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Many people on this forum will know of Eve Johnson Houghton but not so many her father Fulke, who has sadly died at the age of 84. When I became interested in racing he was amongst the leading trainers in England and seemed set for a wonderful future. The first good horse he trained was...

The Aga Khan, leader of the minority Ismaili Moslem sect, has died at the age of 88. Fabulously rich, he has been a force in the thoroughbred breeding world for more than 65 years. A British citizen, he lived mostly in Continental Europe, mainly France, and for the last 20 years has had horses...

A bit early to start this but Mark Dixon almost got off the mark with his first runner of the year at Wolverhampton. Pink Petunia, despite running very freely, went down by just 3/4length to the Godolphin 4/5 favourite. She was 80-1 so this must have exceeded the expectations of her connections...

An early start for the Royal Stud as the recently sold Crown Estate (110,000gns) won his first race last week for his new owners in Dubai, on the all-weather. Good news for the new owners but also the King as it shows he's not selling poor stock. The price he got for this gelding by Dubawi out...

Ron asked me to list what I considered were promising 2yos (+one 3yo) for the 2025 flat season. A bit early, maybe, but (for example) Kalpana did run on the All-Weather last year.

It is not often great trainers retire (because there's not that many) but yesterday saw the announcement for one of those greats. After more than 50 years as a trainer in the UK he has decided to hang up his binoculars. I first noticed him in 1972 when he won a few small races. I took note 2...

With just a few days to the proper start of the Flat season. here's a stroll down memory lane remembering the early days of Henry Cecil. Mention the name Henry Cecil today and most people will say something about Frankel. Which is true but at the same time a shame as Cecil was so much more than...

These three owner breeders (I write about every year) have had divergent times over the last 4-5 years. Gillian, Lady Howard de Walden has been steady-away with her two mares over that period, though unlucky to have lost a couple of young fillies. Cliveden Stud amounts to having just one...

The 2024 Flat Year kicks off for the King with his first runner at Kempton on Wednesday. The unraced 3yo colt Calculate makes his debut in an 8f maiden at the Sunbury track. He’s a Cracksman colt out of the unraced Al Kazeem mare Craftiness. Her first foal wasn’t up to much and the mare appears...

Looking back over the years I’ve followed racing there are 2 consecutive years that stand apart. People will argue that there were better single years, others will argue there were better horses than these. I just think it’s impossible to argue against the uniformity of class that was seen...

These three owner breeders continue, though all have their issues. Most activity is around Mark Dixon and his mares. As clarified before, Dixon is involved in two partnerships (with Ashbrittle Stud and Mount Coote Stud), while at the same time having a mare he owns outright. Last year was a...

A bit early to start, maybe a false start, but the Gosden's saddle the King's first flat runner of 2023 in the shape of the once-raced Comely at Kempton on Wednesday. She ran no sort of race a month ago and hopefully will do better this time. Rather than being ridden by Havlin, she's the mount...

Looking back over the years I’ve followed racing there are 2 consecutive years that stand apart. People will argue there were better single years, others will argue there were better horses than these. I just think it’s impossible to argue against the uniformity of class that was seen during...

Oisin Murphy has been banned from race riding until February 2023. Murphy pleaded guilty to all 5 charges brought against him by the BHA. It is always sad to see a person of talent fall, and personally I feel sorry for him. However there's little doubt he was guilty and knew it. This will...

A few slim years for the 3 owner-breeders I follow. In Mark Dixon’s case there has been a continuing feel of jam tomorrow. I can’t see 2022 being immeasurably different. In 2021 Dixon had only 2 wins. One was by the retained 4yo filly Punting and the other by the now-sold, 3yo, Pretty Fair...

A bit early but I'm not attempting any analysis at this stage. It's just that The Queen has her first runner tomorrow at Southwell. Last year Spring is Sprung was her first 2yo winner and looked to have some chance at Royal Ascot, where the colt ran unaccountably badly. No excuses were given but...

This is a quiz for the next few weeks. Feel free to have a stab at all or just some of it. Every 2 or 3 days I will put up a new question which will have 3 parts. Rules There will be 3 parts to every question, a, b and c while 10 points will be awarded in total. You can answer one part, two...

Joe Mercer, to me the finest jockey I ever saw ride a racehorse, died today at the age of 86. He may not have been the greatest jockey of the last 75 years, though he wasn't far off it. It was watching him ride a horse in early 1967 that got me totally entranced with racing.

Short rations this year for these 3 owner-breeders. Mark Dixon leads on numbers this year but has no 2yos. In 2020 4 yearlings went to the sales. The most interesting of these 4 was Aerospace, who’s a Sea the Stars daughter of Oaks winner Talent and is in training with John and Thady Gosden. So...

The Queen opened her seasonal score with a win at Chelmsford yesterday. Trained by Hannon, the 3yo Sergeant Major is no star and may well be sold soon: but it's a start. Usually by this time in March one would expect to know more about her plans for 2021 but very few of her 2yos have been placed...