Of those “got to get out of here, M25 bashing, must dash” mornings…

Galloping horses at Kempton. At dawn. The glamour venues that we get to when most are still to be stirred by dull alarm…

Three unraced 2-year-olds and a new acquisition. Benoit de la Sayette headed down from Newmarket. Plenty of learning curve stuff…

A lovely debut yesterday.from DARK SUPREMACY in what looked, on paper, to be a classy Sandown maiden. Running on 4th. In amongst the very regally bred. Good beginning…

POWER OF PRAYER to Southwell this evening. The “Way Past My Bedtime” Amateur Riders Handicap. Due to go off at about midnight. To satisfy betting shop demand. There will be standing room only up and down the land…

A big night for our great friend Tess Hoppeler. Who has been part of the team for ages. An excellent rider and a lovely person, this is the fulfilment of an amateur licence dream. Cool horse, cool jockey – a potent mix…

Here’s hoping that horse and rider have a happy time on the Southwell sand…

Pitch black out there. Feels like midnight…

Horses to gallop. Roads to travel. Must dash….!!

“Non Partant…..”

Which was not ideal. “Probably a non runner….”

Kenergy. A long way from home. An hour or two north of Paris. Compiegne Racecourse…

On the lorry on the way over, our cool racehorse slipped a hind shoe. A long way from his heart, and of no real moment, but sore enough for him to be marginally lame at the trot. Like you and I walking along the beach and standing on a stone…

The Farrier was not as early to the races as we had hoped. Gallic vets shaking heads…

Sophie dealing. Whilst I picked at my lunch in company with my great mate and Kenergy’s co-owner Mark Tracey. Ian Williams and his partner Elaine joining us. Paper white table cloths on wooden tables, functional chairs, plastic menu with three choices, the wine list even more limited – parfait et delicieux….

Resigned to the fact that we had come a long way just for lunch. Albeit delicieux…

But who knew that there was so much synergy between the Australian and French languages?? Sophie working her magic, Kenergy sound with his shoe back on, saddle grabbed from Alexis Pouchin, a game that seemed off was now back on…

To the starting stalls. The Gallic and the shrugging Vet pulling Kenergy away from the other runners. One more trot up. Sound as a pound through my binoculars. Thankfully, “sound as a pound” through the eyes of the Gallic…

After all that high drama and “non partant probable”, the race itself was a walk in a balmy provincial park. “Led from the start, upped the tempo off the home bend, pulled clear final furlong, never headed, easily…..”

Cool horse. Cool result. Fabulously beautiful racecourse. A celebratory glass (maybe more than one….?!). Rupert Pritchard Gordon up from Chantilly. Crispin de Mowbray too. Nicolas Clement and his recent co-licence holder Flo Hermans. Happy gathering in heatwave sunshine…

A day that took several twists and turns. That is the way of our world I guess. French racing such a huge part of our lives pre Brexit and Covid. A door that is now firmly pushed open again. By coincidence, Richard Gibson of Arqana, the primary French Sales company, with us shortly. French bred horses qualify for a significant Breeder’s Premium on top of prize money – Kenergy winning over €18,000 yesterday. Not many maiden winners take that home this side of La Manche…

#HaveHorseWillTravel…

One runner today. Dark Supremacy in a Sandown Maiden that looks hotter than any heatwave….

Prix De L’Abbaye Saint-Corneil…

https://pro.france-galop.com/EspacePro/Course/CourseDetailsPage?anneeCourse=2026&specialite=P&numProgramme=6066#

But not really…

More a very truncated travelogue…

Planes, trains and automobiles…

Day trip to Paris. And specifically Compiegne Racecourse. KENERGY (Alexis Pouchin) running in a Maiden that carries prize money that would have most UK racecourses turning away in shame…

MARSH doing Marsh things yesterday. Encouragement in the debuts of TIME TELLER and PHOTO OP. Long game….

M25 to Terminal 5 to navigate. Must dash…

Smashed. To smithereens. Saffie….

