Brocklesby Stakes

The training game may be a tough one but that doesn't stop new young hopefuls  joining the ranks each year. Getting early winners on the board counts for everything and that is something Alice Haynes managed from the outset. Now, just over three years since she sent out her first runner, her string has grown steadily in number and she has taken on the historic Machell Place Stables in Newmarket in addition to her original base just across the road at Cadland Cottage Stables. Despite having all of Newmarket's expansive...

Saturday may be April Fools' Day but there will be no fool's errand for the 17 juveniles charged with getting their racing careers off to a bright start in Britain's traditional turf season opener, the Pertemps Network EBF Brocklesby S. Love it or loathe it, the Brocklesby carries with it that great sigh of relief from Flat fans that winter is at last over and 'proper racing' can now commence. For the men and women behind the stallions with their first runners this season, it is also an important marker,...

For many years it was a tradition that the British Flat racing season would start on the Carholme at Lincoln towards the end of March and then finish at Manchester (and at Lingfield, which raced on the same afternoon) in November. Lincoln and Manchester have both now been lost in the mists of time, each having closed its doors in the 1960s. Happily, the season's first big race (the Lincolnshire H., as it became known in 1860, having previously been known as the Lincoln Spring H.) and its last big...