The turf

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…

When lawyers take to racehorses

25 January 2014 9:00 am

Can you be both restless and content? Standing last week with Graeme McPherson on the viewing platform over his sharply…

Man with a plan

23 January 2014 3:00 pm

Can you be both restless and content? Standing last week with Graeme McPherson on the viewing platform over his sharply…

How jockeys play dirty

11 January 2014 9:00 am

At Christmas a friend from CNN sent me the story of a US officer on a European train. Searching for…

Talking dirty

9 January 2014 3:00 pm

At Christmas a friend from CNN sent me the story of a US officer on a European train. Searching for…

Why does Newbury alienate potential racegoers?

14 December 2013 9:00 am

You don’t realise how much your pleasures mean until you are denied them. It was wonderful to get back on…

Hennessy Day highlights

12 December 2013 3:00 pm

You don’t realise how much your pleasures mean until you are denied them. It was wonderful to get back on…

Christmas racing reading

7 December 2013 9:00 am

In one of those old Mae West films a girl admires her friend’s jewellery: ‘Goodness, what lovely pearls,’ only to…

Dirty rotten scoundrels

5 December 2013 3:00 pm

In one of those old Mae West films a girl admires her friend’s jewellery: ‘Goodness, what lovely pearls,’ only to…

Racing: Here are the 'Twelve to Follow' for winter

23 November 2013 9:00 am

Women truly are different. Recovering in a spare bedroom from the wonders of a hip replacement (don’t ever jump on…

Twelve to Follow

21 November 2013 3:00 pm

Women truly are different. Recovering in a spare bedroom from the wonders of a hip replacement (don’t ever jump on…