The quality of female jockeys globally is so high that there is nil surprise that they perform on the biggest stages, guiding their mounts to prestigious prizes…

Saffie picked up a fabulous “spare ride” aboard Highwayman only at the start of last week. By midway through Saturday afternoon, she had catapulted our sport into the mainstream media. The BBC excepted – no surprise there…

Saffie’s beaming smile spread wide across Sunday newspapers. A good racing tale. Much needed in amongst the daily mire of troubling headwinds…

Our Saturday runners grabbed no headlines but performed with credit…

PERIGORD NOIR (Jack Dace) wandered up Bath’s five furlongs as if it were his first race. Green and Gawky Teenager. Taking in all the sights. Beaten a nose out of second. When this imposing beast of a horse allows his mind to catch up with his body, he will be fun (as opposed to slightly frustrating at present) to watch. Good days ahead…

As there are with PURPLE MOON (Benoit de la Sayette) who got a little stuck in a Chester pocket. Only his 4th race, and nothing wrong with a bit of hurly burly as he continues along the educational path. All paths with him lead to a high Swiss Mountain and St Moritz in February…

#havehorsewilltravel….

Windsor and Kempton double header today. Not many miles apart. Race planning….??!!

I’m sure having two meetings that are geographically so close makes perfect sense. Windsor in the afternoon and Kempton this evening – I imagine that there will be diehard punters taking in both glamour fixtures….

Windsor. MARSH BENHAM (Billy Loughnane) and TIME TELLER (Callum Shepherd)…

Marsh is Marsh. Bolting up here on his doorstep last week. Today ??? No idea. He might bolt up. He might pull up. He might stand stock still in the stalls. Marsh is Marsh. Good luck Billy…

Time Teller, a lovely son of Kodiac. Time for the next step in his racing career. Cliche alert – but today will in no way define, but it will teach him plenty…

PHOTO OP (Benoit) to Kempton. Another on debut, and another with a steep learning curve ahead. Nice filly. First day at grown up school…

Elsewhere, football VAR mayhem in the Manchester Derby. City fans delirious, United fans apoplectic. Arsenal getting the job done…

QPR maintained their decent start with a gritty draw at West Bromwich Albion. But the injury list is growing. I might need to dig the old boots out and “float” down the right wing again…?!

England’s Test summer ending with a 3-0 series defeat of Pakistan. Which is of only limited relevance to next summer’s Ashes…

SAFFIE….

And short…

And to the point…

This morning. As many roads to travel, bridges to cross, even seas to navigate. Speed Bonnie Boat…

Chester and Bath double header today…

PURPLE MOON (Benoit de la Sayette) to the Roman amphitheatre. Such a fun track, but a long old trip. Derek and his charge headed up through yesterday afternoon. Left in the wake of that bonkers 20 plus length Godolphin winner last time out, it was still a run full of encouragement…

Purple Moon has been bought with White Turf and St Moritz in February in mind. #havehorse…

PERIGORD NOIR to Bath for what looks like an uber competitive Nursery. Tough horse – and time for a cliche – “whatever he does as a 2-year-old is a bonus as he will be a lovely horse with another Winter on his back…”

No runners tomorrow…

Against all odds, the Pakistan batters put up a spirited display at Edgbaston. I meant “Pakistani batsmen” as opposed to the wokeism of “batters”…

I bet they wished that the remarkable Razaullah had been on the original plane over. A week ago, he had no passport – this morning, he will wake up as a cricketing sensation who just might be the next Imran Khan…

Right, the first bit needs dealing with. A choppy sea to cross…

Weekend well !!

Doing Marsh things…

Marsh Benham. Hilarious horse. Plenty of ability – but very often, nil inclination…

This year, encouragement in his seasonal debut when 2nd in a small field handicap. Second despite wandering through the final furlong with his head in the air and, according to Jack Callan on board, “not trying a yard….”

Marsh doing Marsh things. And giving no hint that his next run at Sandown under Benoit would see him sweep wide and fast and past the entire field to win “cosily” at 25/1…

Ahead of his next outing, an Amateur riders race at Salisbury, Marsh worked the house down. Better than he has ever gone at home. Simon Walker, with whom we have a potent association, on board. A hellish journey through Wiltshire lanes. Just in time to saddle. And then Marsh goes and runs an absolute stinker. Hellish journey home. Marsh…?!

Back out a couple of days later at Brighton. Going through the motions. 4th of 5…

I could not be at Epsom yesterday, but apparently the old goon was a nightmare to saddle and behaved like an “old goon”. Marsh, it must have been the 500 yard journey from stable to track…?!

