

Cooler. Which is much better for man and beast. Especially those men and beasts that head out to work as the hot sun rises…

On other “sky” matters, a SpaceX Rocket is minutes away from crashing into the moon. I seriously hope it misses all the aliens, cheesemakers, the soup dragon and the clangers. Keep your heads down, guys and girls and dragons…

New kids on the block. Always interesting. LUNAR TIDE and PURPLE MOON to Kempton later. Both on debut for us having arrived here from Ireland through varied sales…

Two exciting young horses who coincidentally both won on the same Gowran Park card on April 9th for different connections. LUNAR TIDE at 11/4, PURPLE MOON at 80/1. One clearly fancied, the other a pleasant surprise…

Both horses are ready to debut for us – ideally, I would prefer to be starting off on turf. But not fast turf, and there ain’t anything else but that around at the moment…

Benoit de la Sayette up. We will learn plenty, and this evening will in no way define. Purple Moon has to give lumps of weight away to younger rivals. There are plenty of likeable types in both races, and we are clearly not the only ones headed to the all weather as drought conditions persist…

This is England, it will rain….??!!

Earlier in the day, TEX to the seaside. The famous Brighton Mile. Pat C up. A different test to the 6 furlong “Glorious” handicap in which he was eyecatching a week ago. A competitive race for sure, but our boy has bounced out the race a week ago very fresh and well. Definitely worth a roll of those dice…

Wednesday. Work morning. Must dash….

Air sucked out of yesterday afternoon. Raging heat. England’s brown and baked land…

Raining elsewhere in the UK, but not much sign in these parts…

Racecourse shenanigans. The Jockey Club following the lead of others in leaving the Racecourse Association. All a bit of a muddle. And my attempt to explain what is going on, the ramifications and the implications for the ongoing impotency of the BHA would require several paragraphs…

And for most (all..??) of you, that would be exceptionally dull. Plenty of media coverage that will explain it much better than I would anyway…

No real surprise that The Jockey Club Racecourses have left the RCA – what will be interesting is to see how incoming BHA Chair Simon Cox reacts to the first “crisis” of his reign…

Simon’s problem is that there are several crises raging through our sport right now. Some will think that all is well because of the splendour and brilliance of recent Festivals. Some intimately involved have this flawed impression – “flawed” because they are embedded in their own racecourse’s success, and far removed from both the shop floor and the bigger picture…

“Prize money is irrelevant” – the remarkable assertion of somebody who sits at high racecourse tables….??!!

Anyway, enough of the dull stuff…

The brilliant dynamic of the Flat season and the Festival meetings rolls away. York’s Ebor meeting on the horizon. The fun of The Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday. Attracting several of those “once a year” racegoers. Turning them into “more than once a year” racegoers should be the priority. Half price tickets for a future meeting ??

And underlying the remainder of the season, a Jockey’s Championship battle that could be one for the ages. Billy The Wunderkind (good morning Mr Fish…) and Oisin riding winners aplenty, and both committed to a title challenge. This should be fun…

No runners for us today…

Busier as the week ticks along…

Consigned to memory and history books. Another glorious Glorious…

Sweltering temperatures. “Gentlemen may remove their coats”. The daily picnic in the Owner Trainer car park under cloudless skies. Fabulous to see so many friends passing by through the course of this great meeting. Barney and Tallulah and their friends adding youthful glamour. Huge fun high on that special Sussex Down…

Our Match Report from the track positive in the main…

No cigars. No disgrace. Plenty to look forward to….

