Laura Pearson

The Tattersalls Somerville Sale has meant that a return to Newmarket could be delayed no longer but this column sprang, or perhaps staggered, into life on the final day of Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche. The scribbling started reasonably early on Sunday morning from a desk in the press room that boasts one of the best views in the racing world, looking out across the turf to the wooded mountains of the Black Forest. It was also the desk that was once occupied by British-born but German-based racing correspondent David Connolly-Smith, who...

Apprentice Laura Pearson is taking a break from riding until the start of the Flat season in March. Pearson, who currently has a five-pound claim, announced the news at Wolverhampton on Sunday. On top of the apprentice jockeys' title race with 22 winners, Pearson has 23 winners left before her claim is reduced to three pounds. Pearson made the call after discussing the issue with trainer Tom Clover and her agent Steve Croft. "We've had a good chat about it, myself and the governor [Clover] and my agent--and you've got...