Articles from the author

When Frankie Dettori rode that 'Magnificent Seven' at Ascot in 1996 he said then that he would find it very difficult indeed to repeat the feat. But he certainly came close at Newmarket last Friday when he rode 5 winners out of 6!

There is no good time to get the cough but there is certainly no worse time to get it than halfway through the season and this means that Aiden O'Brien, the record breaking champion racehorse trainer in both Britain and Ireland, may have to shut up shop!

David Loder, who trains over 100 of the most beautifully bred two- year-olds in the world at Newmarket hasn't had a lot to smile about so far this season but Country Reel put the spring back into his step by winning that most famous of juvenile races, the Gimcrack Stakes at York.

Dermot Weld is an amazing man for he isn't satisfied just being the first person to do something once-he wants to do it twice and he emphasised that by sending out Media Puzzle to win the Melbourne Cup.

The tragic death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother may have cast a dark shadow over the sport she loved so much but there is no stopping Tony McCoy and wearing a black armband as a sign of respect he powered home on three winners at Warwick to set up a new all time record of winners in a season.

Michael Kinane will need to be at his eloquent best on Friday if he hopes to convince the Stewards of the British Jockey Club to overturn a seven-day ban imposed at Newmarket last week, that will allow him to ride in next month's Kentucky Derby.

The Epsom Derby, the world's most famous flat race, is now less than a month away and to be perfectly honest I couldn't tell you one definite winner and this cannot be right!

Gerald Leigh is one of the finest breeders of racehorses in the world and Gossamer gave furthur proof of that when running away with Sunday's Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh.

Racing Diary: Time for change of policing in UK racing

Ned Kelly staked his claim to Istabraq's hurdling crown by romping away with the £100,000 AIG Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown on Sunday.

Istabraq duly made it 23 wins from 28 career starts over hurdles and 10 from 13 at Leopardstown when making a winning reappearance in the Christmas Hurdle last weekend in Ireland but the manner of his win left more questions than answers.

The Jockey Club seem to be losing the plot here in the UK at the moment because some of the decisions they are coming up with are causing controversy throughout the racing industry.