Racing
The magic of Aintree
However hard some people try to make it a business, jump racing remains a sport and the Grand National its…
The fight over jockey saunas is heating up
When the nine equine athletes involved in the seven-furlong contest for Newbury’s Saturday highlight, the Group Two BetVictor Hungerford Stakes,…
Has gambling become the great British addiction?
When I was 14 my father took me to a bookmaker’s and encouraged me to place a bet. He wanted…
Clash of the two-mile titans
The engine wasn’t what it was, they said. At ten years old the spark that had once made him a…
My top tip for the Grand National in 2023
Want to know the winner of the Grand National in 2023? You heard it here first: when the ante-post books…
The secret of Ireland’s racing success
How Father Sean Breen would have loved this year’s Cheltenham Festival. The late parish priest at Ballymore Eustace, who owned…
The poetry of Bryony Frost
Hearing that the Queen has both a real and an official birthday, a small boy asked the obvious question: ‘Does…
How I won €160 by mistake
My French friend André speaks perfect English and is the kindest of men. After reading last week about my futile…
The saviours of racing
I was once at a racing dinner in York where a distinguished clergyman in attendance was invited to say grace.…
Why we need to support middle-ranking trainers
Owner Phil Simmonds from Rochdale was 17 when he first went racing, joining a friend’s stag party at Haydock Park.…
My miraculous winning streak
Last Saturday morning, Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google, was on the radio explaining his algorithm for happiness,…
Racing for the app generation
Making racing profitable depends on getting information at the right time. In the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood two Saturdays ago…
Do horses really need solariums and therapeutic rugs?
In the days when it was fashionable to mock the IQ of an American President who had taken the showbiz…
Robin Oakley: Let’s hear it for the girls
It has been a good year for the girls. The filly Enable was the horse of the year, winning not…
The turf
Khalid Abdullah, John Gosden and Frankie Dettori — owner, trainer and jockey — already figured among the great names of…
Doing The Birdie Song on the back of a trainee racehorse
‘Start at the back and try to pass as many horses as you can,’ said the trainer, as we stepped…
Paula Radcliffe is a victim of our hypocrisy and confusion about drugs and sport
Do you want to see Paula Radcliffe’s blood? If so, you’re not alone. Radcliffe, three-time winner of the London Marathon…
Siena shows that northern Italy is just better at getting drunk
The Indian summer was still fending off the mists and mellow fruitfulness. But the autumn term was about to begin;…
You don’t need a nose-tapping tipster to maximise your winnings
Master golfer Gary Player had the perfect retort when a 19th-hole pundit on his fourth G&T declared, ‘It’s all down…
Who will fund a prize for the true fighter pilots of the Turf?
After listening to a violinist’s justification of his playing, Dr Samuel Johnson responded tartly: ‘Difficult do you call it, Sir?…
I held my breath ready for the explosion. But no explosion came
Darcy was obviously listening to every word I said. After we got back from the ride from hell, in which…
