Wednesday 31 August 2011

THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31 2011

THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31st  2011

RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 29 TO SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4th 2011

RODNEY MASTER FAREWELL TO ANGEL OF LAMBOURN
“Funeral of Doreen Rackham old and young pay respects to an Angel.
“MORE than 750 people from across the generations said farewell to their Angel in Lambourn yesterday ….


PART TWO LEGENDARY GAMBLERS ALEX BIRD 
JULIAN  MUSCAT “On fearless punter Alex Bird The man who specialised in photo-finishes and had 500 winning bets in a row ....

DAVID MILNES WANTED: JOCKEY FOR SPRINT CUP FAVOURITE
“The number of high-class meetings clashing on Saturday has left James Fanshawe with the unusual headache of trying to find a jockey for anti-post favourite DEACON BLUES in the Group 1 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock. With Kempton and Ascot holding valuable fixtures in addition to Leopardstown’s Champion Stakes meeting on Saturday, Fanshawe has a dwindling band of top jockey’s still in the hat for the coveted- ride ….


J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL
IN TOMORROW’S RACING POST
PART THREE LEGENDARY GAMBLER PHIL BULL DON'T MISS IT
PHIL BULL'S TIMEFORM the gentleman who founded Timeform building it up to what we enjoy today a key aid for all those who follow the horses. From the late 1940's early 1950's when Timeform's little Black Book first became available it provided an exciting revelation  to many many people interested in horseracing, it took the world of horseracing forward to a higher level practically over night.

 C4's JIM (Jimbo) McGRATH worked with Phil Bull for many years, as did Racing Post journalist HOWARD WRIGHT, who is the auther of PHIL BULL'S Biography.
BULL the biography. "I ask you to portray me as a person, whole and round, interested in life, the whole panorama of life (With views and observations that are worth hearing), who has made racing his profession, and brought to bear on it an inteligence that has made some impact on the racing scene - not merely as a successful punter graduating from ragged pants to morning dress regalia at Epsom! I have contempt for that!'

TIMEFORM BETFAIR
http://www.timeform.com/timeformbetfairracingclub/benefits.asp 

Phil Bull (1910–1989) was a professional gambler, racehorse owner and publisher, who founded Portway Press Ltd, publishers of Timeform racehorse rating guides, one of the most well-known form guides for British horse racing.[1

IN MEMORY, as the beneficiaries of PHIL BULL'S achievements, we all now need to
 'JOIN UP' as MONTY ROBERT'S  describes it,  http://www.turfcall.co.uk/montypage.htm  to bring the horseracing world forward again now to address what Turfcall perceives to be, and
 terms: 'THE VOID' the whole area relating to the regulation of British horseracing the missing links between bloodhorse literate standards and bloodhorse illiterate lack of standards. The present Rules of Racing as translated by bloodhorse illiterate people who take no care, have no understanding of the welfare, needs and rights of the racehorses, as neither do they understand what the term Bloodhorse Literacy Achiever's means. BHA Regulation's shocking ongoing daily misunderstandings, an embarrasment, and in far to many cases grossly unjust, and out of perspective, completely out of touch with the true reality. You do not teach the young anything by punishing them all the time.

TURFCALL attempts to point out by calling the present dilemma 'THE VOID' .
THIS VOID is trashing British horseracing. There is nothing there for the young. The young need and deserve an engine room with everything there that is needed to learn the practical skills that their career's need to absorb.

BHA Regulation Bloodhorse Illiteracy is manifesting itself everyday in many different ways 
people and racehorses are getting badly hurt, loosing their lives, far too often, horses are dropping dead in races. When managing through unfair pressure to reach the winning line, are unable to walk  back into the the winners enclosure as they are totally and utterly flogged to exhaustion. These regulators do not want to know, couldn't care less, force young jockey's to ride the finish they expect to be necessary to adhere to rules that are not being interpreted properly at all. 

THIS VOID needs to be filled by a system that is capable of teaching and uphold the highest standards of true horsemanship, not to condemn out of context. But to encourage, inform and inspire the young to learn one of the most facinating and most wonderful arts that exist.

 JAMES PYMAN crunches the stats and predicts the winner of this season’s jockey’s championship



YESTERDAY AT THE RACES TALK OF THE TRACKS
LEE MOTTERSHEAD joins a modest but enthusiastic crowd on the Downs for Epsom’s first free raceday.
“Snapshop not to Bill’s liking but racegoers provide a happier picture. Some people will do anything for a freeby, Actor Bill Nighy, famous for his roles  Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean, not to mention for voicing Dylan the rabbit in the Magic Roundabout , must have banked a few quid. And yet here he is at Epsom, seemingly lured to the Downs by the chance of something for nothing on the track’s first completely free raceday …...”