Ed Arkell and his team produced fast but very fair ground. A good effort considering that it has not rained since 1987. No complaints from any jockeys that crossed my path. Some of our runners would have preferred easier conditions, but if we wait for that scenario, we might not have run them this side of Christmas…

Grade 1 tracks have stepped up to the plate through these extreme conditions and have done supremely well to produce fair ground. Strengths not being played to for some of our’s, but they cannot stay in the stables forever. Runs that were stepping stones towards late summer and autumn ground…

Amongst those who will thrive with ease in the ground are Atlantis Blue, Nesthorn and Thinthread. All ran well given the prevailing conditions. The last named a Racing Post “eyecatcher” as was Tex earlier in the week. Gooloogong a brilliant 3rd on Friday. And good old Get It showing that fire is still firmly in the belly when leading them a merry dance in The Stewards Cup. First run for 314 days – but much hope in the way he travelled and battled…

A fabulous week of superb sport amongst great friends. Hard to beat…

With heatwave raging on, we will pick our battles carefully in the weeks ahead. Still a long way to go until the turf curtain call at Doncaster in November. An added conundrum is that the all weather tracks are riding deeper and slower because of the heat. But this is England, it will rain….??!!

Our good mate Jim Crowley calling time on a stellar career in the saddle. Set to turn his hand to training – mad fool ?! I have sensed in recent chats that this was the way he would go. There have been complications in his recuperation, and he was not one to come back half bore….

Right, what does the Weather App say ?? 34 degrees later. No rain in sight in these parts…

Sweeping around Oak Tree Corner and into the undulations and road crossings of the back straight…

Two and a half miles. Yesterday’s opening contest. A fine spectacle as stalls used for the first time in this race. Slap bang in front of the enclosures…

Gooloogong and young Isobel Chalmers slipping into a fine rhythm and sitting upsides that cool handicapper Alphonse Le Grande. Through the binoculars, our boy still hard on the steel and enjoying his afternoon’s hunting in the sun. A mile to go and the big guns massing. We’ve gone well, and this will tee him up nicely for that hurdle race at Cartmel at the end of the month…

But then a few behind start pushing and shoving. And our unconsidered 100/1 shot keeps galloping. And a few of the fancied ones cry enough. And our boy keeps galloping. And galloping…

“Briefly went second over one furlong out….” Racing Post comment…

Very rarely does 3rd place in a horse race mean much. 3rd place will never define. But 3rd place at Glorious at 100/1 against this lot was pretty cool. Love Gooloogong. What a star he is for us and for Mark and Lavinia Sherwood…

Dust will settle, and chats will be had. But Cartmel joined in the conversation with Cesarewitchs now…

Perigord Noir gelded recently, but still “colty” and a bit of a goon to saddle. But he is learning, and he is work in progress, and I think he is pretty decent. Which he will show down the line…

Goodwood golden brown. Save for the green swathe of racing turf. Harvest being harvested in the distance. Dust trails as tractors meander. England, Their England. Seen from a high box with great friends. These are the days…

Curtain call today…

NESTHORN (Benoit up) in the first. Stepped up to a mile and six furlongs as we harbour Ebor dreams down the line. Lovely horse. Handles all ground, but ideally won’t want it too quick…

Then the return of the superstar in The Stewards Cup. GET IT (Pat Cosgrave up). A horse who owes us literally nothing. First run back from injury. Does the fire still rage ? We shall see. High draw, point and go….

A horse who has given us the greatest days. A horse who will have a fabulous home with us for life when racing days are done. A horse who has changed my life…

Did I ever tell you about the time he won The Stewards Cup ? Did I ever tell you about the time he won The Wokingham…..??

ALCARAZ and THINTHREAD our curtain call in the lucky last. Hong Kong legend Vincent Ho and Pat C doing the steering. Massive prices. And 100/1 shots don’t get in the frame at Glorious do they…..??

Pep talks. “One last push, come on, we can get this over the line…”

Day Four dawns fresh and a little grey. Rare sighting of high clouds, and it actually rained for about 20 seconds yesterday evening. But nil sign of the biblical storm that swept across high Sussex Downs last year. Ground changing in minutes, and canny plans tossed to several winds…

No runners high on that hill for us yesterday. Gentler. Calmer. An odds on shot who owes us nothing turned over at Epsom. Leading to the inevitable and hysterical and mind boggling barrage of social media abuse. And telephone calls from “No Caller ID”. And text messages with words in the wrong place and loaded with vitriol. Those brave brave keyboard warriors…

Tallulah enjoys answering the “No Caller ID” ones and giving them what for….?!

