Ascot

A memorable Royal Ascot

29 June 2024 9:00 am

You tend to like a jockey who has just ridden you a 16-1 winner, as Callum Shepherd did last Saturday…

Ascot was a high-profile disaster for jump racing

26 November 2022 9:00 am

The government may for the moment have disbanded its circular firing squad, but racing has never shown a greater ability…

A feast of feelgood emotion

27 November 2021 9:00 am

Ascot’s image is all champagne and fascinators, high society and high rollers. Said Art Buchwald: ‘Ascot is so exclusive that…

The trainer who gives the big boys a run for their money

24 January 2020 10:00 pm

Racing’s New Year began well with the award of OBEs to both Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls, showing that they…

Racing for the app generation

18 August 2018 9:00 am

Making racing profitable depends on getting information at the right time. In the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood two Saturdays ago…

The turf

19 August 2017 9:00 am

‘Racing isn’t a team sport,’ the diehards used to tell us about the Shergar Cup, Ascot’s annual contest for three-rider…

The turf

22 July 2017 9:00 am

A woman I once encountered at the dining table whose prime years were clearly behind her described herself as ‘approaching…

The joys of jump racing

29 October 2015 9:00 am

Thank God for jump racing. The Flat has its glitz and speed and glamour, and we could not help but…

First he brought limp salad, and now it’s drizzling

The pitfalls of picnics (and how to avoid them)

4 July 2015 9:00 am

Strange, isn’t it, that despite having such famously terrible weather, we Brits are so fond of a picnic. It’s something…

Some horses go better for a woman

23 August 2014 9:00 am

Mrs Oakley returned from her latest book club with an uplifting story. The Mother Superior of an Irish convent was…

Age triumphs at Ascot

17 August 2013 9:00 am

As part of the after-dinner entertainment on a cruise ship recently, I encountered a couple of comedians. One claimed he…