Watching from afar on a flickering screen that cut in and out, it suddenly became apparent halfway up the home straight that Marsh was bolting up beside the stands rail. Five long looking lengths clear at the line. Marsh paying back Jack Callan. Marsh just doing Marsh things. A moment when I wondered whether I was watching the right horse, but all was well….

Marsh..??!!

Bless him. Mercurial. A little bonkers. But who cares ?? Racehorses, as some imagine, are not push button machines who win to order. They don’t race in athletic track tramlines, and there are so many variables. Variables that are understood by the vast majority of owners as being part and parcel – “variables” that a few just don’t get. Those that “just don’t get” tend to be fleeting participants in our great sport. Which is a relief…

FIZZY BEAR (3rd) and GORDON GREY (4th) running with great credit to give the team a decent day on the Downs…

Fizzy (Jack Dace) looked to have nicked his race a couple of furlongs down. It was not to be – but beaten less than 3 lengths in decent company was a big step forward. Likeable, still learning his trade, a little raw still – but good days ahead for sure…

As there are with our gorgeous grey. Captain Hindsight won several battles – and Jack C telling us post race that he thought he would have won if he had made the race more of a stamina test. An uncontested lead swinging into Tattenham Corner – and if we had kicked clear off a slow pace, who knows….??

The variables. Once headed, GG stuck on resolutely to be beaten just over 3 lengths. On another day, we would have had a different result. That, my friends, is racing…

A good day on those Epsom Downs. Horses home in their stables within minutes of running. I guess this is what it would be like if we had a barn at one of those US tracks. Hellish journeys not part of the equation…

No runners today…

Pakistan being battered at Edgbaston. Not good for the bigger picture that is Test Cricket…

MARSH…??!!

https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/the-racing/race-replays/2026/09/10/epsom%20downs/#feeling_flush_with_emplas_handicap

250th running of the oldest Classic…

Quite surprised that there has not been more made of the anniversary running of the race on Saturday. Maybe there has, and I have been looking in the wrong direction ? Arena Racing would surely have taken nil persuasion to up the marketing budget and shout loudly from Yorkshire rooftops…?!

“It’s Christmas Day on Derby Day…..”

A cool piece of commentary as Christmas Day squelched through the mud to Epsom glory. “It’s Christmas Day on St Leger day” a strong possibility given the Ballydoyle stranglehold on the race…

Laura Mongan’s Epsom trained winner in 2016, Harbour Law, stands out amongst the roll call of recent winners. One for the smaller yards – in amongst a procession of big batalion successes…

Rebel Rocker for Faye Bramley the only horse in Saturday’s race that is not from one of the “super sized” yards – and he is 100/1 at least, and won’t be winning…

Perhaps we should introduce a draft system. Whereby Sheikh Mohammed, the “lads” from Ballydoyle, Amo Racing (?!), Victorious Forever and the other big guns are required to spread their largesse across the industry. Sending a yearling to several smaller yards…

Fun concept. But that ain’t happening sadly….??!!

Enceladus and Billy Loughnane. A strong galloper with the Champion elect up top. My idea of the winner, but 2/1 looks very skinny…

Epsom today. Three runners. GORDON GREY (Jack Callan) in the Apprentice Derby, FIZZY BEAR (Jack Dace) and the mercurial MARSH BENHAM (Jack C)….

Competitive racing on the Downs. Each way chances if the luck falls our way…

Elsewhere, racing on the beach in Laytown in Ireland. A fantastic spectacle. Tallulah and I travelled over to this meeting with Dana’s Present many years ago. Great spectacle, great craic…

Dana’s Present ran fine. And a week later, won the Doncaster Legends race under Willie Supple…

Test Match at Edgbaston. That snuck up on me as I thought it started today. Pakistan new look – but “same old” as they were blown away by England’s bowlers…

Some good. Some bad. Some pretty indifferent…

The dull politics that beset our sport, both from within and from outside, rumble along in the background…

Many mainstream politicians clearly have literally no idea about or interest in our industry. To them, we are part of the vile vice that is gambling, and an easy target for brutal taxing. Nil concept, apparently, of the hundreds of thousands employed across our sport and within the peripheral industries that racing sustains. Nil concept of the job losses that Gordon Brown’s blinkered attack would ensure…

