Latest News

January is a bleak month at the best of times, and racing in spectator-free courses is ebbing away the enthisiasm of all byt the most ardent fan and some professionals too. However, at lowly Bangor today, three of our lesser lights found the opportunity to shine. Evesham's Tony Carroll is largely focused on the Flat nowadays, but opened his account for the National Hunt season belatedly when Man ...

Read more...

Gloucestershire handlers filled the top 4 berths in Kempton Park's 3m Handicap Chase this afternoon, but had mixed fortunes in the day's feature event, the Silviniaco Conti Chase later the same afternoon.  Whilst there have been some notable highlights in top drawer races, the Slad stable of Tom George has not been making headlines in the bread and butter races of mid week fixtures, but it b...

Read more...

In the light of the Prime Minister’s Announcement last night, the Point-to-Point Authority acted immediately to call a pause to the Point to-Point season from today.  Peter Wright, CEO of the governing body, remarked, "Whilst I know that many of you would have liked to press on, and indeed the sport remains inherently safe, we cannot claim that we are acting in a vacuum.  The...

Read more...

If Kempton's Christmas fixture  was largely dominated by Paul Nicholls and his former pupil Dan Skelton, it was left to the in-form O'Brien and Bailey yards to fly the flag for Gloucestershire further afield at Wetherby.  After Storm Bella had left much of Wetherby looking like a tributary of the Don, remarkably the fixture survived with the omission of several fences, for which most jo...

Read more...

Cloth Cap has put himself in contention for a crack at the Grand National next season a bid to end Tiger Roll’s dominance of the event at Aintree. Jonjo O’Neill’s charge has been a model of consistency over the last three years, and is entering his prime at the age of eight. He produced an excellent performance at Newbury to notch his first win of the campaign, and that could set...

Read more...

When luck is running with you, it's always advisable to make the most of it, and although there's plenty to be despondent about in the racing parish, focusing on the well-being of all the professional trainers in the county would be enough to cheer you up from the deepest depression.  The importance of Cheltenham has been a topic of conversation recently, with some wishing to knock its overr...

Read more...

It seems fitting that the ante-post favourite for the 2021 Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival is trained just down the road from the course outside Andoversford. You would do well to get more local than Kim Bailey's Thorndale Farm stables to the home of National Hunt horse racing. After all, it is about seven miles as the crow flies, straight past our Point-to-Point course. If Bailey&nb...

Read more...

Albi Tufnell, whose parents Jane and Mark farm at Calmsden, broke his duck under Rules last Friday at Sandown when Call Me Vic, owned by Jane, overcame reigning Point-to-Point champion rider Gina Andrews in the amateur chase, maintaining Fergal Brien’s impressive strike rate for December at a winner a day. Albi is earning himself a solid reputation in the amateur ranks, from a start between...

Read more...

You can always rely on the team at Jackdaws Castle to prep up a big handicap winner in the season, and they don't come much larger than the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury. This £200k staying chase is one of just 3 of that value during the entire season, the others being the Aintree and Scottish Nationals.  Running off bottom weight in a perfect piece of placing, the Trevor Hemmings' owned...

Read more...

It's been a great Saturday for our professional trainers here in Gloucestershire, taking the headlines at both ends of the country in some very valuable races.  The National Hunt season is more and more concentric around the big fixtures at weekends, notably Saturday, to the effect that big race horses are referred to as Saturday horses. With the exception of Boxing Day, New Year's Day, and ...

Read more...