Seven Days

So begins the campaign for Auguste Rodin (Ire) to meet Desert Crown (GB) and Adayar (Ire) in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. This column has precisely zero influence over anything at all, but as a racing fan increasingly concerned at the sidestepping of the greatest prize of high summer then it would be remiss of me not to bang the drum and rattle the tambourine a little.  How often have the last three winners of the Derby all still been in training? (We can make that four,...

On December 3, 1995, the G1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle was won by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Thats My Man (Ire). It is unconfirmed, but those may well have been the words uttered by John Magnier when he decided to appoint O'Brien to uphold the good reputation of his surname at Ballydoyle. This he has done with aplomb. From that December day at Fairyhouse until Sunday at the Curragh, A P O'Brien has been the name printed alongside 400 Group or Grade 1 winners. From his roots in National Hunt, he...

Seven years ago Churchill (Ire) beat Mehmas (Ire) in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., and they both now feature prominently in their second careers at stud. For Mehmas, that's nothing new. He was champion first-season sire, then leading second-season sire, and he gave way only to New Bay (GB) last year among his generation. Now with his fourth crop of runners taking to the track, the Tally-Ho Stud resident is back in front among his intake with four group winners to his credit so far this year, including...

There is something wonderfully refreshing about John Hayes. He stands at least 6'6'' tall with size 15 'lucky boots' and a towering personality to match. Prior to watching Jannah Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the filly he bred from his beloved mare Sophie Germain (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), win the G1 Coolmore St Mark's Basilica Prix Saint-Alary, he serenaded guests of her owner Al Shira'aa Farms with a ditty about a cross-dressing gold-digger. It's the kind of theme that could so easily see people cancelled these days, but there could be...

It's a heady time of year to be on Newmarket Heath of a Saturday morning. You can tell by the convoy of smart cars when one of the big strings is about to arrive at the Al Bahathri, with Guineas weekend providing the perfect opportunity for owners to watch their horses work.  This past Saturday, either 2,000 Guineas day, Kentucky Derby day, or Coronation day, depending on your persuasion, was no exception. With the car park double-stacked and trainers and jockeys all about, Joe Foley, waiting for the off with...

Monday's email bulletin from the The New York Times told us that Britain is largely apathetic about Saturday's coronation. I guess they'd know, being on the other side of the Atlantic and all, but the bunting had already been strung through various Cambridgeshire and Suffolk villages by Sunday. In the leafy shires at least, the monarchists still hold sway. On Friday at Newmarket, the King Charles II Stakes will be run in honour of the 'Merry Monarch' whose patronage made the Suffolk town famous around the world as an important...

At Newmarket last Tuesday, a fellow racegoer suggested that the racecourse really should up its game in encouraging more people to attend the Craven meeting. I disagreed politely. For a start, there was a decent enough crowd there, enough for atmosphere but not so many that it was tricky to manoeuvre between pre-parade ring, parade ring and racecourse. And secondly, marketing a midweek meeting accompanied by Arctic temperatures just as many people have returned to work and school after the Easter holidays is not the easiest task. I know we...

The headline to this piece is deliberately binary. That is, after all, what heated debates on social media or even more traditional media platforms, usually come down to: love or hate. And, let's face it, in this clickbait age, that's often deliberately so, to inflame the debate. The art of reasonable and nuanced argument is all but lost. It was with wearying predictability in the countdown to Saturday's Grand National that we witnessed the pink t-shirted protestors attempting to scale the perimeter fences of Aintree. A few glued themselves to...

Thank goodness for France. While Britain and Ireland mostly pause the serious Flat action in Grand National week, the French Classic trials rolled on with the return of racing at Longchamp on Sunday, which will be backed up by another strong card this coming Sunday. It was hard not to be impressed by the seasonal debut of Jannah Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who has raced only twice for two wins, and looked a proper Classic prospect for Al Shira'aa Farms and Carlos Laffon-Parias when winning the G3 Prix Vanteaux. When...

We're starting to feel a little long in the tooth in this corner. The racing equivalent to the observation about policemen looking young these days now applies to the weighing-room, and on Saturday one young gun after another came out with a performance that would entitle them to be considered the next big thing.  Benoit de la Sayette has already achieved plenty in his nascent career. Now 20, he had his first ride in November 2020 and became the first apprentice attached to John Gosden's stable in almost 30 years. ...

A World Cup meeting needs world-class runners plus a global spread of results. This much and more was delivered by the 27th Dubai World Cup and supporting races at Meydan on Saturday. With 26 runners on the night, it was always a given that Japan would feature prominently and, in an exhibition of excellence that we are now becoming accustomed to, they led all comers, just as they had in Riyadh last month. The performance of Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) alone was pretty dramatic, coming from tailed off to...

Cheltenham is behind us and, yes, we still have Aintree and Punchestown to come of the major jumps fixtures but, with the clocks on the turn, really the only thing to think about now is the return of the Flat. The turf season makes its staggered return in Ireland on Sunday, and in Britain the following Saturday. France is already racing ahead and packed in four stakes races at Saint-Cloud last Saturday, with the Listed Prix Omnium II providing the first TDN Rising Star on the European turf for 2023...