​Sensational. 
Boo! Boo! Stop taking the piss, Gordon.
The mare was brilliant. Brighterdaysahead was the most impressive hurdler of the entire Festive period. More impressive than Constitution Hill, more impressive than The New Lion. Indeed, on bare form, beating State Man by over 30-lengths must rate higher than Constitution Hill beating Lossiemouth 3-lengths. And to think she will receive 7Ib from Constitution Hill if the Gordon and the O’Leary brothers have the balls, and the welfare of the sport, to reject the spoilsport pursuit of pot-hunting and go for the inconsequential Mares Hurdle.
Look, you will never find me criticising Gordon Elliott. Even in the dark days of his ban from the sport, I was steadfast in my opinion that he was harshly treated. But if he does not champion the pursuit of the Champion Hurdle with Brighterdaysahead when in discussion with the O’Leary brothers, I will be very disappointed with him. There should be no teasing, no having a laugh with the racing public. No last-minute decisions to go one way of the other. We need to know how good Constitution Hill really is. He needs opposition; he needs to be in a race that is not run to suit him. He needs to beat Brighterdaysahead far more than he needs to defeat either State Man or Lossiemouth again.
If the mare does end-up in the Mares Hurdle, the blame should be put squarely at the feet of the Cheltenham executive for allowing it to happen. Grade 1 winners should have to shoulder a 10Ib penalty in the Mares Hurdle. The best must be kettled towards the best races at the Festival. The principle of the Turners Novice Chase should be applied to every race at the Festival. The 2m- 4-furlong novice chase was dispensed with as it reduced the quality and competitiveness of the other two novice championship races. The same principle must be applied to supporting the Champion Hurdle, the 2-mile Champion Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Shame on you Gordon, shame on you Michael O’Leary. You took a lesser option last year and got stuffed. If you do so again, I hope you get stuffed again. The honour is going for the Champion Hurdle, win or lose.

In today’s letters column of the Racing Post, Mr. Bradley of North Yorkshire offers his opinion that Constitution Hill won on the bridle at Kempton. Did he not see Nico working hard in the saddle; did he not see Nico pick up his whip? It was a glorious win and I cheered him home the same as anyone else. But it was his least impressive victory of his short, glorious career, especially as Lossiemouth ran with the same lack of spirit as a good too many of the Closutton horses did over the Christmas holiday period.
For a first run for 12-months and after having suffered from colic in the interim, it was a perfectly reasonable effort and if he should run again before the Champion Hurdle, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect him to win with his usual pomp. He did not win at Kempton in the style The New Lion won at Newbury or in glorious isolation as Brighterdaysahead achieved at Leopardstown. It was satisfactory. No more.

The B.H.A. Director of Equine Regulation, Safety and Welfare, James Given, writes in today’s Racing Post that 38% of fatalities on British racecourses are due to falls, and that the introduction of the new padded hurdles has reduced the risk of a fatality by 11%. I am of the opinion that the change from orange to white on the woodwork of steeplechase fences has greatly reduced falls. I was disappointed Mr. Givens did not include any data to prove or disprove my thinking on the matter.

Finally, on the last day of the Leopardstown Christmas meeting, Rachael Blackmore finally got her first winner back since suffering a neck injury from a pretty benign-looking fall at Downpatrick. You see jockeys get buried amongst hooves and yet run back to the weighing room in order to do it all again. Rachael’s fall was somewhat slow-motion, even if the weight of her body was taken by her neck. Obviously, being the warrior she is, she got up that day and walked away, if somewhat gingerly, her many fans sighing with relief that was likely to be fit to ride again the following day. But no, she was on the injured list from September to early December. And it took July Flower to get her back in the winners’ enclosure. She was top of the jockey’s championship at the time of her fall with 23-winners. Her 24th was a long time coming and she now languishes a long way behind Darragh O’Keeffe, who leads the championship at present and who was the main beneficiary of her absence.

