Hatteen
Betfred St Leger Trial Novice Stakes Doncaster 9th July “This race was put on to get people talking about the St Leger and after an impressive win, Hatteen has certainly fulfilled that aim” “The Bird has Flown” were the closing comments of commentator Stewart Machin at Doncaster and that perfectly sums up the performance of […]
Magyar Derby
Magyar Derby 2026 Kincsem Park – 5th July 2026 Fans of Spanish racing will be only too aware of the incredible skills of Vaclav Janacek. The leading rider in Spain has made his mark elsewhere with victories in France and Dubai and is one of the leading riders in Europe. With that in mind, the […]
German Derby
The 157th Deutsches Derby (G1) Hamburg – 5th July 2026 “It was DARDANOS who delivered a 6th German Derby victory for his trainer Andreas Wohler on Sunday afternoon in the Hamburg sunshine. The 3-year-old by Soldier Hollow raced prominently throughout and once in front, he held off the late challenge of the Henk Grewe trained […]
Belmont Derby
Belmont Derby Stakes – Grade 1 Saratoga – 4th July 2026 “This horse is unbelievably difficult to beat and despite his compact size, he is developing a reputation as one of the best turf horses of his generation” What a race! A margin of just 0.04s between the first 3 when they crossed the line […]
Coral Eclipse
Coral-Eclipse (G1) Sandown Park – 4th July 2026 Constitution River and Ryan Moore (orange and blue) winning The Coral-Eclipse Sandown 4.6.26 Pic Dan Abraham-focusonracing.com Does the 10 lbs weight for age allowance make a big difference to the 3-year-olds chances? I think I would have to say that at this time of the year, the […]
Bet365 Highlander Stakes
Bet365 Highlander Stakes – Grade 2 Woodbine – 27th June 2026 Horse Racing is about puzzle solving and that’s one of the great attractions to the sport. Much like other aspects of life, some puzzles are easier to solve than others, but there are also occasions when solutions can be very obvious. Although this is […]
JenningsBet Northumberland Plate Handicap
JenningsBet Northumberland Plate Handicap (Heritage Handicap) Newcastle – 27th June 2026 “The winner is a smart horse who is worthy of his likely new 100+ rating, but on a track that was riding quickly and favouring the prominent runners, I can’t help but think that there was at least a small amount of good fortune […]
Stephen Foster Stakes Preview
Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) Churchill Downs – 27th June 2026 A small but select field will go to post for the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The race would look to revolve around the best of last year’s Triple Crown form, but when we add in the multiple Grade 1 […]
Royal Ascot 2026 The 2-year-olds
Royal Ascot 2026 The 2-Year-Old Review I certainly wasn’t short of material when it came to choosing a topic for this week’s column for TPD. Royal Ascot was fantastic and 35 highly competitive races presented a wealth of data that could be used to create some interesting angles. Scandinavia and Trawlerman producing a Gold Cup […]
Coronation Stakes
Coronation Stakes (Group 1) Ascot – 19th June 2026 The original plan for Friday’s content had been a review of the Commonwealth Cup. For what it’s worth, I thought Venetian Sun was superb and she finished her race in the manner of a horse who is dominant in her division. However, as good as Karl […]