Racing is a sport where superstitions are rife. Trainers and riders are creatures of habit. They follow methods that have worked previously. The late David Nicholson always wore red socks to the races; Sam Twiston-Davies salutes magpies on the way to the start. Everyone has their set place in the Weighing Room and it's not purely down to hierarchy. Habit, especially where it can be connected to su...

Read more...

Five winners for trainers based within Gloucestershire at today's two National Hunt fixtures have underlined the wellbeing of the yards surronding Andoversford with just a week before Cheltenham's opening fixture on October 23rd.  Carlisle is England's most northerly racecourse, but the long journey north was no impediment to the relentless winner machine that is Fergal O'Brien's Ravenswell ...

Read more...

Whilst most British racing fans are watching Enable's progress toward this weekend's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a little closer to home, British Jumps trainers have been taking the fight to the French on home soil.  Tom George, well established in the top rank of British trainers, was beaten a neck in a Conditions Hurdle at Compiegne yesterday with French bred juvenile Bannister, ridden by J...

Read more...

The 640 mile round trip from Ravenswell Farm to Kelso Racecourse on the River Tweed proved well worthwhile for Fergal O'Brien yesterday, as he maintained his relentless winning form with a double at the Borders track.  Kiruna Pike in the Novices Handicap Chase (Run 4 Won 2) and 4 year old Maiden All Clenched in the concluding Bumper made the journey home a little sweeter for Gloucestershire'...

Read more...