​Greatness has been bestowed on Constitution Hill, Sir Gino and Galopin Des Champs over the festive period and in the first two named it is too premature. 
To my mind, Galopin Des Champs is approaching greatness. He is, in my estimation, a better horse than Best Mate, though below Kauto Star and Denman. Arkle is way out of sight of any steeplechaser in the history of the sport you can mention.
I have no doubt, given sporting luck, that Galopin Des Champs will become the next horse to achieve three victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. At a time, especially in Ireland, where there are a plethora of high-class or close to high-class chasers around, over a distance of 3-miles + Galopin Des Champs is by far the leader of the pack. The only possible chance of beating him would be to take him on from flag-fall and not to allow him an uncontested lead, which happens too often in Ireland in races that involve Mullins hotpots.
The problem with comparing the great horses of the present-day with those of previous decades is that it is not a case of comparing apples with apples. Because of his superiority, the few condition races around in his time were a cakewalk for Arkle and once he had disposed of Mill House there was not a horse in any kingdom that could even get him off the bridle. Handicaps were more of a struggle for him, though he won more of them than he lost. The horses who did finish in front of him, always receiving weight in the region of between 2 and 3-stone, are better remembered than some Champion Hurdle winners. Today, the top chasers never have to run in handicaps, which is why Desert Orchid and Denman were so special to racegoers. Why horses in the past could carry top weight in handicaps and still win at the Cheltenham Festival, while today’s trainers seem to think of handicaps for their top chasers akin to the actions of kamikaze pilots in the 2nd World War, is beyond me. Are our horses today more brittle and less hardy than the likes of Desert Orchid and all those great chasers that came before him?
A third Gold Cup will put Galopin Des Champs in a club that only allows membership to the superstar horses of the sport. It is a club without Arkle, and I would suggest Golden Miller – 5 Gold Cups and a Grand National allows him a status beyond ordinary greatness – as today’s horses are not as tested as they were. Arkle and Golden Miller are the exemplification of singular greatness and even Galopin will struggle to sit beside them in the history books.
People who declare Constitution Hill the best hurdler of all-time or even one of the all-time greats are doing a major injustice to the champions who have gone before. Apart from horses trained by Willie Mullins, and they rarely have to exert themselves to run-up long sequences of wins, there is not a horse in training, apart from Constitution Hill, to rank within 20Ibs of many, and it is a long list, of the hurdlers that have gone before. From Sir Ken to Istabraq to start with. On my bookshelf I have biographies of Monksfield, Sea Pigeon and Persian War. Then there is, according to some, Night Nurse, the greatest of them all. Bula, Comedy of Errors. Horses that ran against one another, along with horses of the calibre of Bird’s Nest and Dramatist. Horses like Brave Inca and Hardy Eustace who won highly competitive Champion Hurdles.
I am not crabbing Constitution Hill. But so far he has only won one race of note and that was his Champion Hurdle demolition of Jonbon. It can be argued that State Man has won more races of note and he might land another today at Leopardstown. With the standard of hurdler we have at present, I would contend that three Champion Hurdles will not necessarily make Constitution Hill the equal of Sea Pigeon, Night Nurse or Istabraq. In my book, to achieve everlasting greatness, great horses must beat other great horses. It is not Constitution Hill’s fault he is in a league of his own. Neither is it his fault that people who should know better, to create a narrative in an attempt to boost awareness of the sport, use hyperbole when comparison is all that is required.
I laugh when, after one novice chase, people who should know better, Rishi Persad, for one, honour a horse with greatness. Warning, ahorse ran at Leopardstown yesterday who is the poster boy for greatness unachieved, Bob Olinger. That there was Samcro. My Drogo had the world at his hooves, now he is running in point-to-points. Sir Gino was brilliant, yes. Yet Willie Mullins has conceded that Ballyburn is a stayer not a 2-mile horse and if that proves the case, in many ways Sir Gino beat nothing of value at Kempton. Stay grounded, keep your fingers crossed and let history play out. At the moment, Sir Gino has the potential to be very good. That is all. This sport can kick like a mule when focus is lost in a maze of hyperbole.

The best and brightest thing to come from the festive period was the hope instilled in us for the Cheltenham Festival. The tide is turning, folks, and in The Jukebox Man and The New Lion there is renewed hope that two British trainers may yet play starring roles come March.

Today, after announcing his plan to bring forward his retirement, Daryl Jacob will have his last ride as a licenced jockey. He has always been one of my favourite jockeys. A jockey who had no concerns about displaying his love of the horses he rode. A great jockey and without knowing him personally, I suspect a great bloke, too.

