The Derby runner-up reappears at Leopardstown on Thursday night in a prep run for the Irish Champion Stakes next monthThe theory that Madhmoon – runner‑up at Epsom – may eventually prove the best horse who ran in the Derby, will get another examination in the Group One Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown next month.Meanwhile the colt – who travelled so strongly for such a long way in the colts’ Classic before finishing fourth in a farcical Irish Derby in which the subsequent winner Sovereign was given an easy lead – lines up at next month’s venue on Thursday and the trainer Kevin Prendergast reports his charge to be cherry-ripe as his top-class colt warms up for an autumn campaign. Related:...
Gold Cup-winning trainer predicts Festival extension from four days, but Oliver Sherwood says it would be ‘absolute disaster’Kim Bailey, who achieved the feat of saddling Champion Hurdle winner Alderbrook and Gold Cup winner Master Oats in 1995, said on Monday he believes it is “inevitable” the Cheltenham Festival will be stretched to a fifth day from its current four days.The trainer’s comments came despite the British Horseracing Authority stating on Monday that the Festival’s four-day format will continue. The BHA had announced a new race, the Mares’ Chase, for 2021 but said that it would replace an existing contest not yet selected. Related: Post-Brexit concerns voiced by top cross-Channel raider George Baker Salisbury 1.50 Good Job Power 2.20 Stoweman 2.50...
Surrey trainer who regularly sends runners to France awaits news of 31 October impact on British stablesGeorge Baker, a trainer whose stable is a most frequent raider of prizes at French tracks, is waiting to learn how his operations could be affected after 31 October. Baker, who trains at Chiddingfold, Surrey, regularly sends runners to Continental tracks, where he has consistently earned valuable prize money for his owners. Related: Talking Horses: Cieren Fallon turns to Cauthen to get back on winning trail Nottingham 2.00 Stars In The Night (nb) 2.30 Cloud Drift 3.00 Road To Paris 3.30 Strike Acclaim 4.00 Afandem 4.30 Ugo Gregory 5.00 Deinonychus Continue reading...
Infamous ex-trainer has spoken of his desire to return to the sport and insists ‘I’m a different person’Mahmood al-Zarooni is seeking a pardon from the British Horseracing Authority and wants to train again, despite having been the subject of a worldwide eight-year ban for giving anabolic steroids to racehorses. “The past six years have been very tough on me and my family,” he has told the Daily Mirror. “I would be grateful to the BHA if they grant me a pardon.” Related: Jamie Kah says women jockeys are given rough ride in ‘backward’ Britain Thirsk Continue reading...
Racing needs to do more if it wants the wider public to share its view that the whip is not some baleful instrument of harmI wonder what Nick Rust is thinking this morning as he sits in his High Holborn office and watches London buses trickle past with an advert on the side decrying the use of the whip in horse racing. The advert is the work of Animal Aid, an animal rights organisation opposed to racing, and it asks: “You wouldn’t hit a dog, so why are jockeys allowed to whip racehorses?” Related: Khadijah Mellah overwhelmed by interest after Glorious Goodwood feat | Chris Cook Brighton Continue reading...