The Jockey Club has announced that the Cheltenham Festival will continue to be staged over four daysHot on the heels of Baaeed’s defeat at 1-4 in the Champions Stakes at Ascot, there was another big surprise on Monday morning as the Jockey Club announced that Cheltenham’s Festival meeting in March will not be extended to a fifth day from 2024. And if the general delight among National Hunt fans on social media is any guide, this was a rare example of a beaten odds-on shot that punters could celebrate.Cynics – this one included – who suggested back in April that the Jockey Club’s “consultation” over a fifth day at the Festival was window-dressing for a decision that had already been...
There is much more to a memorable racehorse and performance than a number on a handicapper’s spreadsheetBaaeed was back home in Newmarket, Christophe Soumillon did his best to spoil the build-up and Alpinista, the winner, could struggle to make the top 10 when the international handicappers’ annual ratings are published in January. And yet, many racing fans will fondly recall the 2022 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe long after a few of those to come have started to merge together just a little in the memory.There was a time, even within the living memory of older generations of racegoers and punters, when a 50-horse yard such as Sir Mark Prescott’s Heath House, with the backing of a wealthy and committed...
French rider apologises after being banned two months
Keeps ride on Vadeni in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
Christophe Soumillon has been banned for two months for appearing to elbow Rossa Ryan out of the saddle at Saint-Cloud on Friday.Soumillon was riding Syros in the Prix Thomas Bryon Jockey Club de Turquie and just before the field turned for home he moved towards Ryan on Ralph Beckett’s Captain Wierzba before elbowing his fellow rider. Continue reading...
Inviting punters to the top table would be a more radical move as the sport faces up to serious financial challenges The air was thick with good intentions when the sport’s movers and shakers emerged from two days of what looked suspiciously like crisis talks in central London last week. Specifics, on the other hand, were in very short supply.“Shared acceptance of the challenges”, “serious and radical changes” and “agreement of areas of focus for a strategy” were among the phrases in a joint statement issued by those in attendance, which ensured that most corporate-speak bingo cards were full well before halfway. And when a few snippets of detail did emerge on Sunday, these seemed not so much radical as...
Much of racing’s financing remains secret and racecourses need to be more transparent about their media rights money The exceptional and unbeaten Baaeed will face six rivals – including two stable companions at the William Haggas yard – in his much-anticipated step up to a mile-and-a-quarter in the Group One International Stakes at York on Wednesday, when a 10th career success for the four-year-old would see his Yorkshire-born trainer move alongside Charlie Appleby, the defending champion, in the title race.Baaeed is the best horse to set foot on a track in Britain since Frankel a decade ago and like Sir Henry Cecil’s flawless champion, he will set off at long odds-on for the feature event on the first day of...