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It's impossible to feel anything but admiration for the superlative achievement of Fergal O'Brien in training his hundredth winner at Kempton on Monday evening, and it's only a shame that there could be no fan club there to celebrate with him. This has been a breakthrough season where the only witnesses have been on TV or online.  The O'Brien story is not quite a rags to riches one, but make...

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Albi Tufnell, enjoying a gap year with Fergal O'Brien, enjoyed his second Rules winner at Stratford's fixture yesterday, when I'm Wiser Now got up late home to win the Grass Roots Hunters Chase.  It looked an unlikely victory even in a four runner field. Always handy, he was outpaced four out, but rejoined the lead around the home turn, before a last fence blunder appeared to have put paid t...

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Tom Scudamore is a former pupil at Cheltenham College, which alumni association sponsors a race at Andoversford. In the absence of the race fixture this year, the school roped in Tom to talk about his schooldays and his progression to be aoming the top flight of the sport.     

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The Aintree Foxhunter is on any amateur's bucket list as a precursor to a tilt at the mother of all steeplechases, the Grand National, and today, one entry limbered up with a final run before next Thursday's big event.  Caid du Berlais, a 15/2 chance at Aintree, was a ready winner of the Air Wedding Hunters' Chase at Warwick for Sam Loxton and Will Biddick at the prohibitive odds of 1/8. And...

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I normally approach the Saturday at the end of March with sadness as a die-hard Jumping fan, because once the Lincoln is on, the jumps calendar plays second fiddle till the end of the season with the exception of the Grand National. In fact, the period between Cheltenham and Aintree is something of a no-man's land for quality racing, but this does make for creative raceplanning to allow some of th...

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There are relatively few marquee Fridays in a National Hunt season concentric around quality races on Saturdays, especially toward the end of March, when much of the top flight has either run at Cheltenham or is held back for Aintree. Yet today turned into a red letter day for Stow-on-the-Wold trainer Graeme McPherson, with a cross card double earning his owners over £25,000. Musselburgh's ...

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As Point-to-Point racing restarts again next Monday, the opening race at Maisemore is one in which we can all share. The Hunt Members Race combines the respective races of the Ledbury, Cotwold, Cotswold Vale, Heythrop and Monmouthshire, with representatives from each making up an entry of 21, writes Pete Mansell. The Ledbury look to hold a strong hand with Ballyboker Breeze, Trio for Rio, Chase M...

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Festival week normally has Gloucestershire folk comparing notes and reviewing the week for some time after, but since no-one was able to watch except on TV, the ambiance has dissipated all too quickly. Perhaps all the more so for a trail of burst balloons, where highly anticipated performers from within the county failed to hit the sweet spot in the march of the Irish Empire.  One sole Glouc...

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After two Festival days dominated by Irish horses, it was something of a relief to cheer home a locally-trained horse in Sky Pirate, winner of the Grand Annual this afternoon. The distance may have been the shortest that is recorded within the Rules, but we can mark it up to Gloucestershire, short head or otherwise.  As for his trainer, well if that soft Irish burr has been toned down a litt...

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Are you looking forward to Cheltenham? I haven't missed a Festival in nearly 35 years, but this year, I'm approaching the event with mixed feelings. Will the thrill be just as great, despite no crowd? If you were a trainer or rider winning one of those coveted races for the first time, how will you feel returning to a silence rather than the cheers of the crowd and the buzz of warm appreciation? ...

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