TODAY’S RACECARDS: Folkestone, Bath, Hereford, Kempton and Carlisle.





RACING POST -  BE IN THE KNOW



HORSERACING A UNIQUE AND REMARKABLE SPORT

Tuesday 30 August 2011

THE RACING POST TUESDAY AUGUST 30th 2011


THE RACING POST TUESDAY AUGUST 30th 2011
 RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 29th to SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4th 2011

STARTING TO-DAY, DON’T MISS IT.
DAVID ASHFORTH kicks off a fascinating five-part series today, recalling the fearless exploits of John Mort Green the flamboyant Australian who landed a famous coup on SEA-BIRD in the 1965 Derby.
“FLOATS LIKE A BUTTERFLY STINGS LIKE A BEE.”
“HE WAS called The Butterfly because he flitted around the betting ring, from pitch to pitch, chasing the odds, watching who was  betting, on what, for how much, ears open. Either that, or it was the incident with the Japanese girl in a cocktail bar in Tokyo. She became upset when John Mort green spoke to another girl. “You no good you butterfly,” she said.

“The Butterfly flitted around the world , full of colour and life, stories and sayings and poems. ‘Inflate my ego gently, tell them heaven sent me, I’m not in racing for the bread, I’m in it for the gravy.” And the champagne, the girls, the Rolls-Royces.
“Mort, rather than John or Green was born in Brisbane in 1929, the son of a bookmaker Thomas Mort Green. Mort worked for his father, listening, watching, learning. ……


IN TOMORROW’S RACING POST, our great series continues as Julian Muscat charts the compelling punting career of Alex Bird, universally acknowledged as the photo-finish king.”

THE GREAT TICKET GIVE AWAY . “Another chance to see FRANKEL for free on Qipco British Champions Day with ten pairs of tickets to be won.

GREAT MEMORIES relive a classic Irish Champion Stakes encounter from the past.


TODAY’S RACECARD'S Epsom, Ripon,Goodwood, Wolverhampton and Southwell



THE RACING POST MONDAY AUGUST 29th 2011


THE RACING POST MONDAY AUGUST 29th 2011
THE RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 29th to SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4th 2011


JUSTIN O’HANLON REPORTS:
"DEFINITELY  MAYBE
“JOY FOR O’BRIENS as JOSEPH rides his father Aidan’s classy filly
to Group 1 victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.
“MAYBE powers to first Group 1 with Classic swagger. 8-13f from FIRE LILY
Result Moyglare Stud Stakes
WIN: MAYBE  2 9-0  (126) partner J P O’BRIEN handler presenter YVONNE  ZUCHER trainer Aiden O’Brien for Michael Tabor breeder Epona Bloodstock Ltd distance one and three quarter lengths 8-13f from FIRE LILY 8-1


Monday 29 August 2011

THE RACING POST SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011

THE RACING POST SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011
RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 22 TO SUNDAY AUGUST 28 2011

CYRUS DAILAMI

"BALDING words lift injured PEARCE, in hospital recovering from surgery on Friday evening, has been spurred on by wise words from former trainer Ian Balding. Balding told him: “Your not a real jockey until you have broken you’re collarbone.”



J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL

LYDIA PEARCE,  Simon’s mother is one of the greatest female jockey’s this world has ever seen, a horsewomen of the highest calibre, tiny, with a true and mighty talent .



"TWEETS: Appearing on the Morning Line leads to teasing from weighing room colleagues. "

Friday 26 August 2011

THE RACING POST SATURDAY AUGUST 27th 2011

 RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 22nd THROUGH TO SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011


RACING POST SATURDAY AUGUST 27th 2011
RACING POST TODAY’S BIG TALKING POINT
RODNEY MASTERS on the big - race chance of POET’S VOICE.
“With the two anti-post market kingpins for to-day’s feature race-decamping to targets elsewhere, POET’S VOICE has by default leapt to short –priced favouritism for Goodwood’s Group 2 Betfair Celebration Mile. But will punters be taking a leap of faith in backing him?
“From a negative stance,  POET’S VOICE will be racing for the first time since finishing last of 14 in the Dubai World Cup five months ago.


