You may be of the opinion, and perhaps quite rightly, that I write self-indulgent twaddle. It is, though, you must accept,  advert-free twaddle. You may also ask yourself why I bother, especially when, even though retired from paid-employment, I continue to get out of bed at 4 in the morning to read The Racing Post and write in response to what I read? I will tell you. I care about our sport and for the horses who provide our entertainment. I am, though, on the outside of things. I am also an outlier in the sense that my commitment to the sport has nothing to do with betting. And although I can afford to go racing once in a while, as I have got older, even though I am very fit for my years, mentally I struggle with travelling to unfamiliar places, technology that is nowadays everywhere, and crowds.The former used...

On occasions, you just like the look of a horse. Yesterday, at Newmarket, I was taken by both the manner of the victory and the overall look of Haffner and would prefer him evry day of the week above Abraham Lincoln who beat him on debut. I am fully aware that you would have to look long and hard for several seasons to find a filly or colt at Ballydoyle that could be described as unattractive, with the majority of the colts sporting the look of equine demi-gods. Given the unlikely opportunity that 'the lads' granted me one of my wishes, I would have Haffner associated with my name, especially when it comes to next season's Epsom Derby. One of racing's great selling points is the diversity you will find on any day of the week. In today's Racing Post, either side of a photograph of 'buy of the century and...

Occasionally someone makes a comment or there is a headline that makes me laugh even though no humour was intended. In The Racing Post today, in the breeding industry section, that though it will perhaps become a truth, as of now is simply pie in the sky. Referring to Senorita Bonita's victory in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, the headline  suggested that she had justified her price tag. 900,000-guineas is a huge amount of money, and for someone with my small amount of savings it is an insane amount, enough to buy two houses and a top-of-the-range second-hand car. Yesterday the filly won her owners £70,000, so at the moment she is somewhere around 800,000-guineas in deficit, not taking into account training fees. I know you will say that by being a black type winning filly, if she came on the market again she might make £1-million, far more if she...

I thought criticism from the always elegant, usually fair and diplomatic, Francesca Cumani on the ride James Doyle gave to Arabian Crown in the Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket yesterday was uncalled-for. It is a poor look for the sport when a jockey is criticised for not using his whip more often in a race, especially when the jockey involved is not given an opportunity to explain the instructions given to him by the trainer. I am sure Francesca's comments were in light of the team tactics hoo-ha after Royal Ascot. It is perhaps true that Arabian Crown was there to make an even pace for his more illustrious stable-mate Rebel's Romance, yet when push came to shove, James Doyle did just that, not conceding to his best mate William Buick until perhaps the final few strides. He may have only used his whip once but that might have been...

Late reporting for duty as being someone who wilts in the sun, I needed get the cycle out before it gets too hot. I remain determined to die healthy! Occasionally, and not often enough for my peace of mind, a horse comes along that becomes like the furniture in your home and when they are gone you not only miss them but you appreciate them more in their absence than when they were present season after season. One such horse is Sweet William. Philippa Cooper has announced 'her favourite horse' is now retired and will join her other grand servants or 'thugs' as she described them in The Racing Post today, in what I am damn sure will be a life of reverential retirement at her Normandy Stud. (Hope I have named the stud correctly) For all the reverence thrown at sprinters and milers by breeders and sales agents, not one...

Hate, as with the word genius, is one of the most overused and misappropriated words in the English language, so I will modify my emotion to 'dislike' the type of day when the subject matter that dominates the pages of The Racing Post is either political with a capital P or just plain bad news for the sport. Today politics with a capital P combines with plain bad news to make the start of my day one of annoyance and frustration. The Gambling Commission has carried out the Devil's work and imposed affordability checks on punters to the tune of £5,000 net deposit in a rolling period of 24-hours for over 25's and £2,500 for under 25's net deposit in a rolling period of 24-hours. That is only stage 1, though, and I suggest you research the subject further to learn about the Interim Stage and the Final Stage. The age...

I would be amazed to discover that Julian Muscat believes in any topics of debate that are labelled 'conspiracy theories'. He is, at least his style of writing and thought process comes across to me, a Geoff Boycott type of guy. Nicely struck singles are more his thing, rather than lofted straight drives that only just makes it over the head of the fielder on the boundary. He bats straight and true. I say this as he is the member of The Racing Post team of contributors that I am least likely to agree with. Not that he necessarily is wrong in what he writes, just that he doesn't always chime with my opinions, and I am as likely to be as stumped while floundering outside of the crease as anyone. Anyway, having poured cold water on the expressions of greatness for Constitution River by his colleagues, it was surprising to...