​Ruby Walsh was right, was he not? ‘Ballyburn doesn’t look like a 2-miler to me,’ he said, and for once Willie is wrong. Perhaps.
The star of the Christmas holiday period was undoubtedly Sir Gino. 4-year-olds are not designed to thrash horses with the greatest potential for greatness in Ireland or Britain on debut over fences in a Grade 1. Yet that is unquestionably what Sir Gino achieved. And it was a cake-walk; victory with ears cocked. Not 100% flawless on the jumping front but 9/10 with a sprinkling of stardust, all the same.
And another feather in the cap of Nicky Henderson; another reason why people should stop insulting the man with their less than worthwhile criticisms. The man is a flipping genius and we need to appreciate him while we have him amongst us. As Nico said after Constitution Hill. ‘I am lucky to work for him.’ As Nicky Henderson is lucky to have someone of Nico’s talent and dedication as his stable jockey. 
As for Ballyburn? Who knows. Doubtless Willie Mullins will pull a rabbit out of the hat twixt now and Cheltenham. Also, the Closutton horses are not pulling down trees at the moment. As with Lossiemouth, it might just have been an off-day for Ballyburn due to a small bug affecting the stable.

Galopin Des Champs versus Fact To File is the last of our festive match-ups and I believe it will take a performance akin to last year’s Savills Chase for Galopin to keep Fact To File from becoming odds-on for this season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. On all known Leopardstown form, Galopin should win. In fact, on all known form the trophy should head back to Closutton. But Willie Mullins is struggling for a Graded winner this holiday season and it might be worth betting each-way on one of the few opposing horses not trained at Closutton. Heartwood would be my choice.

When a horse costs a zillion-quid expectations are that it will, at the very least, whizz through its novice campaign and go to Cheltenham favourite for one of novice championship races. Regent’s Stroll cost a zillion-quid, or in excess of £600,000, and yet in today’s Challow Hurdle he is opposed by half-a-dozen young horses, all winners, that did not cost anywhere close to a zillion-quid, though the Tizzard horse fetched £150,000 at auction, which, to me, is a scandalous, ridiculous amount of money to fork-out in search of achieving a dream-come-true. Given the failure rate of horses that cost similar scandalous, ridiculous amounts of money at auction, why do the silly-rich keep signing cheques with 6 and 7 noughts in the pay column? I hope Regent’s Stroll wins but as with Closutton, Ditcheat is very light on winners this Yuletide.

Just to repeat. Joseph O’Brien is some trainer. After Banbridge, the O’Brien trained Solness, at 28/1, took down Gaelic Warrior at Leopardstown. 

The upshot of a poor performing week for the Closutton horses is that Gordon Elliott will enter the New Year with a clear monetary advantage over Willie Mullins. As with Jack Kennedy finally winning a deserved jockeys’ championship last year, surely no one would begrudge Gordon achieving a first trainers’ title this season. It does not need saying that Willie Mullins is far from done and at some point in the near-future Closutton will hit full hurricane force but Gordon Elliott is as shrewd and his personable and he will leave no stone unturned to in his bid for glory. One thing is certain, we will not be seeing any of Gordon’s top horses in Britain until the Cheltenham Festival as every euro in the win column will count in his struggle to see off Willie Mullins.

​We must not get carried away. Constitution Hill was the answer to yesterday’s puzzler of a Christmas Hurdle but it was, I would contend, the hardest race of his life, excepting, perhaps, his point-to-point race. 
Firstly, the horse looked happy, especially down at the start where he gave the impression of being where he wanted to be. Secondly, except for one hurdle when he thought it pertinent to give Nico a wake-up call by taking off from outside the wings, his jumping was as immaculate as we have come to expect. Thirdly, Nico said the horse took a blow between the last two hurdles, so expect vast improvement next time. Next time, I suggest, will be Cheltenham and not Trials Day. What was nice to see was the reception Constitution Hill received from spectators, it was warm and generous and a reminder of what horse racing is truly about – the horses.
I also liked Nico response to Paddy Brennan’s negativity about Constitution Hill and his belief the horse was ‘gone’ and would not beat Lossiemouth either at Kempton or Cheltenham.
Lossiemouth will have another day and I would not right her off. I thought the 7Ib concession and having his first run for 12-months might prove too much for Constitution Hill. I was wrong, happily so.
And I think Burdett Hill should not be written off, either. He is a 4-year-old and horses of that age always struggle when forced by circumstance to take on experienced Grade 1 hurdlers. Yes, it is usually folly to go against any input from Ruby Walsh but I do not think Burdett Road finishing so close to the main two undermines the form necessarily as we might be dealing with a horse sharply on the rise.