“While trainer Saeed Bin Suroor stated yesterday there had been nothing amiss with the colt, and that his latest workout had pleases, there was an appendage to take into consideration as the trainer stressed: “He will improve a lot from this race .”
“In Dubai in March, Frankie Dettori experienced trouble anchoring him early on . as a consequence, hope vaporised before half way and the colt was eased down soon after.

“Having taken such a strong hold, he was never going to last over 1m2f, a trip beyond his optimum judged on previous evidence from the Champion Stakes.

“When the anti-post market for today’s race developed momentum earlier in the week he was 4-1 in most listings, making him third favourite with Ladbrokes and Paddy Power. They had STRONG SUIT and ZOFFANY, now both missing, ahead of him.

“Astute punters who stepped in at 4-1 POET’S VOICE are, of course, perfectly positioned on a bet to nothing if they decide to set out their strategy that way. Many, however, may not want to lay off. You can understand their belief that POET’S VOICES positives outweigh negatives. In his two most recent races over today’s distance, POET’S VOICE showed courage under a masterful ride from DETTORI to fend off RIP VAN WINKLE for the narrowest of wins in Ascot’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Prior to that he had taken  today’s race, overwhelming odds-on  MAIN AIM by four and a half lengths. With a pacemaker playmate on duty if required in EMERALD COMMANDER today, plus the likelihood of  easy ground-it was soft last year and good to soft at Ascot- the temptation for those with 4-1 will be to sit tight. POET’S VOICE is the likeliest winner.


“Trainers’ title leader Richard Hannon runs DUBAWI GOLD and victory in this £100,000 will be a boost for punters who fancy him to turn over Sir Henry Cecil in a battle that William Hill view as a three-way go, as they bet 5-4 Cecil, 2-1 Hannon and 100-30 Aiden O’Brien, and quote 12-1 bar. This is one of those Saturdays where quantity matters every bit as quality, but there is a splattering of  Pattern races as well as two further £100,000 contests – a handicap at Goodwood and a sales race at Newmarket. Sjould Hannon win all three valuable prizes, even he may come round to the idea that he could beat Cecil and defend his crown.

“Yesterday, thunder gave notice of the death rattle of summer and the accompanying downpours  in many parts mean that a ground check will be imperative before a bet today.
It may be another of those muddled days with a lengthy inventory of non runners.”
Please use this link for further info on today's racing action
http://turfcallmorningline.blogspot.com/2011/08/ch4-morning-line-link-up-with-goodwood.html


RACING POST FRIDAY AUGUST 26th 2011

THE RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 22nd to SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011

THE RACING POST FRIDAY AUGUST 26th 2011


J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL
THE WHIP
PUNISHMENT - V - ENCOURAGEMENT

SOME JOCKEY’S appear keen to go out of their way to keep attempting to brain wash us into believing that the RSPCA modified racing whip does not hurt horses. That such a whip encourages horses to go faster.

A WHIP any and all types of whip serve as always to punish. The direct opposite of any and all types of encouragement and understanding.

(Please note, neither Fallon, Hanagan or De Sousa mentioned herewith abuse horses with their RSPCA Whips, or any whip. That the RSPCA believe that they have invented a whip that does not hurt is quite ridiculous  .... pull the other leg it's got bells on.)


ANDREW DIETZ  - THE HUNTER
“Ton-up Fallon relishes role reversal in title chase

“KIEREN FALLON yesterday admitted he is relishing the thrill of the chase after the six-time champion jockey clocked up his century for the season to breathe new life into the title race, with Stan James and William Hill cutting him to 3-1 (from 7-2) to get the better of Paul Hanagan and Silvestre de Sousa.

“While reigning champion Hanagan drew a blank at Carlisle, Fallon fresh from finishing the Ebor meeting as leading rider, moved into the three figures when MISS BLINK triumphed in the opener at Lingfield.

“Fallon starts today 11 winners adrift of Hanagan, and Hills quote just 5-2 that the title goes to the wire at Doncaster on November  5. Fallon finds himself in the unusual position of being the hunter rather than the hunted, but while that is an alien situation it is one that stimulates him. “I like it, every time I won the championship I was always in front I have never been in a position where I am chasing I have always been the one being chased. It’s going to be tough to beat Paul, as he’s got a strong team.”



TODAY’S RACECARDS: Ffos Las, Newmarket, Thirsk, Hamilton, Newcastle, Brighton, Killarney and Down Royal.

