Sean Bowen is critical of the summer jumping programme. I, too, am not happy with the formation of the summer jumping programme. Anyone would be, even if the problem lies not at the feet of the B.H.A. but with the racecourss and the stupid manner in which the race programme is determined. There was a time when racecourse would apply for a date to race, now though the racecourse just organise a fixture and decide the date upon which to stage it. It is like the child being in charge of the household sweet and chocolate distribution, with the parents only having a say on which biscuits the child can eat. In July/August there is a 19-day break for jump jockeys, time for a holiday and a reset. But for many jockeys that too is a problem as they like to be kept busy, even though through the season proper many...

Johnny Burke, a jockey with the ambition to become race commentator when he retires, is set to go freelance next season, leaving Fergal O'Brien after tomorrow's end-of-season meeting at Sandown Park. While it is a brave move for any jockey to give-up a retainer, Burke's career in the saddle would unlikely progress if he remained with O'Brien, as excellent a trainer as he is. When he is available, Burke is a bit of a go-to jockey when spare rides in good races become available, so at the age of 30 he must have decided it was now or never to roll the dice in hope of riding a better-class of horse on a more regular basis. If he had been a freelance this season, he might have been a good-fit for Paul Nicholls now that he has lost his faithful stable jockey. (Incidentally, it was only a few days ago that...

There is still plenty of prize money to be won over the jumps in the final week of the British season. Perth stage their popular spring meeting, with plenty of five-figure first prize-money on offer. Warwick have two Challenger Finals on Thursday and then, of course, there is the grand finale at Sandown this Saturday. Apparently, and I always grimace, sometimes laugh, when clerks of the course, in defence of providing ground without the word soft in the description, proclaim a drought, even though it is only ten-days since the last drop of rain. Given that long-range weather forecasts can be as right as they are wrong, I would have thought clerks of the course would take a pessimistic view and start watering upon the arrival of the third day without rain and then to continue topping-up until they can use the word soft in the going description. But what do...

This is the time of year for my annual moan about the ever-decreasing quality of the bet365 Chase, the old Whitbread. In its glory days, the Whitbread was won by Arkle and Mill House, the latter's return to the winners' enclosure wringing tears from the eyes of grown men, and, of course, the horse most synonymous with Sandown Park, Desert Orchid. The decline in quality and quantity seems not to concern either Sandown or its sponsor. There are still class staying chasers in training; not all of them are out at grass already. Punchestown with be replete with top-class horses next week and the bet 365, the old Whitbread, should be enticing the connections of a few of them to change direction. My cure for the old Whitbread's malaise is to change the distance of the race to 2-mile 5-furlongs, then the National Hunt season would end in a same manner...

My apologies for my non-appearance yesterday. Nearly all my own fault. Laptop troubles, that is all I am prepared to say. First a quibble. I only follow world events through YouTube and the B.B.C. Ceefax service. The latter gave scant review of the Aintree National result, yet chose to include the death of 'National Winner' Noble Yeats on the first page of the Ceefax service. The B.B.C. also described Evan Williams as 'Grand National trainer', which even he would think a stretch. Life is not fair, we all know that. It can be especially so for great racehorses, you only have to look at the comparatively short years of retirment that fate determined for Denman and Kauto Star. Noble Yeats, as a National winner, can be also be regarded as a great horse, a horse that won perhaps the only race in Europe that comes anywhere near to 'stopping a nation'....

When Joseph O'Brien's achievements are laid end-to-end, and combined with his relatively young age, it is almost fair to suggest that he is beginning to put his father in the shade. Today he has the favourite for the Scottish National, last week he had two winners at the Aintree National meeting, which might have been greatly improved upon if Ben Jones had taken a couple of deep breaths and thought about matters before boldly going where a more experienced jockey would have feared going, and he has managed to hoist an eleven-year-old into becoming the champion staying hurdler, yet foremost Joseph is a trainer of flat horses and is one of the best in the world at that game also. It is easy to forget that his father started as a jumps trainer and won races at the Cheltenham Festival and elsewhere. But not to the extent that his son is...

After the criticism that came the way of the B.H.A. when the Chelmsford Easter meeting was called-off ten-minutes after declarations, you would have thought a lesson had been learned. But no, apparently there was no lesson learned as tomorrow's meeting at Brighton has been abandoned after declarations due to badgers and birds digging-up parts of the racecourse in search of leatherjackets, the larvae of crane flies. No blame can be attached to Brighton for playing host to leatherjackets as the mild winter is the cause of the infestation, and Brighton have over the past fortnight tried manfully to kill-off the larvae, to no avail. And that is the seat of the present wave of criticism lapping around the ankles of the B.H.A.. For two-weeks Brighton groundstaff have battled with this problem, with the possibility of having to abandon tomorrow's first fixture of the season becoming more likely by the day due...