Banbridge did what I hoped he would, and Paul Townend rode him slowly-slowly-catchy-monkey as I expected. I did think, as with many others, though, that the French horse was beyond catching as he bounded into the straight. It is hard to imagine a horse capable of winning Grade 1 chases in his homeland over extreme distances could win a 2-Mile Champion Chase but that was what was mooted for Il Est Francois. Ryanair, perhaps, which, I expect would put him in opposition with Banbridge again as I cannot have him as a Gold Cup horse in the year we have Galopin Des Champs and Fact To File.
What has to be said is this: that Joseph O’Brien is some trainer. I joked yesterday that his dad must be green with envy at his son’s achievements. And perhaps Aidan is a little bit as he started as a jumps trainer only to be persuaded away by the lure of Coolmore. Yet his son proves, even with a reduced jumps string, that a trainer can be successful at the top level in both codes. Long may Joseph have a dual-licence.

The Jukebox Man has Gold Cup potential. All he needs is not to suffer ill-luck on the way to 2026. Mind you, the question that should be asked is not how good The Jukebox Man is but how good is Hyland as by determining his ceiling will give as a clue as to how good The Jukebox Man might turn-out to be. Hopefully both horses will run again before March as I am no fan of this ‘keeping a horse fresh nonsense’. Horses are there to run, having them fresh for 3-months entails keeping a lid on their natural exuberance and that, I believe, is chancing to luck every minute of every day leading to the day that determines future.

The three goodies today are Ballyburn versus Sir Gino at Kempton, the Desert Orchid and the Welsh National. Ruby Walsh is seemingly of the opinion that Ballyburn is not a 2-mile horse and if that is correct, with no 20-furlong novice championship chase at the Festival, that will force Willie Mullins into the 3-mile chase. If Ruby’s analysis is correct, Sir Gino is a good thing today.
The Desert Orchid is a better race for being a limited handicap and today’s race looks a cracker. Edwardstown would be the obvious choice if were not for his habit of falling when seemingly travelling well, as he did in the Tingle Creek last time, and he is in touching distance of being considered ‘ageing’. He deserves another a good win but on this occasion I see the race as a dual between two of my favourite jockeys, Charlie Deutch and Bryony Frost. Martator is an improving horse and no one is better at handling horses on the up than Venetia Williams, whereas San Bruit may have reached a peak at Aintree last season when given a ride of grit and determination by a jockey with the skill to get the very best out of good horses. Obviously, I would love to see Bryony prevail in a top-class chase, if only for others to see what the sport in this country is missing, but Venetia’s string are in great form, while several of the Nicholls’ horses are running poorly. Martator is the one.

A Welsh National with the going description soft, good-to-soft in places. And people wring their hands at the warm weather crisis! Only 16-runners, which is disappointing, though 14 have outstanding chances. Dan Skelton had a disappointing time of things yesterday, so perhaps Galia Des Liteaux can put a smile back on his face.

​I am not a bettor. If I could afford to lose, I would bet. I would not, though, ever become a gambler. Gambling is as foolish as messing with rattle snakes. Why risk everything to fate, even when you have taken the luck out of it by studying form to the point when you could make a stage act from the knowledge engrained in your brain? It is you bloody gamblers who gave politicians the excuse to ‘worry’ about gambling addiction and set in train the ‘Grumbling Commission’s’ affordability checks and government oversight into personal financial affairs. Drunks can drink themselves into oblivion but a loyal customer cannot get ten-quid each-way on at 10/1 because he took too much out of the bookmaker’s satchel a few days before!
Just bet. Do not gamble. And bookmakers’, stop getting into bed with the governmental mafia.