IN TOMORROW’S RACING POST
RICHARD HUGHES talks us through his rides for the day, including his chances in challenging with  DUBAWI GOLD for the 3.20 Celebration Mile at Goodwood.


PLUS PREVIEWS and best bets for all the day’s top action from  Goodwood  Newmarket and Beverley.

TONY MORRIS – GIANTS OF THE TURF
TONY recalls the exploits of brilliant filly TIME CHARTER

RACING POST - BE IN THE KNOW




HORSERACING A UNIQUE AND REMARKABLE SPORT














Thursday 25 August 2011

THE RACING POST THURSDAY AUGUST 25th 2011

 RACING POST WEEK FROM MONDAY AUGUST 22nd to SUNDAY AUGUST 28th  2011

THE RACING POST THURSDAY AUGUST 25th 2011

TOM KERR   YOUNG, AND LOVING THE HORSERACING EXPERIENCE
“Part four of a week-long series in which Tom Kerr speaks to young racing fans and hears what it is that they find most appealing  - and  unappealing – about the sport.

DAVID MILNES  ST LEGER BID looking likely for BUNTING
“ THE likelihood of BLUE BUNTING bidding for a historic victory in next month’s  Ladbrokes St Leger increased yesterday when connections revealed their intention to fork out £45,000 to supplement the star filly’s familiar pacemaker RUMH into the Doncaster Classic. Trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni says the duel Classic-winning filly is very well after winning last week’s Yorkshire Oaks.”


“WHY WE SHOULD ALL BE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT
PROSTATE CANCER

DAVID ASHFORTH  CANCER CHARITY WALK
“The outstanding racing writer of his generation talks frankly about living with prostate cancer as racing personalities prepare to embark on a 60-mile charity walk. Has previously detailed in this newspaper his ongoing battle with prostate cancer. In that fight he is not alone. Every hour in the UK , one man dies of the disease.



“Here, Ashforth talks frankly about living with prostrate cancer in a piece that was penned for the blog of Joe McNally, who, along with others, including former champion jump jockey Peter Scudamore, will embark on September 15 on a 60- mile charity race from Windermere to Carlisle racecourse, to sponsor the walkers, who are being led by racing broadcaster John Hanley, please go to : http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/walkingthewalk



THE DICKLER  THE talk of racing
SCHOOL FOR RACING STARS
http://www.newman.brighton-hove.sch.uk/
“CARDINAL NEWMAN Catholic School in Hove is starting to get an enviable reputation as an academy for the racing world.

“The school’s newsletter often mention’s former pupil RYAN MOORE’S achievements, as hopefully it will soon be praising IAN MONGAN, who was in the year above Moore, for his win on TWICE OVER in the Juddmonte International. The Dickler is not sure whether another Newman alumnus, the Guardian’s racing correspondent Greg Wood, got a mention when he became racing journalist of the year at the Derby Awards.


DONCASTER St Leger meeting Wednesday 7th September through to Saturday 10th September 2011. www.corporateentertainmentco.co.uk/hospitality/horse_racing/doncaster
TODAY’S RACECARD’S Ffos Las, Carlisle, Lingfield, Cartmel, Wolverhampton and Killarney.
 
 
 
 
 
 PETER THOMAS INTERVIEW RACHEL HOOD
“HATS OFF FOR HOOD the tireless but modest Rachel Hood talks to Peter Thomas about her twin passions of helping to save Newmarket and British racing. The Newmarket 
campaigner and owners’ president on her tireless work to help secure a better future for the sport she loves.

“HARD work fascinates me, I could watch people do it all day, although sometimes, if they work too hard it wears me out a bit. Running through Rachel Hood’s list of jobs is positively exhausting, even if she doesn’t seem to think it amounts to a lot.

“To start with, she’s a Forest Heath district councillor for the Severals  ward in Newmarket. Then she’s a Newmarket town councillor, president of the Racehorse Owners’ Association, a director of the Horsemen’s Group and Racing Enterprises Ltd, a trustee of both the National Horseracing Museum and Cambridge Woman’s Aid, founder and chair of the Save Historic Newmarket Action Group,  Classic –winning racehorse owner and breeder, partner in John Gosden Racing Lip, senior administrator at Clarehaven  Stables and, by way of a day job, an international and American lawyer.

