As much as I admire Aidan O'Brien, and not by how much I get annoyed by the lack of substance that falls from his mouth when interviewed, I have my fingers crossed that Andrew Balding pulls it out of the fire and manages to win the trainers title race for no other reason than the Balding family have played a large part in my enjoyment of horse racing over my sixty + years of my small involvement in the sport. O'Brien can win the title next year or the year after, this might be Balding's one and only opportunity. His father was only champion once, in the year of Mill Reef's Derby and Arc success and it might be the same for the son, and this might yet be that year. In a Racing T.V. podcast, the five panelists, Ruby, Lydia, Nick, Jane and the young buck Josh, all had a...

With Newbury today called-off due to waterlogging and with tomorrow's meeting likely to go the same way, Nicky Henderson has made the right decision to take Constitution Hill to Italy rather than staying local and running in the St. Simon Stakes. For all his phaffing and puffing, Nicky Henderson is usually right when it comes to tough calls and I will have my figures crossed that the adventure allows him to train what I believe will be his first winner in Italy. When I suggested the St. Simon would be the the better of the two options, it had not entered my calculations that Newbury would succumb to the weather. Their previous meeting had been run on firm ground; what a difference a few weeks can make. I will also be keeping my fingers crossed that I.T.V. might be able to add live coverage of the Premio del Jockey Club along...

The first past the post in the novice handicap hurdle at Fontwell yesterday was disqualified due to an objection from the clerk of the scales in that the jockey, Freddie Mitchell, weighed-in 5Ibs light. In the stewards' enquiry the fault was placed on trainer Max Comley's travelling head lad for saddling I Love You Sivola incorrectly by not putting on the weight cloth. No one can argue with the verdict of the stewards, though we must have some sympathy for the travelling head lad who doubtless will be feeling this morning that his world has been tipped upside down. During our lives, all of us will make at least one silly mistake that wreaks havoc with our pride and dignity. As a man of 72 and a half, I embarrass myself on a daily basis. The problem I am having with this case is not the disqualification but that the whole...

I do not have a biography of Fred Archer in my small racing library. It is an omission I shall have to put right. Anyway, returning to the pony steeplechase I mentioned a few days ago. Fred Archer's first winner was in a pony steeplechase at Bangor. He weighed 4st 11Ibs at the time. He won his first flat race at Chesterfield. At 17, he won his first jockeys' championship. He weighed 5st 7Ibs. He had his first-ever ride in the Newmarket Town Plate, quite possibly the most famous person ever to ride in the race. When I awoke at midnight, it was raining heavily. When I awoke again (bathroom breaks, you understand) it was still raining heavily and blowing a hooly. When I started my day at a few minutes past 4 am, it was still raining, still blowing a hooly. At 6.31, as I write, it is only now...

The Racing Post have finally acknowledged Wayne Lordan's six-timer at Leopardstown on Saturday. And it seems I was right when I suggested it was an achievement worth heralding as Lordan is the first jockey, flat or jumping, in the history of British and Irish racing, to win six races for the same trainer at a single meeting. It is a record he will keep for a very long time, I predict. In today's Racing Post, Louisa Allen, this years winner of the Leadership Award at the Thoroughbred Industry Employees Awards, is featured. There is no doubt she was a worthy recipient of the award. Personally, when I read about the people who receive these awards, I cannot but help tearing-up a little, envious of their positions in the sport, wishing I could have a similar work background. If only government knew about the love and passion involved in horse racing. How...

Usually, given it is such a rare event, about as often as a named comet appearing in the sky, when a jockey rides six-winners at one meeting, it is granted a fanfare, heralded as the achievement it is, with headlines in The Racing Post. Yet Wayne Lordan's six-timer at Leopardstown on Saturday received little or no coverage in our trade newspaper. Even if all six winners were on horses trained by Aidan O'Brien, it was still an achievement worthy of celebration. Lordan is top-class, obviously, he would not be riding the best of the Ballydoyle horses if he were only average, yet he is very much second-jockey at Ballydoyle, perhaps even third given how many times Christophe Soumillon is given preference over him, yet we hear not one modicum of dissent from him. When Ryan Moore retires, Lordan will not be favourite to obtain the top job and will doubtless remain...

If Andrew Balding pulls his title bid out of the fire, a toast should be drunk to Mount Atlas for his admirable effort in winning the Long Distance Cup at Ascot yesterday. From his bemused expression after the race, I think the result even shocked the trainer, perhaps mostly because for the first time the idea that he might become champion trainer had, perhaps, become a possible reality to him. Obviously Minnie Hauk soon deflated that ide to a degree, with Aidan's still to have his big guns running for him. Yet, on the drive home with his wife, I would not be surprised if the two discussed the possibility of winning the trainers' title and what, if anything, they had for the Futurity at Doncaster this coming weekend. It is not that Balding must win the Futurity, simply that for him to be champion trainer come January 31st, Aiden must...