I will not be visiting either of our local bookmakers’ today. Nor do I have a betting account. Nor do I have a mobile phone. I do, though, have thoughts on today’s racing at Kempton Park. Let us hope trainers are not scared-off by ‘good’ being in the ground description. Remember, in most trainers’ eyes ‘good’ is the new ‘firm’. As Monty Python might have said. ‘I’d have snatched your arm off for good ground in my day. Used to race on ground as hard as the road back in the good old days before racecourses had irrigation. Clerks used to force their staff to pee on the landing side of obstacles in my grandfather’s day.’ You get my point?
I am sweet on Leave of Absence in the first, though we must hope he leaps mightily but does not bounce as it is his second run after a long leave of absence. You might get 10/1 about him.
I fell in love with The Jukebox Man at Newbury, even though my New Year’s Resolution last year was to never fall in love again. Apparently, he was not 100% fluent over his fences at Newbury. I suspect at one down the back he was so mighty, leaving the ground well before the wings and stretching like a lifeboatsman trying to reach a drowning child to make it safely to the landing side, that his jockey lost consciousness, which accounts for him not being as impressed as I was. I am slightly concerned that he did not run away with the race, with the second, opposing again today, closest at the line. He lost the 3-mile novice at the Cheltenham Festival in the final few yards after leading the field a merry dance and it might be he does not quite see out the 3-miles. But on a day of equine stars, he pretty much stands out to me.
The King George is, thankfully, and for once, highly competitive and I hope the declared eleven all face the starter. It is good ground when all said and done; the sort of ground that does no harm even if some horses can only win when the mud is deep. I am instinctively drawn to Banbridge, ridden today by Paul Townend, an inspired, if logical, booking. He was unlucky in the Hilly Way as he was coming, at least to me, to win his race when jettisoning his jockey at the last. It will be a fast race with the French horse and The Real Whacker to set the tempo and the slowly-slowly-catchy-monkey tactic of coming from behind might be the way to win the race. If the ground were softer, or soft, I would be all over L’Homme Presse with the Venetia Williams team in such vibrant form. But the ground is not soft, it is lovely and good, and I am bold and brave enough to suggest Banbridge to put another gold star on Joseph O’Brien’s c.v. His dad must be green with envy by now.
Kientzheim is a good thing in the fifth race, though I cannot say why. It is just a Nicky Henderson horse, fresh from France, ridden by Nico de Boinville, at Kempton Park. All the ingredients you need not to have to bother with the form book.
And King of the Road for one for the road.

The mixing things up in Ireland with the abandoning of some races and changing dates for others on St. Stephen’s Day has turned the day’s racing into something rather ordinary. We, or at least the Irish, have to wait until Saturday for the fuse to be lit.

​I am one of those miserable sods who rarely wishes anyone on meeting or passing a ‘merry Christmas’. But now with Christianity under attack by the wokish militia and the unelected mouthpieces of the anti-freedom and anti-free speech movement, I am forcing myself to wish all and sundry a merry or happy or peaceful Christmas. As an alcohol-free atheist I should be pleased to see a division of faith belittled and marginalised but I am not. I believe in the sanctity of liberty, freedom and peace for all, with everyone having the right to believe in what they believe in and to live their lives as they see fit. I may believe all religious adherents to be wrong but I accept they believe I am wrong to reject religious faith. Live and let live.
Today is Christmas Day. I dislike Christmas Day. No racing; no Racing Post. I do not care for celebratory events; I crave normality. I find contentment in normality that I have never find at parties or events or in a throng of people.
While children went to bed last night in anticipation of gifts overflowing the following morning, I will go to bed tonight excited by what gifts the racing gods have in store for me at Kempton Park and Leopardstown tomorrow, Boxing Day in Britain, St. Stephen’s Day in the Republic of Ireland. In light of the present destabilising slow creep of religious censure, I would prefer if we dropped the term Boxing Day and went with the more religious overtone of St. Stephen’s Day. Though I would prefer it if the country referred to the day after Christmas Day as ‘King George Day’; would that not be a glory of sporting statement?
If you think me a sad specimen of humanity for finding more joy in a horse race than in Christianity or gift-giving, I ask you think otherwise. Without horse racing, the sacrifice of those who work this day and every day caring for the horse, the owners who dip deep into their bank accounts to give us horses to race, the mental struggle of trainers, the breaking of bones and dreams by jockeys, and everyone who give their time and effort to make sure the daily life of the sport continues in sequence, I would have given up on life a long time ago. I have lived through the golden age of the sport, from the first televised Grand National – this a lie in 1960 I did not even know the sport of horse racing existed – or at least my first Grand National, which I believe was Nicholas Silver, to the heady ding-dongs between Denman and Kauto Star via Persian War, Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Spanish Steps, Red Rum, Desert Orchid, through to Frodon, the last equine love of my life. Without horse racing I would have nothing; with horse racing I have everything I wish in life.
Except the money to fully immerse myself in the sport as an owner. Perhaps the Lotto will bring me that joy.
My greatest fear is not the prospect of whatever disease or illness will remove me from the world but that my last years will witness the demise of the sport. I want my ghost to wander the country from racecourse to racecourse, to witness what my corporeal self will miss as my body moulders in the ground. How could the I of me that is left lie still in my shroud if some ethereal part of me could not watch or know the outcome of the Cheltenham Gold Cup or whether the latest ‘could be anything’ horse develops into that rarest of equine superstars, the next Arkle. To me, horse racing represents the great Earthly unknowing. Which horse will win the King George tomorrow? Which trainer will be champion this year? Who will win the Lincolnshire National at Market Rasen tomorrow? Will horse racing ever achieve the knowledgeable governance it deserves? 
I am out-of-kilter today as my life has no routine, no normality. Tomorrow I may achieve my kind of happiness if controversy or tragedy does not attach itself to the sport. I hate that. The death of a horse ruins the day as the intrusion of politics ruins everything for everyone.
I will get through the day as it is the only way of arriving at tomorrow. Merry Christmas to one and all and a damn fine St. Stephen’s Day also.