“There I’ve done it –I’ve completely worn myself out and we’re only in the third paragraph. “I don’t suppose I do very much, really, “ says Hood in an unconvincing attempt to play down her role as the Tory superhero-lets call her the Blue Hood-whose mission is to thwart the efforts of those who would destroy Newmarket, in particular to out whit her arch enemy, the dark developer, who is scheming to bring down a plague of new houses on the town – lets call him Lord Derby, as that’s his name. Actually, Hood’s missions are two fold: to save Newmarket and to save horseracing . But while she’s passionate about both causes, she’s faintly embarrassed to be portrayed as the woman who is single-handedly  leading both fights.

“Like all good campaigners she seems to have accumulated her multifarious roles along the way on the basis that she has the aptitude and energy to do them and others are happy to let her. All of which means she’s gone, in the space of a few years from being a committed  Green Party voter and concerned trainer’s wife to being a doorstepping Conservative activist and thorn in the side of all planners and politicians who vere off the straight and narrow.

“It’s all been slightly accidental,” she says. “Some people are rocket scientists and doctors saving lives, I’m just trying to do a few things to help, and it’s unfortunate that the whole Newmarket issue has happened at a time when I became president of the ROA.

“We’ve needed to get people on the town and district councils in order to redress the bad things that seem to have been allowed to happen to the town in the last 30 years. And then we’ve had the Hatchfield Farm inquiry (into Lord Derby’s hotly opposed inquiry for 1,200 houses on part of his own estate in the town) and by now I should think that people have had quite enough of me.

“That’s the thing I don’t like about the Hatchfield Farm issue . There has been too much about me, and it’s not about me, it’s not my campaign, it’s about the racing and breeding  industries.

“There are people who pen push and try to make things happen , but ultimately it’s about the community . You can’t sustain like this unless a lot of people believe something needs to be done.”

‘Hood describes Newmarket as her ‘big priority’ and amid the furore that has surrounded Lord Derby’s plans this self confessed “tremendous optimist ” identifies major positives to have already emerged from this controversy-even  in advance of the long -awaited decision of the viability of the project-and the other travesties she perceives to have been foisted on the town in recent years.
“The good thing that comes out of all the bad things that have happened – like the horrible Meridian Garden flats in the conservation area and the equally horrible Premier Inn,  that was turned down twice and then reimposed, and the whole disgraceful Hatchfield Farm situation – is that we have now in Newmarket a huge sense of community .

“The racing industry is as one, everybody’s much more friendly and almost without exception they’ve pulled together, attended dreary council meetings, protested and written letters. “There was a time when trainers weren’t particularly friendly to each other, when trainers’ spouses, perhaps weren’t particularly friendly to each other, but it’s not like that anymore.

“And there’s no ‘town and gown’ divide, between racing and everyone else. I had no ambition to be a councillor but I’ve been elected by the townspeople and we’ve got a retailers’ association that has been completely on side. It seems everyone is working towards righting the wrongs that have been done in Newmarket.”

“Hood approaches the rescue of her home town with the zeal of one who has been away, seen the world and returned with open eyes.
“Born in Oxfordshire, ‘in a household where the television was turned off when racing came on”,  she won a fencing scholarship to Millfield, where she ended up as head girl with a reputation as a livewire who favoured acting and hot pants.
“What can I say?” she shrugs. “It was very much the style in the 1970’s, although it’s become a recurring theme of amusement . I still believe, though, that life’s for the living. You don’t want to be a slacker in life, do you? I’ve been very lucky and if you are given a chance you want to take it with both hands.”
“Take it she did, by the scuff of the neck, leaving Cambridge University with a degree in economics and law and the acquaintance of a dashing young student, a ‘blond bombshell’ as she describes him, who would become her husband, soulmate, travelling companion and business partner.

“The pair set off on their separate careers, Hood in law, Gosden eventually as assistant to both Sir Noel Murless and Vincent O’Brien, but the ‘Chelsea girl’  and the trainers son quickly decided they needed a big challenge together and relocated to California, where they both operated with considerable success, working and playing among the Hollywood glitterati. We were there through the 1980’s and it was a vibrant time for American racing ,” recalls Hood.
“John worked incredibly hard but it was very good to him. I was in my twenties, working in Beverly Hills, and I can tell you it was a lot more fun than being at the bar in England. John trained for Burt Bacharach, Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Aaron Spelling, lots of famous owners. Burt’s fantastic, he loves his horses and was quite a serious player – we used to ski a bit with him and his wife Jane; John used to say Elizabeth Taylor  would rather pet her horses than run them.

