The turf

An eye for quality

24 July 2014 1:00 pm

Through a stormy July weekend our task was to prevent four feisty grandchildren from murdering or mutilating each other before…

Ralph Beckett's winning way with the fillies

12 July 2014 9:00 am

Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…

Fit as a filly

10 July 2014 1:00 pm

Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…

Yes, I'm biased – but this was a great Royal Ascot

28 June 2014 9:00 am

The one sight I was determined not to miss at Royal Ascot was that of the Queen from over the…

Winning ways

26 June 2014 1:00 pm

The one sight I was determined not to miss at Royal Ascot was that of the Queen from over the…

Cambridge, meet your first professor of racing lore

14 June 2014 9:00 am

Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…

Epsom delights

12 June 2014 1:00 pm

Watching the contestants parade at Epsom for this year’s Oaks, I remembered the great D. Wayne Lukas’s pronouncement on selecting…

Will racing waste its Scoop6 jackpot?

31 May 2014 9:00 am

Eight people became millionaires last Saturday, collecting £1,342,599 each when the Scoop6 bet, which had been rolled over for 12…

Confidence boost

29 May 2014 1:00 pm

Eight people became millionaires last Saturday, collecting £1,342,599 each when the Scoop6 bet, which had been rolled over for 12…

My 12 tips for the racing year

17 May 2014 9:00 am

In sport, winning is everything. Come second and only your parents and the dog remember. Most readers will have forgotten…

Twelve to Follow

15 May 2014 1:00 pm

In sport, winning is everything. Come second and only your parents and the dog remember. Most readers will have forgotten…

Own up, Twelve to Follow fans – which of you sabotaged my BMW?

3 May 2014 9:00 am

Mrs Oakley takes a dim view of my using the BMW that consumed much of her savings to ferry sacks…

Settling up

1 May 2014 1:00 pm

Mrs Oakley takes a dim view of my using the BMW that consumed much of her savings to ferry sacks…

Sympathy for the bookies

19 April 2014 9:00 am

We all have to adjust to reality, like the lady who entered a Barbados bar having already enjoyed several gin…

Taxing questions

16 April 2014 1:00 pm

We all have to adjust to reality, like the lady who entered a Barbados bar having already enjoyed several gin…

Why the other jockeys love Jamie Moore

5 April 2014 9:00 am

In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…

True sportsmen

3 April 2014 2:00 pm

In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…

Comebacks, longshots and cruel disappointments: what makes Cheltenham Festival great

22 March 2014 9:00 am

No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…

A Cheltenham of contrasts

20 March 2014 3:00 pm

No sporting event anywhere compresses so much drama, emotion and character into a single venue as the Cheltenham Festival. It…

How Paul Bittar has kept British racing together

8 March 2014 9:00 am

British racing is such a quirky minefield that some were surprised when in 2011 the authorities chose Paul Bittar, a…

Commercial approach

6 March 2014 3:00 pm

British racing is such a quirky minefield that some were surprised when in 2011 the authorities chose Paul Bittar, a…

The Grand National needs kinder weather

22 February 2014 9:00 am

This year you don’t want to be a jockey’s valet. Never have their washing machines spun so vigorously. From every…

On course for thrills

20 February 2014 3:00 pm

This year you don’t want to be a jockey’s valet. Never have their washing machines spun so vigorously. From every…

Women simply don't understand sport's importance

8 February 2014 9:00 am

Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was once challenged with the story that for their wedding anniversary treat he had taken his…

Women’s ways

6 February 2014 3:00 pm

Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was once challenged with the story that for their wedding anniversary treat he had taken his…