The Gambling sector, that forms part of the recreational choices of so many, is pilloried as if it were a pariah state. An easy target to put in the fiscal crosshairs – and the truth is that away from those intimately involved and affected, a tax on “betting” will not raise a flicker amongst the wider electorate…

Much wiser folk than me are warning, both in public and in private, of the cataclysmic financial effects of further increases in gaming and betting duties. Around every corner, there seems to be yet another headwind and bump in the road…

Align budget concerns with the divisive and vested nature of the sport as we stand today, and you don’t have to be the Archbishop of Canterbury to work out that we continue to race towards a terrifying precipice…

Which all seems hopelessly sad and silly…

We have a fabulous product that, prize money aside, is the envy of all. The greatest racehorses performing on the greatest stages. Fabulously talented equine and human protagonists…

For those of us on the shop floor, we will continue to work away providing the product that sustains. As the quicksands get ever closer, we will do everything in our power to keep the head above water…

We are a brilliant, diverse, engaging and superbly entertaining sport – but one that has been badly let down by both Government and the vested interests within…

Never before has strong leadership been so essential. Good luck Simon Cox !! Maybe he should bring in a pantheon of sporting administration from outside racing’s walls who can look at the muddle with fresh eyes….??

A Hearn or Ecclestone or, dare I say it, a Kerry Packer like figure…

Who might rattle several cages (about time…!!), but have the benefit of fresh vision at a time when several still seem too intent on introverted protectionism…

Anyway, “blah blah blah”, and my regular reader will be rolling the eyes as repetition is dull…

I care deeply. That’s all…

Kempton today (another ongoing rant…?!). Longlai. Older bones, but talented, and the handicapper giving him a chance. Benoit up…

A Test Match tomorrow. A new look Pakistan after several members of the squad were flown home in “disgrace”. Fascinating…

“What is his minimum weight….??”

“Will he be at Donny or Epsom…??”

“Does she still claim off that weight…??”

“Does his boss run that one or are they waiting for the weekend….??”

The answers…

“Can do eight stone six with plenty of notice.” “They usually declare late so I’m afraid we won’t know until the last minute.” “Yes, she can claim seven off that.” “Literally no idea, and neither does his office…..”

Juggling. Jockeys. Options. Decisions. Plans. Plans that change. This is the way of it…

Declarations to run need to be made by 10.00. Jockey plans often not crystal clear until the eleventh hour calls of their retained stables or ownership entities. Poker face. Game of poker…

Poker ?! Whatever happened to that “flying machine” that cost the purple colours £76 million..??

45 minutes to declarations…

Jockeys and Juggling…

Calls to be made…

Must dash…

A horse to define…

A horse that gets you up before the alarm clock’s siren call. A horse that keeps you awake at nights as plans and options and ground concerns and that unexpected lame step or cough rage and race through the mind…

The good ones. So many dreams attached. Every Trainer dreams of “the one…”

Daryz beginning to look like “the one”. Only a 4 runner Prix Foy and no more than a cobweb blowing exercise ahead of balmy October Arc destiny, but the way he sauntered and swaggered home was eye-catching and more…

A time of year when long season can take hard toll, but Daryz looks to be peaking at precisely the right time. Monsieur Graffard has an awful lot to look forward to…

A time of year when the inevitable retirements through injury begin to fill too many paragraphs. The good ones, understandably and quite rightly, attract a headline or three. Estrange, Bow Echo, poor Galopin Des Champs, Trawlerman and more. But for every good one whose retirement from the game brings column inches, there are very many who slide off into enforced retirement without a nod from the wider world…

The hardest telephone calls to make are the ones that bring news of lame steps, broken bones and bowed tendons. Inevitable. Part and parcel. Never easy. Dreams torn asunder in a call that takes less time than a Nunthorpe to be run. Hard calls to make, not much fun to receive. But an inevitable part…

How the news is received tells plenty…

And when the call is done and the word “retirement” bandied around, fine and good and happy homes is the next priority. So many racehorses go on to excel in other disciplines. Polo. Happy hacking. Eventing. Soaring over high hedges and walls in the hunting field. Dressage. And much more…

Snaffles. “The Greatest View”….

Although when I spied similar views across Limerick back in the day, survival was at the forefront as opposed to how cool the vista was….