“ And of course Santa Anita is the most beautiful track and we were there in one of it’s haydays, the time of BILL SHOEMAKER, LAFFIT PINCAY,  and BOBBY FRANKEL.
“Sometimes you have to go abroad to make something of yourself but having lived in a very modern city like Los Angeles, I look at Newmarket and see what a wonderful place it is.”

“The culture-loving couple, lovers of opera, ballet, music and all things ’big city’, returned to Headquarters to spend ten Group-1-laden seasons at Stanley House Stables, before leaving again to spend five more at Manton.

“In 2005, they had another road atlas to study, but the Newmarket page was the only one seriously thumbed, the Bury Road the favourite locale and Clarehaven the last port of call for our itinerant pair and their four children (Yes, she’s found time to fit that into her schedule as well).
“It was on Newmarket’s premier training boulevard that Hood began to find her calling as a guardian of the town’s history and character.
“It started when I was driving down Bury Road about four years ago, I saw a lot of mature trees being felled in a garden. The district council didn’t seem to be interested and it turned out that permission had been granted for three blocks of ultra modern flats to be built by a Cambridge developer,  with no contribution whatsoever to the town.

“You get a perspective when you’ve been somewhere, you leave it and come back. You come back. You come back for a reason. You realise what a wonderful place it is and you don’t take it for granted.

“If you do take it for granted, you quickly find a planning inspector has allowed 50 mature trees to be chopped down in a conservation area, and these things don’t come back.

“From that small acorn has grown a mighty oak of environmental protest, but it exists alongside Hood’s other cause celebre: the future of British racing.



“In among the council meetings and any other business, she makes the time to chart what she hopes will be a fruitful course for the sport during her four-year tenure at the helm of the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA)
“She recently put forward a three-tier funding strategy that would call for increased bookmaker funding for the lowest grades of competition and, in spite of the recent sale of the Tote from under the nose of racing, she remains optimistic that the present political atmosphere bodes well for the prosperity of the Turf, with her new Tory colleagues expected to ensure the delivery of the good deal that has for so long proved elusive.
 
“For the first time I think we’ve got a serious opportunity on the political front. I believe our Newmarket MP Matthew Hancock and some of his young colleagues are committed to helping racing – they see that if you have bookmakers all offshore, nobody paying levy, no proper funding of the racing industry, it’s bad for the Treasury as well as for the industry.
 

“It’s a big industry, the government wants employment and people to be contributing to the Treasury, and that doesn’t happen if you have offshore bookmakers and such terrible prize-money that people don’t invest in horses.
“I think it’s shocking that the Tote has gone to Betfred, but I’m an optimist and I believe the government is going to deliver on it’s promise to put legislation in place to ensure that the funding of British racing is secure.

“I’ll be president of the ROA for four years, all being well and I hope at the end of those four years we’ll be able to say that’s done and dusted, the fixture list, race planning, all of that, now no more of this tedious sort of stuff .
“I’d like to help things get sorted out, so we can all get back to what we like to be doing, which is going to the races. That’s what we owners want to do, but we want to do it against a backdrop of a healthy horse population, healthy finances and a healthy industry.”
“Few owners enjoy going to the races more than Hood, who’s winners to date have included St Leger hero ARCTIC COSMOS and her current heroine, last month’s Lancashire Oaks  winner GERTRUDE BELL (Named after a formidable, multi-faceted, multi-talented pioneer in the fields of politics and travel.)


“Of course, all her horses are trained by JHM Gosden at Clarehaven Stables and, in this matter at least, she intends to remain firmly in the background.


“No, I don’t try to advise John on running plans for my horses, why would I ? He’s been training for 30 years and, compared to me, he knows everything .  I’ve been quite lucky of late and I put it down to my trainer, jockey and our superb staff, many of whom have been with John for years and years. You  can’t buy success at my level, but when you find a winner there is nothing like it and I get very animated, in a positive way, when I talk about ownership.


“I don’t believe the people who rubbish racing and say it is a dying sport. The races are always there, always alive, always infectious and fabulous and I’m fantastically enthusiastic about our sport.”


“When all racings problems are solved and the future of Newmarket is secure,  Hood say’s she would like to spend the rest of her life in a bookshop, just reading.

“Until that time, this most diverse of multi-taskers  seems to be destined to be a formidable custodian of all that the sport and it’s sacred places stand for. And, for that, the Turf should be deeply grateful.”

HOOD on …
Hubby John Gosden
“I went for looks, I’m afraid, but he’s also utterly, utterly wonderful and I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s the most wonderful human being – it sound’s soppy, I know – a person of total integrity, very kind and a lot of fun. I was 19 when I met him and you’re incredibly lucky if you meet a soulmate at that age.”

