Hi there, The overriding emotion that emanated from those close to City Of Troy following his hard fought success in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on Saturday was more one of relief than elation, with Ryan Moore telling Nick Luck in a post-race interview that he had expected the colt to “win by 10 lengths.” Lewis Porteous, writing in Sunday’s Racing Post, said of the colt’s Derby performance that he “arrived in the lead travelling like a Rolls Royce” in a “performance that saw him resurrect his superstar status.” Yet anyone looking at footage of the Derby will see Ryan Moore at work with hands and ..read more

You make it to 75 and you assume that, by and large, there are very few surprises left. I’m happy to go along with this, the occasional 125/1 winner notwithstanding, but on Radio 3 the other morning I heard something which stopped me in my tracks. During the 8am news bulletin, we learned that fewer people are taking any interest in the news. And the thing is, I can well believe it. People have had enough, especially on the political front, and have belatedly acknowledged that life really is too short to listen to any more lies, obfuscations and bogus promises. This broadcast was unique because ..read more

It came as no surprise to learn over the weekend that City Of Troy will be aimed at the Coral-Eclipse rather than the Irish Derby. Group 1 form over ten furlongs is always favoured over mile and a half form by breeders, who look for the sire to impose speed into a middle-distance or staying mare. Although he was off the pace in the early stages of the Derby, he made all to win the Dewhurst and Sandown’s stiff mile and a quarter will suit his long-striding style of racing. City Of Troy is a top price of 10/11 as I write, with Passenger – who misses the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot du ..read more

Hi there! It came as no surprise to learn over the weekend that City Of Troy will be aimed at the Coral-Eclipse rather than the Irish Derby. Group 1 form over ten furlongs is always favoured over mile and a half form by breeders, who look for the sire to impose speed into a middle-distance or staying mare. Although he was off the pace in the early stages of the Derby, he made all to win the Dewhurst and Sandown’s stiff mile and a quarter will suit his long-striding style of racing. City Of Troy is a top price of 10/11 as I write, with Passenger – who misses the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Roya ..read more

Hi there I sensed a collective sigh of relief from the majority of pundits following the success of City Of Troy in the Derby last weekend. In the old days I would have said this was due to the landing of long-term ante-post bets, but that market is no longer as active as it once was and City Of Troy was a much better price in the aftermath of the 2000 Guineas than he had been through the winter. The other reason may be because Aidan O’Brien is guaranteed to provide plenty of interesting copy in his post-race interviews, and that was indeed the case on Saturday. Looking at the race once everyt ..read more

Written on Monday 13th May 2024 Hi there I’m not sure that the Derby picture is any clearer now, following the weekend trials at Lingfield and Leopardstown, than it was a week ago. Those of us of a certain age like to try to find a Sea Bird, Nijinsky, Mill Reef, Shergar or Sea The Stars, but colts of that calibre are very few and far between and for every one of those we have half-a-dozen Kris Kins, Erhaabs or High-Rises. One measure of the openness of the race is the number of runners Aidan O’Brien fields – a tactic that has served him well in recent years, with Ruler Of The World, Wings of E ..read more

Last Friday was one of the most absorbing days of racing that I have seen in a long time. Quite why we had an afternoon clash of meetings at three top-tier tracks – Newbury, Newmarket and York – is beyond me but there were plenty of intriguing maiden races, some of which are likely to produce Group-class performers. Then on Saturday we had the London Gold Cup, a race that in recent years has been won by subsequent high-class winners Bay Bridge, Headman and Time Test. Roger Charlton had sent out the winner of this race three times and on Saturday his son Harry’s name was alongside King’s Gambit ..read more

“Don’t really know whether to congratulate or commiserate. Suppose just bad luck on all concerned to be born same century as L Piggott.” A typically warm response from the late Fred Winter in a sympathetic card to Barry Hills just after Lester and Roberto had inched out Ernie Johnson and Rheingold in the 1972 Epsom Derby. It was the most riveting finish I’ve ever seen, Lester swaying back in the saddle and administering three more rat-a-tat blows like a drummer on speed to force Roberto’s head in front on the line. Not everyone approved. Today’s contentious whip guidelines are often used to su ..read more

Hi there, I’m not sure that the Derby picture is any clearer now, following the weekend trials at Lingfield and Leopardstown, than it was a week ago. Those of us of a certain age like to try to find a Sea Bird, Nijinsky, Mill Reef, Shergar or Sea The Stars, but colts of that calibre are very few and far between and for every one of those we have half-a-dozen Kris Kins, Erhaabs or High-Rises. One measure of the openness of the race is the number of runners Aidan O’Brien fields – a tactic that has served him well in recent years, with Ruler Of The World, Wings of Eagles, Anthony Van Dyck and Ser ..read more

Hi there! I’m pretty sure that the powers that be will have breathed a collective sigh of relief when 21 of the 32 starters in the Grand National came home, with no fallers and just two horses – Mac Tottie and Delta Work – sustaining minor injuries. I still feel that the Grand National should not be the prism through which jump racing is judged by the public at large. For all the modifications it still retains some unique characteristics, but I would sooner the reported millions of people around the world who tune in to watch the race were guided instead towards a midweek meeting in a rural se ..read more