No runners for us today…

The weekend runners acquitted themselves well. Two 5th placings will not define a season or even a day. But NOW MAYBE (Ascot) and NESTHORN (York) danced well on decent stages, and both have plenty of good days ahead of them…….

Skies over Epsom Downs. Shepherds beware. Round up those flocks…

Ascot. Love the place. A track that has given us many happy days, and memories to latch onto when the going gets a little tough. Which is inevitable and unavoidable in this sport of our’s. Any sport actually…

TEX has been an enigma and a frustration and a disappointment along the way. 2-year-old promise, but then a 3-year-old season of finding ways of not winning horse races. Less patient owners could easily have called time…

But thankfully Messrs MacHale, Fish, Tracey and Dunne stuck with their grey horse. This season began with a bonkers defeat at Leicester. Losing 7 or so lengths out of the stalls when rearing madly and beaten half a length at the line – same old Tex….?!

A win under Pat Cosgrave at Ascot a few weeks back was followed by “eyecatching” at Glorious and “unlucky” in the Brighton Mile. For more than a few strides yesterday, “unlucky” looked to be looming large again. Alice Crowley, Jim’s daughter, kicking clear on Dannick as Tex and Brodie Hampson struggled for a gap from behind an obstinate wall of horses…

Brodie pulling hard and right and into clear sailing, but Dannick gone for all money…

6 or 7 lengths to make up through the final furlong. Flying fast and late and drifting left to eyeball his opponent, we got home cosily in the end. A first ride for us for Brodie who reported that Tex loved all the trouble. Tough watch – that became, thankfully, a cool watch…

And meaning that the bottle that Mark Tracey and I shared over a post race lunch came from the proper end of the list…

Later on at Kempton, in the “Way Past Bedtime Handicap”, Must Believe finished a highly creditable 2nd under Jack Dace on his first try over two miles. He definitely got the trip, and options aplenty are now opened up. A likeable and tough and hardy horse…

Back to Ascot today. Now Maybe (Jack Callan) having his first run for us. The “rag” in early betting. Learning day. A first runner for us in the colours of Shaikh Salman bin Al Khalifa…

Nesthorn to York tomorrow. Benoit up. Rain softened ground will suit as will the track. Proper horse who has run with credit since his Bahrain win without having much in his favour…

“Blood red” has turned to “watery blue”…

Must dash. Horses to gallop and plans to discuss…

Windy. A wind with rain in it. Grey skies. Pitch black when the alarm sounds. Remember that wonderful time of the heatwaves….??

El Nino. Taking up plenty of media coverage. Forecasts that range through catastrophic and apocalyptic and cataclysmic. National Hunt racecourses need rain to ensure that their early fixtures can go ahead. It sounds as if we are due for plenty of it this side of Christmas…

Worrying news on Brussel Sprouts. Which I love. Is there a vegetable that more polarises opinion? I thought Brexit conversations got pretty vitriolic and unpleasant, but the sprout is another gig altogether. Farmers worried that Christmas stocks will be depleted this year because of the hot and dry summer. I need to start panic buying…..!!

Salisbury yesterday. A lovely first day at grown up school for CASHINOROYALE. This good looking young horse has done plenty at home and needed to go racing to work out what this whole game is all about. Still a little raw and unfurnished, he ran through the line in a respectable 4th place. Much to look forward to…

Ascot and Kempoton today…

Tex to the former. A winner at the track and an unlucky loser in the Brighton Mile, he will contest the opening Lady Amateur Riders Handicap. A first ride (I think…) for us for Brodie Hampson…

And then Must Believe (Jack Dace) to Kempton for the “lucky last”, the “Way Past My Bedtime Staying Handicap” that concludes the card. Fantastic to see Jack back in the saddle after an horrific Brighton fall…

Ascot and Kempton. Chalk and Cheese. Ascot’s Owner experience is at the top of the league, but Kempton certainly makes an effort as well. Look after those who provide the product…!!

Constitution Hill taking on 6 opponents in tomorrow’s September Stakes. Earlier in the week, I did highlight the fact that 8/1 looked a big price. Clever me ??!! 9/2 now. I had a pound each way at 8/1, first three places. Because there are now only seven in the field, does that become 2 places….??

Ask Chat GPT I guess….??