Children
“Sebastian is 27, in finance and interested from an owner’s point of view;
 
Serina is 26, has a PhD in modern literature from Durham and likes going to the races; 
Thea is about to go to Durham and likes to ride out;
Thaddeus will be too big to be a jockey but he rides and he’s suggesting already that John and I should clear off and he should be allowed to take over. I think we’ll see how his GCE results go first, but he gets the Racing Post at school, which is a good sign.”


Good horses
“I believe to have a healthy sport we need to have aspirational fixture list, premier fixtures with a ‘narrative’ that will grab people’s attention year after year. There is a middle tier of horses that aren’t  good enough to be in that top tier, and quite obviously a mass of horses are third tier horses, some of which I have to say are mine.”


Bad horses
“Horses don’t have to be good for people to enjoy owning them and most horses are at that level but, as with football, you have to have a premier league to draw people into the sport. I happen to support Chelsea, but our elder son’s a big Ipswich Town fan, and John’s been supporting Stoke City for 55 years.”
 
Age  
John has just had a big birthday, but that’s okay, because 60 is the new 40, 50 is the new 25 and I’m 37!




END

 

Wednesday 24 August 2011

THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24th 2011

THE RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 22nd through to SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011

RACING POST WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24th 2011


RODNEY MASTERS
Headlines “BARRY HILLS RETIRES” Monday August 8th 2011
“I’m anxious for Charles to take the stable to a higher level . Now it’s up to him.”

 J MARGARET CLARKE TURFCALL
Now is the exact time to make a start right across the board in taking British horseracing to a higher level, the Hills family over decades have served British horseracing consistently every day of every week of every month of every year throughout and over decades. Money could not buy the gift of their expertise to horseracing.  This gift needs to be the flag bearer for the future, to set the standard for the future, to ensure such skills are never thrown on the scrap heap by the bloodhorse illiterate government, and bloodhorse illiterate regulation people. If this were to happen it would be one of the worst crimes this world has ever seen. 


RACKHAM RACE AT WINDSOR  PETER SCARGILL
“DOREEN RACKHAM will be remembered at Windsor on Saturday with a race renamed in her honour, the second race on this card will be run as “ Doreen Rackham Angel of Lambourn Memorial Median Auction Stakes.
” Doreen died on Sunday, aged 74 from throat cancer.”



SANDERS NOT FINISHED YET
STEVE DENNIS  “Times have been tough for the former joint-champion this term, but he is not finished yet
DOWN – BUT NOT DOWN ABOUT IT

“The last thing he says is the phrase that stays longest in the memory. “No negatives,” insists SEB SANDERS, just before he heads back to the weighing room to prepare for the first of six rides at Bath.

“Not riding winners is quite boring, racings in a bit of a lull, everyone is feeling the pinch, but I have to look for openings and try to build new foundations, you’ve got to work for what you want – I know that, that’s what brought me the championship in the first place. If I stick at it, I’ll do alright.”

JULIAN MUSCAT
"Review of Pattern system is long overdue."

TOM KERR
“Free entry for students is only way to attract fresh audience.”
"It is incredibly rare you take someone racing and they don't intend to come back."

BLOODSTOCK WORLD DEAUVILLE
NANCY SEXTON “SALES BOOST with E1.7 million daughter of GALILEO provided a significant boost in average price compared to Monday’s opener. Report from the second session of the Arqana August Yearling Sale at Deauville.”


IN TOMORROW’S RACING POST
THE THOUGHTS OF PRESIDENT HOOD “The forthright new Racehorse Owners Association chief discusses a wide range of issues in her first major interview.”  Don’t miss it.

RACING POST – BE IN THE KNOW
TODAY’S RACECARD’S  Catterick, Chepstow, Worcester, Kempton, Wolverhampton and Killarney.


END

THE RACING POST TUESDAY AUGUST 23th 2011

THE RACING POST WEEK MONDAY AUGUST 22nd through to SUNDAY AUGUST 28th 2011

 RACING POST TUESDAY AUGUST 23rd 2011
RODNEY MASTERS
"Francome to deliver eulogy at the funeral of Doreen Rackham.
"JOHN FRANCOME will give the eulogy at the funeral next week for Lambourn's Doreen Rackham, who died on Sunday at the age of 74.

