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6 days ago | 
racingpost.com | Harry Wilson |David Carr
There are two things that stand out when looking at the history of this competitive handicap hurdle: it is hard to concede lumps of weight, and front-runners have found life difficult. Just one winner since 2012 has carried more than 11st 2lb – the first two home in each of the last four runnings have borne 10st 9lb or less – while Pickanumber last year became the first horse to make all or most in the Swinton since its inception in 1978.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Duran Fentiman declared himself "the fittest I've been for a long time" ahead of his return to action on Monday and looked forward to the day he takes on his high-flying son for the first time. The jockey has two rides at Beverley, his first since being unseated on the way to post at Pontefract last September and sustaining double fractures of the tibia and fibula in his left leg.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Charlie Appleby and William Buick completed a Classic double when landing the Betfred 1,000 Guineas with Desert Flower at Newmarket on Sunday. The Godolphin trainer and jockey had teamed up to take the 2,000 Guineas with Ruling Court the previous afternoon. And 24 hours later his unbeaten stablemate followed up in the fillies' equivalent, for which she had long been favourite.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
There is a "buzz" at Doncaster where the dream of an elusive Triple Crown win Is alive following Ruling Court's success at Newmarket on Saturday. No colt has won the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger for 55 years, when Nijinsky became the first to land all three races since 1935. Betfred has marked becoming sponsor of all five British Classics this year by offering a £2 million bonus for completing the Triple Crown in 2025.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Rebecca Curtis is plotting a Cheltenham Gold Cup campaign for Haiti Couleurs, the Irish Grand National winner she hopes "proves to people that I can still do the job". She had also won the National Hunt Chase with the improving eight-year-old, landing the sixth Cheltenham Festival victory of her career, but admits it is hard for a smaller trainer to compete with the big yards nowadays.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Peter Winks, who has to let his horses do the talking after a life-saving operation to have his vocal cords removed, hopes winning at his local track with an £800 filly will shout to the world he is still training. He got off the mark for the year when Anificas Beauty scored at Pontefract, his first success since undergoing a laryngectomy last September. "He had his voicebox removed," said Winks's partner Karen Vickers. "He had cancer on his left larynx.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | Robbie Wilders |David Carr
The Oaks market is in its infancy and this Newmarket card is traditionally the first point in the season it receives a shot in the arm. One Classic often leads to another and the 1,000 Guineas may reveal a leading Epsom contender, although so might the Pretty Polly. There are more noteworthy Oaks trials than the Pretty Polly, namely those around the corner at Chester, Lingfield and York, but the previous running introduced us to two top-class fillies.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Sam James gave owners Fine Clarets Racing a "dream day" with a perfectly judged ride to capture the Ladbrokes Thirsk Hunt Cup on Flight Plan. It was a classy running of the track's richest race as the Group 2 winner held off the 2023 2,000 Guineas runner-up Hi Royal in a handicap which dates back to 1859. "It's a dream day," said Jason Fildes, head of the winning owners. "I'm from Skipton, we're nearly all northern, a good local gang.
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1 week ago | 
racingpost.com | David Carr
Former champion jockey Paul Hanagan is starting an ownership group to raise money and awareness for the "exceptional" Yorkshire Air Ambulance service. To mark the launch of his first ownership group, he visited the air ambulance base at Nostell Air Support Unit near Wakefield to learn how it responds to over 1,700 incidents a year, some involving racing or riding injuries. "I've long admired Yorkshire Air Ambulance," said Hanagan.
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2 weeks ago | 
racingpost.com | Graeme Rodway |David Carr
Two of the five runners have entries in the Betfred Derby at Epsom and Aurel looks to be the best of the pair. The Ralph Beckett-trained son of Soldier Hollow came from the rear to beat two subsequent winners on his debut at Kempton last November and is open to improvement.
