all-weather

It was perhaps fitting last week that the inaugural edition of Winter Watch going to print should coincide with the arrival of snow across many parts of Britain, albeit we now find ourselves with one less meeting to report on after the cold snap brought terminal consequences for a certain all-weather track in Nottinghamshire. Consider yourself lucky if you spent that particular Monday evening in the warmth of home, cup of tea in hand ready to find out what this Winter Watch was all about. Meanwhile, all of those involved...

Welcome to Winter Watch, the new column with the unenviable task of trying to fill the void that now exists after Emma Berry penned her final Seven Days column of 2024, not to return until we hand the baton over again next spring. It's a daunting act to try and follow, but then at least we're in solidarity with the horses who will be the subject matter of this column over the coming weeks and months. The Berry boots might be big ones to fill, but so too are those...

The New York Gaming Commission (NYGC) has released its 2023 report regarding the high rate of fatalities upstate last year. Between May 26, 2023 and September 4, 2023, there were 17 equine fatalities at Saratoga Race Course, which again put the track's Thoroughbred safety record under scrutiny. Several suggestions were made by the NYGC, none more surprising than the recommendation that NYRA should install a synthetic track at Saratoga. With the Spa already having two turf courses and main dirt course, it remains to been seen if there's any room...

As part of the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus initiative, the Horse of The Year bonus has been won by the Grant Tuer-trained Walking On Clouds (Gale Force Ten), who will receive £100,000 after accruing 48 points on the Horse of The Year leaderboard. The 4-year-old's All-Weather season included five wins, four seconds, two thirds and one fifth-placed effort. In its inaugural season, the ARC £1,000,000 All-Weather Bonus began Oct. 18 before ending on All-Weather Finals Day, Apr. 7. There are cash prizes for horses, who finish in the first 20...

The BHA has confirmed the addition of an all-weather fixture at Wolverhampton on Thursday, Jan. 19. Entries for the six-race card, which will carry the option to divide into eight, will close on Tuesday prior to the taking of declarations on Wednesday. Jockey confirmations for Kempton Park's fixture on Thursday will be made on Wednesday in order to line up with this additional Wolverhampton fixture. Levy Board has contributed £5,950 to the prize money costs for this fixture.

Unless you are riding in the very best races for the best stables, it's not easy being a jockey in Great Britain. Prize money in the bread-and-butter races is dreadful and, even in these lower-level events, the competition for mounts can be fierce. Four years into her career, 22-year-old jockey Grace McEntee had had enough. In search of a better life, she booked a one-way ticket to Kentucky and will begin the next stage of her career Saturday at Turfway Park when she makes her U.S. debut. "This is very...

There will be no turf fixtures at Lingfield Park Racecourse this season between June 4 and Sept. 10 while major drainage work is undertaken at the track. Races from the 14 fixtures scheduled within this timeframe will be transferred to the all-weather course. This will not affect the Derby and Oaks Trials and G3 Chartwell Fillies' S. to be held on the turf on Saturday, May 7. "There are a number of areas across the track that will really benefit from further drainage work and, as such, we have made...

David Probert, Michael Appleby, George Rooke and Godolphin all won divisional titles on All-Weather Championships Day at Newcastle. Probert won his first All-Weather Champion Jockey title with 82 victories. Probert said, "It was always a goal for me to have a championship since winning back in 2008 when I was champion apprentice. It's a massive achievement and I have plenty of people to thank for that, and hopefully it rolls into a good grass season." Appleby, who collected his fifth consecutive trainers' title and sixth overall with 52 winners, said...

ThoroughBid has catalogued 20 horses in training for the upcoming All-Weather Sale, slated for Jan. 16. Graduates of the online auction will qualify for £30,000 All-Weather Challenge. Among entrants, Mick Appleby's recent Shadwell-bred colt Annaf (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), winner at Newcastle Jan. 6 and four-time winner Here and Now (GB) (Dansili {GB}). From Ireland, Joseph O'Brien is offering up a pair of maiden winners--4-year-old colt Talbot (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and Adelisa (Ire), a 4-year-old daughter of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). All horses sold will go on to compete in the...

A total of 390 fixtures will be run in Ireland in 2022, with the fixture list published on Tuesday. There are 387 fixtures on the list at this stage with three 'floating fixtures' to be kept in reserve to be programmed at short notice by the Horse Racing Ireland Fixtures Committee. There will be 346 turf fixtures (up from 339 in 2021) and 44 all-weather fixtures (up from 41 this year). Six Sundays have been kept blank-Apr. 24, June 19, July 24, Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9, and...

GSW and MG1SP Kachy (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}--Dubai Bounty {GB}, by Dubai Destination), raced by Dave Lowe, suffered a fatal injury at Lingfield on Saturday. Tom Dascombe's speedster was lining up in Saturday's Heed Your Hunch At Betway H., after his planned appearance in the Listed Cleves S. two weeks ago was scuppered by a last-minute setback. After Kachy broke in his usual electric style, he took a false step as the race began in earnest and was swiftly pulled up by Richard Kingscote. The race was won by James Fanshawe's...

Racing at Kempton could be assured for the foreseeable future after the Jockey Club announced it has submitted plans for a smaller-scale residential development on part of the racecourse estate. In Jan. 2017, the Jockey Club unveiled a shock proposal to close the Sunbury venue, with the land submitted for consideration following the local authority's 'Call for Sites' to address unmet local housing needs. The decision caused huge dismay in the racing world, with trainer Nicky Henderson fearing it would be "a nail in the National Hunt coffin" if the...