William Hill Game Spirit Chase (G2)
William Hill Game Spirit Chase (G2) “Lulamba” In the build up to Saturday’s card at Newbury there was a lot of speculation around Nicky Henderson’s team and whether they would run some of their stars on the deep ground at Newbury. Jango Baie wasn’t declared for the Denman Chase but the decision to keep Lulamba […]
Abu Dhabi Gold Cup
Abu Dhabi Gold Cup The inaugural running of the Abu Dhabi Gold Cup needed a moment of magic and it certainly got that from Joao Moreira. He isn’t called the magic man for no reason and his ride aboard Strauss, which was reminiscent of so many of his successes in Hong Kong over the years, […]
Don Lockwood Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle
Don Lockwood Sidney Banks Memorial Novices’ Hurdle “Act of Innocence” When Act of Innocence was beaten by Minella Yoga at Newbury in December, there was a slight sense that the bubble had burst. He was conceding a lot of weight to Paul Nicholls 4-year-old and the post-race comments from Nicholls, a former trainer of Act […]
William Hill Denman Chase (G2)
William Hill Denman Chase (G2) If we take the ratings and indeed the Antepost markets literally, then this is going to be a straight between Haiti Couleurs and L’Homme Presse. The former has already won a Welsh Grand National under a big weight this season and has been re-routed here after travel issues meant that […]
Sixmilebridge
Sixmilebridge Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase (G1) There will be definitely be some split opinions on the 2026 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown. On the one hand, there is the form book. Kitzbuhel came to grief before halfway and didn’t really look to be in love with the testing conditions or the jumping […]
Holy Bull Stakes
Holy Bull Stakes (G3) Gulfstream Park “Nearly” Wow! That was the first word that came to my mind when watching the video replay of this year’s Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Visually, this was one of the most impressive performances that we have seen from this crop of 3-year-olds and I’m not surprised to […]
Sovereign Spirit
Sovereign Spirit HHH The Crown Prince’s Cup (G3) Sponsored by Cebarco If we had to name a horse that is associated with the Bahrain Turf Club, it would have to be Sovereign Spirit. Trained by Jaber Ramadhan, this was a 7th success in Bahrain for the 6-year-old son of Le Havre, who seems to be […]
Maestro Conti
Maestro Conti I’m going to do my best and keep this piece relatively short. Saturday’s card at Cheltenham had a very strange feeling around it and for various reasons each of the Cheltenham “Trials” races had reasons to doubt the form. The incident with Sir Gino changed the entire mood on the card. I have […]
Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1)
Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) This was the 4th time that Skippylongstocking had run in the Pegasus World Cup. He finished 7th behind Art Collector in 2023, last of 12 behind National Treasure in 2024 and 3rd behind White Abarrio in 2025. Maybe a case could have been made that he produced an improved […]
Jebel Hatta Presented by Longines (G1)
Jebel Hatta Presented by Longines (G1) “Opera Ballo wins his first Group 1, it won’t be his last” Opera Ballo has now won 6 of his 8 career starts for Charlie Appleby and it may be tempting to think that he doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for that record. He was disappointing when […]