Horse racing
How to cope with losing: a trainers’ guide
When the celebrations are kicking off in the winners’ enclosure, I dare say being a racehorse trainer looks glamorous. But…
Cocklebarrow gives Cheltenham a run for its money
The second-best day of the year is finally here. Obviously, nothing beats the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival –…
How to befriend Sudan’s guerilla commanders
Juba, South Sudan After the 43°C heat of the day in Juba, sundown brings a merciful reprieve. My dearest friend…
What makes a good trainer?
We’re spoilt for choice in the Cotswolds. There’s a brilliant National Hunt trainer in every valley and the villages are…
Labour is doing all it can to kill off horse racing
In July, Victoria, Lady Starmer was photographed at Royal Ascot, celebrating with friends after backing the winner of the Princess…
Can Ben Wallace defend racing from Labour?
I met Ben Wallace for the first time the other day. He was pretty well the only minister who came…
My House of Lords dinner disaster
It was just a straightforward dinner in the bosom of the House of Lords, talking to members of the Jockey…
Only the Tote can save British racing
For the past 30 years Robin Oakley has taken you through the front door of the horse-racing world and kept…
After 30 years, it’s farewell to The Turf
It was Frank Johnson who as The Spectator’s editor asked me to mix my then day job as the BBC’s…
My most profitable day on a racecourse ever
The Champions Day finale at Ascot gave us, as it should, the best race of the season. Thanks to weather…
Gambling tax hikes could kill British racing
Back in the days when politicians were real flesh and blood rather than social media pushovers, I sat down with…
My favourite memory of Geoff Lewis
To be a great jockey takes character as well as ability and Geoff Lewis, whom we have lost at 89,…
Being a jockey is a tough ride
It has been quite some year for jockey-churning, the latest example being the mid-season decision by owner-breeder Imad Al Sagar…
Rachel Reeves’s self-defeating attack on British racing
Few British traditions can claim as long a history as racing. The first races thought to have taken place in…
Letters: Pride has taken a nasty turn
Lionel is right Sir: Gareth Roberts’s piece (‘End of the rainbow’, 31 May) gave me pause to reflect. It’s not…
Racing is being regulated out of existence
As a parable that sums up the dysfunction of the modern state and the over-regulation of industry, this has it…
Spare us from performative piety
Lent did not, I confess, start well. Cheltenham fell in its first week, and the Gold Cup is hardly the…
How sport helped shape the British character
David Horspool connects different sports to our historical experience: cricket with class, golf with property rights, tennis with female emancipation and boxing with ethnicity
The turf
Top owners are quitting horse racing because bookmakers nervous of a government and a Gambling Commission that know remarkably little…
The turf
On no course in Britain does jockeyship count for more than at undulating, tricksy Goodwood and although Frankie Dettori was…
The turf
‘God it’s hot,’ said a Newbury waitress escaping into the lift from rain-soaked crowds jostling in the bars last Saturday.…
The science of horse racing
Everybody in racing is looking for an edge. With 7-4 the field, the punter is looking for a 2-1. The…