“Fittingly for the much-loved character, who was known as the Angel of Lambourn for her many good deeds for all handler riders, the service a week to-day at 1.30pm will be held at St Michael and All Angels, the parish church in the village square. Jockey’s will carry her coffin. Her close friend Jackie Porter, manager at Oaksey House said yesterday: “We hope as many people as possible will come. Everyone will be very welcome. Afterwards the wake will be at Oaksey House, which is very close to the church.”


"Tributes to Rackham have flooded in to the Racing Post and to social network sites since Sunday morning. With Lambourn certain to come to a standstill next Tuesday, car parking has been organised in the paddock opposite WINDSOR HOUSE STABLES. (RG17 8NR for sat-nav purposes)

 "Donations in Rackham’s  memory can be made to the Injured Jockeys’ Fund, with contributions to the Lambourn Surgery  and Cancer Care Nurses via the funeral director, RC Smallbone, 37 Pound Street, Newbury RG14 6AE.

SIMON TURNER  DABIRSIM TOPS
WHY France’s brilliant Prix Morny winner made a big impression with Racing Post Ratings


YESTERDAY AT THE RACES KEMPTON PARK
CHARLES HILLS “Of the mark with his first runner.

PAUL EACOTT  TALK OF THE TRACKS
“HILLS strikes with his first runner had hoped the handover from his father Barry would prove to be seamless, and so it proved as the rookie trainer got his career off to the best possible start when BLAISE CHORUS 3 8-12  in the 1m2f  AW 2.45,  provided him with his first winner from his first runner. Ridden by another of Barry’s sons, MICHAEL, the 11-4 favourite was always in the prominent position that proves so beneficial  on the inner loop here and he managed to burn off the persistent pursuer ECOSSAISE  up the home straight to pull clear and post a popular win. The winning trainer said:  “My dad was out this morning with the horses and he wished me good luck. Mum just rung and she sounded a bit emotional.”

“Although he had not expected the outcome of the race to be a foregone conclusion. Hills had hoped BLAISE CHORUS would give a good account in maiden company on what was her seventh start, she has had a few chances so I thought she would run well. The trip suites her and even though the draw was not the best she has plenty of toe and was in a good position all the way.”
“It was fantastic for MICHAEL as unfortunately he missed out on riding Dad’s winners on Saturday. The winning jockey was delighted by the outcome, giving his younger brother a huge hug after dismounting before saying: ”I hope that’s the first of many.”


RICHARD BIRCH “Hannon holding a STRONG hand in title race. SUIT installed 5-2 favourite for Celibration. Trainers’ title leader Richard Hannon was yesterday gearing up for a busy weekend that could see him stretch his advantage over Sir Henry Cecil – and bookmakers certainly rate the chances of STRONG SUIT winning him one of the three £100,000 races up for grabs on Saturday. The Group 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood is the day’s highlight.” 


TODAY’S RACECARDS: Leicester, Sedgefield, Warwick, Yarmouth, Killarney and Deauville.


END

Monday 22 August 2011

RACING POST MONDAY AUGUST 22nd 2011

 RACING POST WEEK MONDAY  AUGUST 22 THROUGH TO SUNDAY AUGUST 28th2011
THE RACING POST MONDAY AUGUST 22nd 2011
RODNEY MASTERS
DOREEN RACKHAM FAREWELL TO THE ANGEL OF LAMBOURN
Tributes flow following the death of one of Lambourn’s  best-loved personalities


BROUGH SCOTT recalls a saintly figure who was close to so many hearts.
“Village post mistress who delivered smiles and inspiration for everyone. She was much, much more than a good deed in a naughty world. Doreen Rackham was as near a saint as our little universe is likely to provide. In the last few weeks scores of us have filed into her bedroom at Oaksey House in search of one last glimpse of that very special smile. To think of Doreen is to sense that smile and all the goodness  that it carried in its wake. Politicians can talk of the big society. In Lambourn Doreen Rackham lived it.



THE RP WEEKLY MONDAY JURY ANALYSIS
MONGAN JOINS THE JURY Fresh from his sensational Group 1 triumph partnering TWICE OVER at York, IAN MONGAN joins the theory experts to answer the key questions arising from the past week. Don’t miss it.

DAVID CARR Senior reporter (theory expert)

STEWART MACHIN  Commentator (theory expert)

IAN MONGAN  Jockey (practical expert)

DAVE  ORTON  Race analysis (theory expert)

JAMES PYMAN  Senior analysis (theory expert)



TODAY’S RACECARD’S Hamilton, Kempton, Windsor, Hereford and Cork