Well, something had to be done; someone had to move things forward and congratulations to the good people of Goodwood and York for grasping the heated handle. Of course, Ascot started things off by announcing they were resigning from the Race Course Association (RCA) and now Goodwood and York have got together to propose a shake-up of racing's governance. They have jointly proposed that the sport be split into 3 sectors, rather like the days when there was The Jockey Club and The National Hunt Committee, going forward with a nod to the past. What is proposed is that there should be an Elite Flat Panel, Foundation Flat Panel and a Jumps Panel, which I hope and pray is titled The National Hunt Committee. All commercial and committee groups will be consigned to the bin to remove self-interest stifling progress. Each panel would have three representatives of licenced professionals, owners and...

I was wrong, again. It was not Aidan first and second but Aidan first and third, with the youngest son in between. As I have claimed before, we are living in Aidan's world and are priviledged to witness him training-up the inheritors of his world, his two sons. We will entitle this period in our racing history 'The King and his Two Princes'. Firstly, let me get this out of the way. For a colt, and worse, a top-class colt, to be named A Boy Named Susie is wrong, disrespectful and if there lies humour in the name, the joke must soon wear thin. The quiet member of the O'Brien clan is responsible for breeding the unfortunate colt, and perhaps for labouring him with the burden of a parody of one of Johnney Cash's most remembered songs, 'A Boy Named Sue.' Ana, I am sure, is as nice a human being...

Craig Thake, writing in the Another View column of The Racing Post today, asks an interesting question on the subject of horses and heat, with emphasis on the heatwave of June and perhaps the coming July heatwave, which is suggested to last much longer. Thake writes from the perspective of the punter, believing that knowledge of the temperature of when races were previously run would give the punter an edge, even suggesting the temperature on the day of a horse's last run should be on the racecard alongside the ground conditions. This would be going too far, in my opinion, though it would be reasonable to have all weather conditions in the form guides. Horseman will tell you that some horses hate the wind, no doubt because it plays havoc with their senses, especially hearing. I have heard tales of horses refusing to leave their stables if it is raining or snowing....

It struck me the other day that the tactics used by Ryan Moore at The Curragh in the Irish Derby where not the tactics he told the Epsom stewards he intended to use before Benvenuto Cellini chose the three-legged approach to jumping out of the stalls. Ryan wanted to be prominent at Epsom, whereas at The Curragh he took the opposite approach, settling at the rear and making steady progress in the straight. We all know, of course, due to a lack of common sense on the part of the Epsom stewards, that our eyes deceived us and Benvenuto Cellini never actually took part in the Epsom Derby of 2026 but shouldn't the inquiry be reconvened so that we might be introduced into the whys and wherefores of the differing tactics from Epsom to The Curragh. I hate to think that Ryan told porkies at the inquiry to the Epsom stewards...

I have long wondered if the modern-day gallops used by trainers to bring to fitness the horses under their care could be the cause of the minor viral infections found in the lungs and airways of horses after trachea washes or endoscopic examinations. In general, I believe, all-weather surfaces are not watered and it is a fact that gallops composed of wood-bark, wood-chippings, synthetic surfaces made up of chopped-up rubber or carpet, perhaps even sand, deterorate over time and as each individual part breaks down dust, in one form or another, must be the result. Apart from the lead horse, is it possible that every other horse is liable to be breathing in these microscopic dust particles? I pose the question as I do not believe that in the days when horses were extensively trained on grass there were fewer reports of respiratory conditions being given by trainers for disappointing results....

I am pleased to see that France Galop are sticking to their guns and moving not an inch from their proposal to allow geldings to run in the Arc from next season. Guillaum de Saint-Seine, president of France Galop, has reiterated that there was a majority vote in favour of geldings being allowed into the Arc, though there were a few vociferous opponents. He also said there was popular appeal in favour of geldings from owners, trainers and jockeys. It is, though, not a done deal as the proposal must be accepted by the European Pattern Committee which has amongst its panel, I believe, are thoroughbred breeders who may or may not be influenced in their vote by breeding big hitters who may be friends or clients. I suggest if the European Pattern Committee, who will be under pressure from both camps to vote in accordance with their varying motives, move...