​The feature in today’s Racing Post on the legacy that retiring C.E.O. Julie Harrington will leave the sport sits on the fence as to whether her tenure can be considered successful or not.
I have nothing personal against her, yet I remain adamant in my criticism of her leadership of the B.H.A., even if I admit that due to the governance set-up for the sport, she, and anyone, I suspect, who comes after her, has continually had to swim against a tide of self-interest. That said, nothing substantial has changed in the time she has held the tiller. The sport continues to go round in circles in search of hope or the miracle of salvation. The fine details of Premiership racing were, seemingly, written in pencil on the back of a cigarette packet that was left behind in the pub after all participants of the ‘come-together’ had consumed one too many sherbets. 
After no thought on the matter, inspiration came to me upon waking this morning on how the B.H.A. might be transformed into a more democratic body. Obviously, the sport needs a supremo with in-depth knowledge of the sport. Firstly, the position of Supremo, not C.E.O., is advertised in the Racing Post, with nominees not interviewed but put forward for election by ballot. Everyone who works within the industry, from stud farm to betting shop, from stable groom to t.v. presenters, to be able to vote on who they think would best serve the racing and breeding industry. But also, any member of the public can join, we will call it for now, the B.H.A. Membership Club, for a membership payment of a reasonable amount, no more than fifty-quid, to allow them also to participate in the election. This sport is my sport, just as much as it is your sport. We should have a say on who gets the honour of being its dedicated leader.
But first, those of influence in the sport should admit that the present system falls well short of what is required for horse racing in this country to thrive. Though the starting point for whoever rises to head-honcho of the B.H.A. must make the correct decisions that allow the sport a sporting chance to survive the slings and arrows currently coming in its direction..

Now until Boxing Day morning, it is crossed-fingers time. Please, no surprise and devastating withdrawals from the main races at Kempton or Leopardstown. If either Constitution Hill or Lossiemouth, for instance, were to be taken out of the Christmas Hurdle or Ballyburn or Sir Gino from the Wayward Lad, it would be akin to Father Christmas being unable to leave Lapland due to Rudolf suffering a dirty scope the previous day.

What a man that Oisin Murphy is. Sunday he was riding in India; Monday he was at Neal Mulholland’s near Bath to school the horse he is riding in the 3-mile hurdle at Wincanton on Boxing Day. He has so much to lose if he hits the deck and so little to gain, yet he is prepared to test himself in an unforgiving different disciple. Yes, one of his hobbies is riding his show-jumpers in events. But a 3-mile hurdle on a 25/1 outsider is a different ballgame altogether. I hope Wincanton, whose general manager is Oisin’s sister, get a bumper crowd to witness something unique – a Champion flat jockey riding in a proper National Hunt race. Crossed-fingers for it to go without mishap and for our great Champion flat jockey to finish the day with a smile on his face. Respect. 

Old Gold Racing - £60 first-time purchase, £40 thereafter – have 30,000 members. Where this sport is not floundering is in the number of people who are members of syndicates and members clubs. This is the future of the sport and if these syndicates could also be encouraged into breeding their own stock rather than always buying cast-offs, the sport might return to the heady days when the owner-breeder was the lynchpin of the sport.

After my plea for the Racing Post to include race-cards from the French provinces, in today’s edition Cagnes-Sur-Mare appears. This, of course, has 100% nothing to do with either the blog yesterday or my e-mail to Tom Ellis, but due to there being no racing in Britain and Ireland today. Yet this singular glimpse at French jumps racing was educational. Apart from a £28,000 listed chase, prize-money at Cagnes by the sea is similar to a second Saturday meeting over here. I hope the Racing Post do not forget to publish the results either on Boxing Day or if there is an on-line edition tomorrow, whatever day that is.
Also, it was joyous – yes, I am a Bryony Frost worshipper – to see Devon’s greatest jockey has two rides, neither owned by her retainers Isaac Soude and Simon Munir. I know why but it was perplexing to see that she claims 4 on both her rides. A jockey with her c.v. claiming 4!