If the upcoming meeting were to be a jumps meeting, the clerk of the course would have put on more water than if, as it is, it were a flat meeting. Flat trainers would have complained bitterly if the course had been drenched to good-to-soft, and that is National Hunt good-to-soft, which is a different kettle of fish to flat good-to-soft, as they would not want their delicate 2 and 3-year-olds to have testing races this early in the season. Nicky Henderson has walked the course, a fair undertaking for a man of his age, and declared Constitution Hill a non-runner and the John Porter is reduced in both prestige and interest. Unless we have a wet late Spring and early Summer, Nicky Henderson will be walking enough courses to determine for himself the state of the ground to get himself fit enough for a fun run. Forgive the unwoke old...

You have to take it as fact that luck plays a big part when it comes to tipping winners. Jockeys, if they do not have actual control of where they finish in a race, can make decisions in response to things that happen in a race, sometimes the right decisions and more often, I suspect, the wrong decisions. The punter, on the other hand, can do nothing but wait, grimace or hope for the gods to smile upon them. Once the tape go up or the stalls open the punter is as lonely as the innocent man about to be hanged. Every race, from a humble seller at Redcar to the Grand National is a puzzle to be solved. On Saturday, I was very much down and out by the seventh fence, yet the horses that finished first and second were both probable winners according to my scatter-gun calculations. I was...

It is the proper start to the flat season this Saturday, though this year the Greenham, which, in a departure from normal service, may feature Albert Einstein, though Aidan O'Brien is yet to make-up his mind whether to pursue the long-term plan of the 2,000 Guineas or the hopeful saving grace of going sprinter with the latest 3-year-old to burn up the Ballydoyle gallops and to have his trainer in a spin of superlatives.  What I have found amusing is that on a day that has both the Fred Darling and Greenham Stakes, both important Guineas trials, as well as the Spring Cup, a highly competitive handicap, the John Porter, originally and traditionally the opening race of the meeting, has been parachuted into the number 1 billing. All because of the sport's, and for now the flat's, golden boy is due to try his hand against proper Group-type 12-furlong horses. Yes,...

At the conclusion of the National on Saturday, a strange sentiment came to me - at least it's over now, I heard from somewhere deep within me. It shames me to admit to this damning sentiment of betrayal echoing from my psyche. Two-days later I remain uneasy; as if that unwanted and uncalled-for message from deep within was a signal to some sort of termination. I will not, though, be divorced from the National, no matter my misgivings on its new look. I Am Maximus will now go down in National history, deservedly so, as one of the greats. Yet I cannot accept that he can be so easily parachuted into the same league as Red Rum or even Manifesto.  Someone should sit down and determine the start and end of the different ages eras of the National. It is obvious that the age in which Abd-El-Kader (1850/51) Peter Simple (1849/1853,...

Great Horse. Great Jockey. Great Trainer. Even Greater Owner. Same old. Same old. Let's move on. The letters column of the Racing Post today comprises some well-written and constructive moaning. I like moaning. It means the moaner cares and doesn't mind who knows it. Mr. Simms of Scunthorpe is of the opinion, given the increase in attendance at so many of the Easter Bank Holiday meetings, that the B.H.A. should allow or encourage more racecourses to stage racing over the holiday period. He is right to remind readers that back in the day there might be up to fifteen or sixteen meetings on Bank Holiday Monday alone. What he fails to note, though, is that very few of the races that comprised those fifteen+ meetings were competitive. Sadly, though, the main reason why the B.H.A. should not allow the number of Easter fixtures to swell is the much smaller number of...

Let's be clear, my history of either finding the winner of the National or coming across a long-priced outsider that out-runs its odds is as good as any leading tipster you care to name. The Tiger Rolls years, I admit, were not good to me, and I am yet to get a grip on the health and safety years of the historic race. But overall, I am not as bad at tipping horses for Aintree as I am in general. Where I struggle with the modern race is that there is no emphasis on jumping ability. Nor can anyone look for a 'National type', a horse who will improve a stone simply through having the technique for jumping fences that fall apart when brushed through or having the abundance of stamina required in the final mile of the race. In the past, even the near past, I favoured looking for a...

