Archive for January, 2010
Fortune favours new star Buick
Jan 21st
The start of the Flat turf season may be two months down the line but the line-up of one of the powerhouse stables has changed with the news that William Buick has been appointed stable jockey to John Gosden, replacing Jimmy Fortune. That Buick has claimed one of the major jobs is hardly a surprise [...]
Irish trainers play numbers game
Jan 20th
The days when Irish-trained runners dominated the major prizes at the Cheltenham Festival may be receding into the more distant memory now but they will not lack for numbers in this year’s Champion Hurdle. Having failed to even make the frame in the past two renewals of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, Irish trainers appear [...]
Surface problems go deeper
Jan 20th
George Bernard Shaw once opined that: “all evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.” In America that heresy has been to suggest that dirt tracks may have had their day. For the last two years European runners have enjoyed conspicuous success at the Breeders’ Cup, where the meeting has [...]
Swamp fever fear for racing
Jan 20th
Racing woke up this morning to the biggest health crisis to hit the sport since the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001. Trainers and all other handlers of racehorses in Britain have been put on alert to look out for any signs of swamp fever – otherwise known as equine infectious anaemia (EIA). The warning [...]
Mon Mome ready for National service
Jan 19th
Having achieved the improbable once, Venetia Williams is emboldened to believe that she can attempt the same again. Last April Mon Mome became only the fifth horse to win the John Smith’s Grand National at odds of 100-1 but now his trainer is aiming at an even more select club. In over a hundred years [...]
Champion contenders avoiding obstacles
Jan 19th
Like a game of hide-and-seek, trainers on both sides of the Irish Sea are trying to find the right races for their Champion Hurdle contenders, without finding the wrong level of opposition that would bring too hard a race. Nicky Henderson’s juggling act with his three possibles – Zaynar, Binocular and Punjabi – has left [...]
Rachel Alexandra eclipses Zenyatta
Jan 19th
There will have been more contentious ballots in the history of America – the 2000 presidential election springs fairly readily to mind – but the vote for the Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards will go down as its own, slightly offbeat, piece of history. The first time a horse has had unbeaten [...]
Goldikova wins by a mile
Jan 19th
Having plundered so many prizes at last year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting, Europe did not fare quite so well at the 39th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony on Monday night. Four of the European horses who won at the Breeders’ Cup had been nominated but only one carried off a prize. Goldikova, who became a dual Breeders’ [...]
Ascot race lacks its old magic
Jan 18th
After a freeze there is a thaw and then often a flood and jump racing is following that pattern, weather permitting. The Met Office says there is a threat of further snow when a new weather front starts pushing across Britain from Tuesday night but, if that does not get in the way, there are [...]
Amos just hoping for a clear run
Jan 18th
Spare a thought for Roxburghshire trainer Willie Amos. He trains 20 horses at a stable on the family sheep and cattle farm that can be found in the Teviot Dales. At a thousand feet above sea level, life has been far from easy of late. Having borne the worst of the big freeze in recent [...]
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