​To quote Lee Mottershead in his top horse racing’s influences in today’s Racing Post. ‘Charles Allen is expected to work around one day a week as B.H.A. Chair when assuming the role in the middle of next year.’ One day a week! How will he ever fit in his role at the B.H.A. with all the other high-salaried position he doubtless holds. There is the rest of the industry working their butts off, either to keep their heads above water or in pursuit of championship ambitions, and there at the B.H.A., the governing body, supposedly, of horse racing in this country, there is someone chairing meetings once a week and being paid a salary that is dreamland for the rest of us. If Lee Mottershead as the Racing Post’s senior columnist is paid more than Mr. Allen it will be because he works more than one day a week!
If I remember rightly, when he was announced as the new Chair, it was said of Mr. Allen that he had knowledge of the sport, though instances of his ‘knowledge’, considering the importance of the position in the sport he was to take-up (eventually), was not all impressive.
Take Dido Harding at the helm of the Jockey Club. She rode as an amateur with some success. She owned Cool Dawn, the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner and wrote an extremely good book about him. According to her book, she borrowed £7,000 from the bank to buy the horse. She had the sense to jock herself off Cool Dawn and have Andrew Thornton ride him in the Gold Cup.
Yes, she messed-up when working for the government during the covid-scam, procuring equipment that was truly needed, wasting millions, doubles billions of tax-payers’ money. But when corruption and stupidity is rife, her period working for Boris and his overlords can be forgiven for the defeat of common-sense in the face of incompetence and ignorance of decades of known science. Anyone of us ensnared in nonsense and strategies of cover-up would fail to.
The point is, her knowledge of the sport involves open ditches, fetlocks, ownership and stable etiquette and routine. 
No one should be employed in this sport at an administrative and especially at a governance level, Chair or C.E.O., who has never dirtied his or her hands at the coal-face of the sport. How many times will Charles Allen ask someone sitting around the board table ‘why do we do that’?

I have nothing against French-bred horses. It is just their names that bug me. The mixing of English and French. The name of the stud, Berlais, for instance, in so many names. The misappropriated ‘, as in Big Buck’s, as an example.
But the French are amongst us and I must accept, also, their dominance. So, given that the editor asked for ideas to be included in the Racing Post, that the industry newspaper report on more than the major races at Auteuil. If you consider that two of the top jump jockeys in France are British-bred, James Reveley and the half-French Felix de Giles, both champion jockeys in France, as well as the well-respected Charly Prichard, and now her fellow female Bryony Frost, ply their trade across the ‘Le Mer’, there should be more than a passing interest for the Post’s readers.
As Scott Burton is based in France, Tom Ellis has a man with experience of the country and the racecourses in the provinces where, it seems, Willie Mullins and his team pluck gems from the flotsam. Even in winter, the Post publishes race-cards from Bahrain and Happy Valley, so why not Pau or Clairfontaine?

​Our sport makes great claims about being as diverse as diverse can be. Yes, our female jockeys, at the most of our racecourses, must forever wonder if they are being spied on by some of the less gentlemanly of their riding colleagues when changing their clothes and riding apparel and to drive home sweaty and still mudded as they are expected to share the showers with red-bloodied male jockeys. That aside, outside of weighing rooms, our sport is pretty-much classless and diversified, with all walks of life represented in the training, jockey and owner ranks.
Nico de Boinville proves the point. His surname suggests he might possibly be related to French aristocracy, with forebears who ate cake with Marie Antoinette. He will be pleased to know he is one of my favourite jockeys, though better pleased to have been accepted for who he is and his ability as a horseman/jockey by his fellow jockeys. They rag him as ‘the posh boy’ but it is easy to see that he is very much one of them.
Matt Chapman told a story the other day on his ‘Unbridled’ podcast with Paddy Brennan that tells all you need to know about Nico. When told that Nicky Henderson planned to take his 3-year-old hurdlers across Lambourn for a schooling session, realising riding commitments would prevent him from being involved, Nico put ‘schooling the babies’ before earning an income for that day. That is commitment to the cause, demonstrating the leadership qualities of the stable jockey.
Having no connection with Seven Barrows, Nico’s first appearance in my field of vision was as Sprinter Sacre’s schooling rider, and then, of course, as a claiming rider on board a novice of only three runs over fences, he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Coneygree. As bold and fearless a ride as any horse has enjoyed in the history of the race. Since then, he has won every major race apart from the National, and with Nicky Henderson’s record in the now Little National as well as all the other Nationals’ including regional Nationals, which after forty-years remains at zero, his only chance of adding Aintree to his c.v. is to get a spare for another trainer. Though perhaps Fascinating Lady might right the wrong this season. Or Mister Coffey, though that would be fanciful.
He is a great horseman and perhaps the best all-round stable jockey that Nicky Henderson has employed and an image from last season, when his young daughter accompanied him to the races, displayed him as a loving father, buttoning-up her coat whilst talking and interacting with her, the daughter the most important aspect of his day. An everyday image, yet it reinforced my admiration for him.
Oh, he is the focus of the main feature in the Racing Post today.

