Racing
The Derby is the most interesting race of the year – and I missed it
In 1949, the 18th Earl of Derby revived the tradition of the Derby Club dinner in London, three days before…
The film producer with eyes on the Derby
I broke into a skip last week as I walked up the steps of Carlton House Terrace towards the Turf…
The secret to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s racehorse success
You meet an eclectic bunch of people in the horse-racing business. Yet it was at prep school 55 years ago…
My meeting with ‘The Godfather’ of flat racing
Trainer John Gosden is a colossus in Newmarket, the centre of the horse-racing industry. Two-and-a-half-thousand horses are trained here and…
‘I always have a smile on my face up there’: jockey Sam Waley-Cohen on the art of winning
Last week, I had a commuter-hell day. The Great Western train to London was standing room only, horribly delayed, and the…
I love Cheltenham… but there’s only so much chaos I can take
Flipping heck! Thank goodness the Cheltenham Festival only happens once a year. There’s only so much chaos and controversy my…
The sword of Damocles is hanging over Cheltenham
What better way to limber up for the Cheltenham festival than lunch with Richard Phillips? Thirty years ago, Richard was…
The future of racing is in the Middle East
You can always judge a country by the reception you get at passport control. America is aggressive. Don’t even think…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
The search for a Kenyan Stonehenge
Cradle of Mankind Paleoanthropologists tried to kill me a few days ago. Luckily I was saved by Max Mutkin, a…
Welcome to the Republic of Dyslexia
Kenya It used to be that the black sheep from prominent British families were sent out to Kenya and told…
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…
The unorthodox appeal of the Shergar Cup
With DJs and MCs inviting the crowd to dance on the parade-ring steps as if they were on a beach…
‘Boldness was his friend in betting and in life’: A tribute to the great Barry Hills
I have always enjoyed Royal Windsor Racecourse, as it styles itself. It may not have quite so many dignitaries popping…
The racing victory I’ve enjoyed the most
Allegedly the most effective rain dance in the world is that performed by Native American Hopi Indians. The biennial 16-day…
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…
My picks for Cheltenham and the Twelve
With farmers outraged, the nation’s biggest employers warning the Budget will bring increased prices and lost jobs and growth out…
My fears for the National Hunt Chase
World politics is dire but so long as Mick Herron is writing spy novels, David Mitchell is raising laughs and…
My horse betting farce
Somebody up there doesn’t like me much at the moment. The bank insists that two cash machines which failed to…
