The turf
The Grand National doesn’t need Jeremy Kyle
Never mind David Cameron. Are you participating in the Great Debate about an event of national significance that stirs the…
Best of Luck
Never mind David Cameron. Are you participating in the Great Debate about an event of national significance that stirs the…
Venetia Williams: an enigmatic woman who trains winners
Welsh Grand National day at Chepstow could not have had a better climax than the big race. After slogging three…
Conquering Emperor
Welsh Grand National day at Chepstow could not have had a better climax than the big race. After slogging three…
Christmas reading for racing folk
‘Hang on a minute—he’s a bit wobbly,’ trainer Oliver Sherwood told photographers imploring him to stand with his winner when…
Gold standard
‘Hang on a minute—he’s a bit wobbly,’ trainer Oliver Sherwood told photographers imploring him to stand with his winner when…
Silviniaco answered his critics emphatically at Haydock
‘I’m going for Al Ferof,’ said a suit in front of me in the Totepool queue at Ascot on Saturday…
The resurrection man
‘I’m going for Al Ferof,’ said a suit in front of me in the Totepool queue at Ascot on Saturday…
Robin Oakley's Twelve to Follow for 2015 (this year's came out ahead)
November has never been my favourite month, not since the time when as a Rugby-playing student my face was rearranged…
The turf
November has never been my favourite month, not since the time when as a Rugby-playing student my face was rearranged…
Maybe Mrs Oakley is right: all my tips will come in second
The novelist Anita Brookner once declared that in real life hares always beat tortoises: ‘Every time. Look around you. And…
Second best
The novelist Anita Brookner once declared that in real life hares always beat tortoises: ‘Every time. Look around you. And…
My first Arc de Triomph was a triumph
Aboard our coach from Rouen to Paris for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe our lady guide put it succinctly:…
Treve triumphant
Aboard our coach from Rouen to Paris for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe our lady guide put it succinctly:…
These are the ones to watch in the Prix de l’Abbaye and the Derby
Rightly, the authorities are doing all they can to find and discipline the disgruntled racegoer who threw a beer can…
Bronze Angel delight
Rightly, the authorities are doing all they can to find and discipline the disgruntled racegoer who threw a beer can…
When jockeys earn so little, temptation is not surprising
While Mrs Oakley was patrolling the aisles in Waitrose one day recently, I slipped off into my local betting shop.…
Money, money, money
While Mrs Oakley was patrolling the aisles in Waitrose one day recently, I slipped off into my local betting shop.…
The making of a racing realist
One of the greatest parliamentary sketch-writers of all time, Norman Shrapnel, made a point of never socialising with the politicians…
Wonder Wall
One of the greatest parliamentary sketch-writers of all time, Norman Shrapnel, made a point of never socialising with the politicians…
Some horses go better for a woman
Mrs Oakley returned from her latest book club with an uplifting story. The Mother Superior of an Irish convent was…
Girl power
Mrs Oakley returned from her latest book club with an uplifting story. The Mother Superior of an Irish convent was…
Goodwood is Ascot without the vulgarity, Aintree without the spray tans
If I get to choose where to spend my last day on earth it will probably be at Glorious Goodwood.…
It is glorious at Goodwood
If I get to choose where to spend my last day on earth it will probably be at Glorious Goodwood.…
A day with the West Ilsley trainer Denis Coakley
Through a stormy July weekend our task was to prevent four feisty grandchildren from murdering or mutilating each other before…