This is the season for crossing our fingers and hoping trainers have not been titillating our fancies over the past few weeks. Big storms permitting, if Willie Mullins is kind to us, we will be treated at Kempton on Boxing Day and whatever the day after is called to Constitution Hill versus Lossiemouth – incidentally there is another Lossiemouth entered for a handicap at Kempton on the same day as – Sir Gino versus Ballyburn. Please, please, Willie do not take Ballyburn to Limerick, the ground will be so much better at Kempton. And there is a trip down memory lane with Britain versus Ireland versus France in the King George. Yes, three French-trained horses readied for cross-channel steeplechasing glory.
All I want for Christmas is no snow, frost or heavy rain. For Boxing Day I want an epic King George – I care not who wins – for Constitution Hill to run with honour – not bothered if he wins, just that he finishes within a length of two of Lossiemouth. Giving her weight, remember. And for Ballyburn and Sir Gino to have a right good dust-up.

I am pleased ‘Full Gallop’ is to return for a second series. I am not cock-a-hoop, though. They must feature more of the back-stage stuff this time around. The people who do the hard miles. The stable staff, the horses and the owners. It should also demonstrate the hard miles all jockeys must commit to in their daily lives.

​The title of David Owen’s book is ‘No Snail’ not The Snail as I continue to refer to it. I will correct the blog of several days ago and find some method of punishing myself for neglecting to seek help for my lazy eye. We all do it, you may say, use a word that looks like the right word and then fail to spot the glaring error when proof-reading, even those young enough to have working brains and a steady memory. On the plus side for my self-worth, how many men of my age (70 and 9-months, if you must know) could chain-saw into movable pieces 10-yards of tree trunk, arrange the majority out of the way of the in-coming river, bring home a good bit using only a sack-truck, carry through house, return at first light the following morning to bring home a similar amount of timber, walk to the shops and then saw and split said timber in the afternoon? That is not a challenge, by the way; I am sure there are men, and doubtless women, older than nearly 71 capable of the same, if not greater feats of stamina and strength and work at a faster rate than my snail’s pace. Nicely done, you must agree.

At Haydock today, there is a Beginners’ Chase which has attracted a grand total of 2-runners. As a collective, trainers should be ashamed of this state-of-affairs. They whinge about the lack of novice and beginners’ chases, stating boldly the paucity of top chasers in this country is due in no small part to the B.H.A. cutting the majority of such races from the race calendar in favour of novice handicaps, yet in truth, as the Haydock race is evidence, trainers make no effort to patronise these races when racecourses stage them and prove the B.H.A.’s thinking has merit. 
In Ireland, outside of graded races, novice and beginners’ chases are nearly always fully subscribed. Yes, especially when Willie Mullins has three or more horses running, half the field are there for a school round, which I have no problem with, yet it remains refreshing to see so many novices in one race, shades of yesteryear in Britain when novice races would need to be divided.
In fact, to see so many two and three-runner fields, with National Hunt still, in the main, lacking a competitive edge, it is too easy to form the conclusion we are witnessing a sport in decline. Within the perimeters of suitable ground and distance, trainers need to form an alliance to ensure that when racecourses put on novice and beginners’ chase they are supported, otherwise they will become as rare as florins and sixpences jangling in peoples’ pockets. 
The problem of non-competitive, small-field, National Hunt races would be eased if there were less all-weather races, if not all-weather meetings, during the core National Hunt season, as well as less during the core flat season, so it becomes again a viable option for owners to swap their horses to the jumps in order to see them run. So many good hurdlers came to the game due to a lack of opportunity on the flat; so many horses with poor form on the flat became high class when switched to hurdles. Attivo and Sea Pigeon come to mind.
For the religious at this time of year, please pray that the forecast winds do not prevent the Irish-trained horses making it over to our shores so their presence can enhance the excellent racing we hope to enjoy during the festive season. The French, too, are making their presence known, at Ascot today and Kempton on Boxing Day; just like the days of Doumen and son. Cross-fingers this generation of Gallic invaders are not as successful as in the days of The Fellow and Nupsala!