Amid the hoo-ha that surrounds Ascot week, one piece of Jumping news has escaped almost unseen, which will be viewed with sadness by a majority of the professional training community. Simon Claisse, Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham since 1999, is leaving the home of Jump racing.  With a background as a farm manager, and a pretty good record between the flags with some 60 winners to his name...

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Arnold Palmer once said,"The harder I practice, the luckier I get". It's an adage all too familiar to racehorse trainers, but sometimes when your luck is out, you just have to trade through it. Sometimes, luck is playing against you; sometimes, your horses are performing below their best; sometimes, they're just plain not good enough.  Two of the hardest-working people I know are Martin and ...

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Britain has a long history with horse racing dating back beyond Charles II's dalliances with Nell Gwyn on Newmarket Heath. The grandeur and elegance of some of the famous events capture the imagination of the public evenamong those that are not enthusiasts. The social aspect of a day at the races as you cheer on the horses that you’ve bet on is unique, and has been broadly welcomed...

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There were no fairy tale season endings at the last grand hurrah of the Hunter chase season at Stratford on Friday evening. The racing was highly competitive with some close finishes, none of which sadly included runners from Gloucestershire stables.  The closest we came to success was in the Pertemps Network Stratford Foxhunter, where the Fergal O'Brien-trained Captain Cattistock reached a ...

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