The following is an excerpt from 'National Heroes' by Reg Green. 'This was a brook, eight-feet wide, and approached across a ploughed field with strong, high palings bordering a jagged hedge on the take-off side of the water. Conrad hit the woodwork, throwing his rider over and into the brook beyond and although the gallant captain remounted when the rest of the field had passed, he fell again two fences later, exiting forever from the records of the race. The brook which gave him his soaking would thereafter and always be known as Becher's Brook. The mare Charity came to grief at the treacherous wall in front of the stands, which was the halfway point and on the second circuit the Irish horse Rust was eliminated from the competition through an act of foul play on the part of a section of the crowd. Their money obviously laid elsewhere, they simply...

Back in the early to mid-sixties there was a hunter chaser, trained by Captain Tim Forster, by the name of Baulking Green. He was, and I hope remains, a legend of the hunter chase division, winning the United Hunts Cup, a 4-mile hunter chase which back then was a feature of the National Hunt Festival, four times, finishing his career with 22 wins from 33 starts, plus 2 point-to-points. He did not ever run in either the Aintree or Cheltenham Foxhunters, so is perhaps not an appropriate topic for the day the amateur riders get their try around the National-style fences. My point is to ask the question, where are the modern day equivalent of Baulking Green or Flying Ace, the pride of Scotland? In Ireland, Winged Leader has broken the all-time record for point-to-point victories and hopefully will always be remembered for his exploits. I might answer, in part, my...

The anticipation used to overwhelm all other considerations. The Saturday of the Grand National I used to term my 'holy of holies'. Pull the curtains, take the phone off the hook, pray to a deity I did not believe in that there would no protestors and that no horse would be harmed in pursuit of my annual entertainment high. For over sixty-years I was stupidly in love with the Grand National. Not so much now, though. I wish it were not so, but now when I read about or watch recordings of Grand Nationals of the past, it is like watching a former love of my life and yearning to be together again. That's how it is with me, the sentiment aided and abetted by the knowledge I have to accept that is how it will be for the rest of my life. What a 'health and safety' National does not,...

The opinions of others should always be respected. For instance, writing the 'Another View' column in the Racing Post this morning, David Carr supports the many changes to the race he refers to as the Grand National, as if after a hundred and one changes something can be the same as when it was first constructed. He is right when he says life moves on, referencing, amonst others, the F.A. Cup semi-finals were played without a t.v. audience and that fifty years ago the Grand National was sponsored by the now defunct 'News of the World' newspaper. I respect and accept his opinion and I would hope he would likewise accept my differing stance on this subject. I am aware that the Grand Nationals won by Red Rum were different to the race Merryman won in 1960 and that year's renewal was different to the race won by Golden Miller in...

If you were asked to name the greatest Grand National horses of all time, who would you put at the top of your list? It takes little imagination to suppose that 99.9% would have Red Rum as a clear winner. And who would argue? I would put Red Rum at the top of my list but not by as wide a margin as you might expect. It is Manifesto who muddies the water. Yes, Red Rum's three Grand National victories are clearly superior to Manifesto's two, yet the latter ran in eight Grand Nationals and was placed numerous times. 1895 may be back in the dark ages but back then the Aintree Grand National took no prisoners and just to finish the race was an achievement in itself. In 1895, as a seven-year-old, Manifesto finished fourth to Wild Man From Borneo. 19 started, 11 finished. In 1896 our hero was canonned...

Nicky Henderson is teasing us again. You may be firmly in the camp that believes Jonbon is not a 3-mile chaser and running him over that distance at Aintree this week will be to waste an arrow given Jonbon is entering the latter stages of his illustrious career. I believe he will stay 3-miles but that is not the point. Apart from the possibility of Jonbon finishing out of the first two for the first time in his life, there is no downside, I contend, for giving 3-miles a go. If he doesn't stay, he doesn't stay. But at least going into next season Nicky will have that data to hand when plotting which races to go for. Come next Boxing Day, Jonbon will be a week away from rising eleven. Next season might be his last active season. If Jonbon should prove he does stay 3-miles then the King George...

Apparently, on social media there has been a hoo-ha regarding the treble achieved by Dan Skelton at Newcastle last Tuesday. I do not associate myself with social media platforms, so I am unaware of the degree of hostility, though reading David Jenning's column in the Racing Post today, it is obvious that Dan upset the fragrant petals who if life had treated them differently would have taken holy orders, by not informing them personally of the gamble his owners were trying to accomplish. It is described as a 'monster gamble'. Dan, as fine a fellow as you are likely to ever meet, has not come across to me as someone who would have the balls to be first out-of-the-trenches and think it hardly likely he risked more than a fiver on the three horses involved, none of which on paper looked bankers. As I have said in the past, part of...