Tony McCoy will join the jockeys’ teams at the enormously popular Horse Show at Christmas.It’s a dangerous thing, supporting a loved one as they try something new and difficult. Tom Marquand learned that on Tuesday when he turned up to watch Hollie Doyle and other jockeys get a lesson in show jumping ahead of a competition this Christmas, and found himself getting roped into it.Marquand has now been pencilled into the ‘boys’ team of jockeys, led by Sir Anthony McCoy, that will ride at the enormously popular Olympia Horse Show on 21 December. They’ll take on a ‘girls’ team consisting of Doyle, Bryony Frost, Josephine Gordon, Lizzie Kelly and Bridget Andrews in an event called the Markel Champions Challenge in...
The number one issue for thousands of punters right now is the fact that betting firms can restrict and ban punters pretty much with impunityAhead of one of the best weekends of racing all year, most punters can be forgiven for having better things to do on Monday than digest a 32-page missive from the Gambling Commission on the subject of ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Gambling Industry.’Fortunately, there are indefatigable campaigners like Brian Chappell, from justiceforpunters.org, who make it their business, and the positive news for backers is that Chappell gives a guarded welcome to the latest move by the Commission which aims to ensure that gambling is “open and fair”. Related: Bryony Frost ‘pumped’ for comeback at scene...
Europe’s most prestigious Flat race takes place on Sunday and it looks as though Cracksman is not going to get his groundSunday will bring us the best of all European Flat races, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, so it’s time to get excited, unless you’re the type of punter who insists on maintaining a Gallic sangfroid, and also to start looking at the weather forecast for Paris. The website I use predicts about 1mm of rain over the next six days and that makes me feel I can start my Arc calculations by putting a line through the name of Cracksman. Related: Bryony Frost ‘pumped’ for comeback at scene of Newton Abbot fall Catterick 2.00 Red Saree 2.30 Royal Variety...
The selection for Newmarket’s major betting race has been given a preparation that looks a lot like a build-up to this daySurely the Cambridgeshire was among the thoughts of Ian Williams and Dr Marwan Koukash when they acquired Restorer (3.40) last November. The grey’s best performance to date was when winning a Listed race over a slightly longer distance on this course at Newmarket, back in 2015.Having won for them at Chester in May and then failed to cope with a quick return to the track, Restorer has been given a preparation that looks a lot like a build-up to this day. If I’m right about that, he will surely shorten from his present odds of 50-1. Godolphin’s Very Talented...
The Aidan O’Brien runner was cut in the betting for next year’s 2,000 Guineas after a smooth victoryThere is Group One racing a few miles from Ryan Moore’s Newmarket home on Saturday, but he will be somewhere over the Atlantic as Ten Sovereigns, an odds-on favourite, goes to post for the Middle Park Stakes. The ride on Mendelssohn, the 18-length UAE Derby winner, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park is at the other end of Moore’s long commute, and as he settles into his first-class seat, Aidan O’Brien’s stable jockey will know that the yard is rediscovering its best form at just the right time.On the Saturday morning of the Cambridgeshire meeting last year, O’Brien had 18...