With the Cheltenham Festival on the horizon, it’s a bad time for racing’s followers to lose access to such a precious resourceThe latest example of racing tripping over its own feet came on Tuesday when video replays of Irish races disappeared down a hole as the rights to screen Irish horse racing transferred from one company to another. This has happened in the past when rights to a particular track switched companies and the companies involved have been aware of the issue for months but it doesn’t seem to have helped them reach a solution for their customers in time. Related: Paul Nicholls defends Cheltenham after Rooneys decide to shun track Related: Bristol De Mai fine after King George ‘bashing’,...
Lauded jockey doesn’t have the sort of job that leads straight to Festival glory but could still land a plum Grand National rideHell is, of course, full of people typing up novelty bet offers for the New Year but there’s some morbid fascination that drags my eyes to the silly lists of prices issued at this time of year. For some reason, we’re expected to care whether snow will fall on Heathrow on Easter Sunday (16-1) or Mary Berry will sign up for Strictly (25-1). Related: Waiting Patiently could be on collision course with Altior at Ascot Lingfield Continue reading...
The selection clocked a good time in victory last time out and can land the Grade One event at NewburyThere are few Grade One races without at least one no-hoper in the field but this year’s Challow Hurdle at Newbury can make that claim, as all seven runners go to post after an impressive win last time out.Champ, from the Nicky Henderson stable, is the likely favourite having giving more than a stone to the next three home when successful in a strong handicap at Newbury last time. Whether that makes him a worthy 6-4 chance in a race as deep as this is another question, however, and several opponents do not have much to find to give him a...
A big-race win felt like no more than a bonus for Willie Mullins after Faugheen had climbed to his feet having lain still for several seconds after a stomach-turning fall A Grade One win for Kemboy in the feature event of Ireland’s festive programme felt like no more than a bonus for Willie Mullins here on Friday, thanks to the moment earlier in the afternoon when Faugheen, perhaps the best horse he has trained, climbed to his feet having lain still on the turf for several seconds after a stomach-turning fall. Faugheen was a couple of lengths behind Apple’s Jade in the closing stages of the three-mile Christmas Hurdle when he took off too early at the second-last and then...
Gordon Elliott’s runner looks to have been aimed at this race since his unlucky fourth place in last season’s Irish NationalThe going is merely “soft” for this year’s Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow rather than the desperately heavy ground that is a feature of many renewals. Yet it still promises to be the most demanding test that many of these runners have faced and the good record of veterans in recent years could be maintained.Raz De Maree attempts to record the unprecedented feat of winning the race twice as a 13-year-old (it was staged in early January last season following an abandonment). He has not found any form so far this season, however, and the 11-year-old Folsom Blue (2.50)...