IMPERIAL CULT has won 3 out of 5 since turning up at Downs House. Owes nobody nothing. We will freshen him up, look after him, and go again when he tells us…

Two runners today at Glorious. Kenergy will wait for easier ground. “This is England, it will rain…”

Will it…??

GOOLOOGONG is a real favourite. Four time winner under both codes. But having arrived with us rather dead in the eye and pretty “puffed out” having chased and been chased by Ballydoyle battalions, it took a while for him to decide that this game might be fun again…

Patience. Patience. And then a little more patience. Thankfully, in Mark and Lavinia Sherwood, he has fabulous owners who know how this game is played. GOOLOOGONG a million to one in the betting, and young Isobelle Chalmers having her first ride for us. He will do his best – and if his best is not good enough to be involved today, there is a cool hurdle race at Cartmel at the end of August….

PERIGORD NOIR in the 6 furlong Nursery. John Egan up after Barney Baker did some excellent jockey agent hustling through yesterday morning. Lightweight jockeys do not grow on trees…

Tough. Hardy. Still learning. Prone to allow the mind to wander. Cheekpieces today. A million to one in betting. The Gooloogong / Perigord Noir double pays seventeen billion to one, and see you for the after party in Mustique if these two land…

Two lovely horses. Who have good days ahead…

Today’s poor house “stabs” – DEFIANTLY (with a just in case £ on Gooloogong), TALK OF NEW YORK, TRIBAL CHIEF and BUNYOLA BAY in the Golden Mile, JM JUNGLE and RUMSTAR, DIVIDEND each way, THE DANCING PIRATE (with a just in case £ on Perigord Noir), WATERFORD CASTLE each way, ROOM FOURTEEN….

That seems like an awful lot of horses. Hey ho….

“May remove their coats….”

Thankfully, nothing more. Coats. Not Jackets. Potatoes have jackets…

Panama hats aplenty. Fans fanning. Heavy air. Hotter than Panama City…

A race for the ages. A Sussex Stakes that will live long in the memory. For a stride or ten, Billy looked caught in one of those ghastly Goodwood pockets. Hard to see where the seam of daylight and clear sailing was going to drop. Opera Ballo and William Buick gone for home and seemingly gone for all money…

Gstaad grinding away. But then the eye was drawn to a streak of yellow burrowing into open space and flying fast and wide and fabulously well. An arm raised in jubilation but also relief. Some horse…

BOW ECHO is very very good. He has claimed brilliant victory from the jaws both at Ascot and now Goodwood. Billy The Kid, the new wunderkid, and a mount that is defining his early career. And who is helping him out when the chips are firmly down and the sporting Gods are making it very hard to find clear passage…

Genuinely, one of the best horse races of recent times. Remarkable. Superb. Brilliant. A little exhausting…

Our Day Two runner TEX causing a bit of a stir as a “nationwide gamble” saw his odds tumble. By the off, he was vying for favouritism. 6 furlongs was always going to be a big ask, and so it proved. Nearly last not much more than a furlong out, he took off through the closing stages. Passing horse upon horse and gaining on the leaders. Too late. Beaten just over 3 lengths…

But a horse going places. Which did not necessarily look the case a short week ago. A winner at Ascot on Friday and now a massive Glorious eyecatcher. Exciting horse…

In calmer waters at Leicester, CALAFRIO making all under Benoit de la Sayette to keep our name up in lights and on hot lists. Huge congratulations and thanks to patient owners Ged, Yvonne and Josh Hill. Their filly won well and easily…

Nothing “Glorious” today. IMPERIAL CULT (Neil Callan) to Epsom. Three wins from his last four…

Today’s “stabs”. Mainly in the dark…

CIARRAI ABU, ADAAY OF SCARLETT ew, ENCELADUS, DIAMOND NECKLACE, OLD IS GOLD, LEAVE THE BAG IN (strange name..??), SO LOVELY, ELECTRIC DREAMS…