We all suffer from self-interest at times. A universal decision that affects the football team we follow, for example, is never judged by anyone of us in the round, the good it might bring to the majority. It is a personal slight, a rock in the road on our personal journey towards hopeful reflective glory. I, for instance, or indeed you, have no actual financial stake in the decision by France Galop to open the Arc to geldings. The Arc is so far out of our influence it is folly just to give it any thought until the days leading-up to the race itself. What care I if a gelding wins the 2027 Arc. John Magnier senior, though, does have a financial interest in the decision to allow geldings to take part in Europe's most valued and valuable race. He is the business of making stallions, standing them at one of...

It is not generally good, is it, this near total domination by one trainer, one jockey (more or less) and one breeding and racing operation? It is spectacular, of course, unprecedented, almost certainly, yet coming close to turning people away from our sport due to the predictability of what is going to happen. The saving grace, of course, is that Aidan will run 3.4 or 5-horses in a race, all of them with the breeding to suggest winning a Group 1 would be a formality, ensuring there is real competition, even if, as with yesterday's Irish Derby, what we have is two races in one, one involving the Ballydoyle horses and another involving those who dare to take on the Ballydoyle battalion.  For all the faith Ryan Moore has in Benvenuto Cellini, and he was a good winner of the race, I cannot believe he is the best 3-year-old of this...

It has emerged that resting a leg on the ledge in the starting stalls is Benvenuto Cellini's party piece. Yes, it seems he has played the standing on three legs game while waiting for the gates to open ever since he was introduced to starting stalls. 'He has a habit of lifting his hind legs and putting them out. He does it and the lads said he was doing it when they were putting him in at home,' Aidan is quoted in today's Racing Post. So Epsom was not a one-off; so why was this not mentioned at the time and especially during the stewards' enquiry? And it certainly explains why the horse lost very little ground at the start. This revelation just adds another layer to one of the most farcical Epsom Derbys in its long history. So will Ryan Moore's undiminished faith in Benvenuto Cellini be rewarded at The...

I read in the Racing Post today, at least according to David Jennings, that Tom Segal has stated, as I have done on this site, his belief that Joseph O'Brien is going to be as great a trainer as his father. Of course, strictly on the results gained at Royal Ascot, Joseph is two-winners less accomplished than his father but then Joseph is not supported by the might of Coolmore and his five winners were owned by five different owners, which perhaps makes his winning haul that bit more impressive. And Joseph also has to work the handicaps, something his father rarely has to bother with. Just imagine if Ben Jones had ridden a more restrained race on Jordans in the Aintree National back in April and Joseph had an Aintree National on his c.v. along with the two Melbourne Cups, an Irish Derby, an Epsom Oaks and a Doncaster St....

Look, John and Thady Gosden know their horses far better than I know myself. For someone with my lack of knowledge of the subject to criticise someone of John Gosden's legandary status is tantamount to defamatory comment. I am though only using his or their decision to by-pass the Eclipse with Ombudsman in favour of giving the horse more time to recover from his exertions at Royal Ascot in the Prince of Wales's Stakes to put across a point. It is just that the 'trend' for  connections of the best horses in training to disrespect the semi-classic races like the Eclipse when in the past, perhaps now the distant past, a horse might run in two races at the Royal meeting, even twice in two-days and win both times. What has changed? The breed? The way horses are now trained? Or there are so many top-level races these days in comparison...

Note to Richard Forristal of the Racing Post: the sport for all its existence has been called horse racing, not horse breeding. The two may live hand in glove with each other but it should be remembered that without the hand there is no need of the glove. When the Arc was invented, it was needed. There was no King George and Queen Elisabeth Stakes in 1919. Derby winners, French, English or Irish were kettled towards the Cup races, with the Ascot Gold Cup as prestigious in those days as any Derby. Comrade won the inaugural Prix de I'Arc de Triomphe, ridden by Frank Bullock. Incidentally, I have always thought the title of the Ascot race to be too long, too convoluted. Given our late Queen's passion for our sport, would it not be a lasting honour to her for the K.G & Q.E. to be shorted to the Queen Elisabeth...

Geldings will be allowed to run in the Prix de I'Arc de Triomphe from 2027. Hooray! Though no single horse race proclaims a champion, the winner of the Arc is usually considered the most prestigious middle-distance race of the year, with the winner going down in racing history as one of the best of the best. This is a justifiable decision by France Galop even if the purists will claim it as the beginning of the end. Scott Burton in the Racing Post today lays his colours to the mast of the doomy and gloomy, citing you should be careful for you wish for. More geldings means more horses eligible to run in the Arc, which inevitably means some high-class horses will be balloted out. He may be correct, it has happened in the past, but geldings have been balloted out by design throughout the 100+ years of existence of the...