For me, the most interesting race today at Ascot is the Champions Long Distance Cup. As with the Stayers Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, could they have come-up with a more imaginative title for the race? Sems not. Did they ever consider naming it after one of the great Ascot Gold Cup winner of history or simply named it the Ascot Cup or The Ascot Trophy. Anyway, that is today'smain moan out of the way, let's proceed with due reverence for the event. Highwayman is the horse I am most looking forward to. Now with Dylan Browne-Mcmonagle on board, it will be interesting to see if a further step up in trip will eke-out even more improvement in him, which will be needed as this race is a stone better than the St. Leger that has immortalised him. It is also a more competitive race without Scandanavia, as he would have...

If you want to find champion jockeys all in the same place and on the same day, the best place to look would be George Boughey's Saffron Place Stables on the Hamilton Road in Newmarket. Not only is the new champion flat jockey Billy Loughnane the retained rider but you might also see Jack Callan, the champion apprentice for this season and Henry Callan, the new champion amateur. I do not know if one stable has produced the champion of all three divisions in one season and in my ignorance I will suggest that Boughey must be the first. A small feather in his cap, in comparison to winning the 2,000-guineas, may be, but a featherof note nonetheless. I do wonder if Boughey worries that one of the bigger operations might lure Loughnane away or if he is resigned to losing him in the next couple of years. Loughnane is perhaps...

Once more I quote from 'Men and HorsesI Have Known', a book, you might be pleased to know, I finished reading yesterday morning.  'Racing for a short time was stopped by the War. The reason for this was simple; a certain amount of sentimentalists, a few politicians in high places, who were supremely ignorant on racing matters, combined with the Anti-Gambling League and those few people who are against sport, got up a cry against the continuation of racing.' George Lambton was writing about the 1st World War, 112-years-ago, yet still politicians are 'supremely ignorant' about horse racing and the industry that it encompasses, and still there is an anti-gambling league with influence amongst the Labour Party.  Lambton continued. 'The stewards of the Jockey Club were in a very unpleasant position, as any strong move on their part savoured of unpatriotism and although they remonstrated with the Government there was nothing...

I have waited until I have witnessed a good number of races before commenting on the new starting procedures for National Hunt races. Of course, single-digit fields at Hereford or Stratford cannot be the litmus test for the new procedure, that will come if there are a large number of runners in a single race at Cheltenham's first meeting of the new season, and even then it will still be fingers-crossed when the National Hunt Festival comes around. This latest stab at simplifying what should be the simple task of starting a horse race is a fusing of views from jockeys, trainers and starters, I believe, though the main contribution must have been by Cheltenham racecourse agreeing to realign the course so that no race is started on a bend, which was, at Cheltenham, one of the main causes for false starts. My biggest bug-bear on the old starting procedure was...

I think it is fair to say that Potters Charm would be the classiest horse to be seen so far this jumps season and though he did not win by far yesterday at Worcester, I liked the way he raced with his ears forward, as if he was enjoying his day out. If he won despite being of being short on fitness, his trainer said he was only 80% fit, I think he would be worth having on your side in the coming weeks, and again at the back end. I doubt he is one for deep ground, if we should be so lucky to achieve soft ground this season. I suppose I should have started with Final Demand failing a dope test at the Cheltenham Festival last season. Yes, a Willie Mullins horse in dope shock! Apparently, and I cannot remember any announcement at the time, Final Demand had received...

As I have come to expect, and you cannot imagine how much I envy the quality of his writing, Lee Mottershead hits the nail on the head in the debate/dispute over whether geldings should take part in the Prix de I'Arc de Triomphe. The argument used by by Bozo the French tit and his chief supporters at Coolmore that geldings have an advantage over colts is shot to pieces by two vets quoted by Mottershead. Colts have more muscle mass - you only have to compare active stallions to a steeplechaser to understand the truth of that claim - over geldings and muscle mass can ensure more speed. It is true that a colt can improve both in temperament and in form when gelded but that does not equate to evidence that geldings have a distinct advantage over colts. How many former classic hopes that have failed to live-up to expectations...

If I ever read the breeding column of the Racing Post it will be James Thomas's Diary which is usually in the Sunday edition. Thomas is a skilled writer; he makes what can be a boring occupation come across as exciting as a close finish to a Wolverhampton maiden on a cold Saturday night. Close finishes are always intriguing if not damned right exciting whether they are at Wolverhampton, Wetherby or Cork.. He may have relied on hyperbole during the week when the crazy and stupid spilled out into the real world at Tatersalls as the filthy rich displayed their wealth with finger-raising and eyebrow twitching in the battle to win the honour of signing dockets for millions+ amount of guineas. You had to have been there, I suspect, to determine whether ego topped pride in the struggle to the best bred unknowns on the open market. It would be interesting...

Ruby's first piece for The Racing Post is a concise mash-up of all the factual and depressing failures that blight our sport, both sides of the Irish Sea, at the moment. I hope in future articles for The Racing Post that Ruby proposes some solutions for all that ails us, as anyone can tell his or her readers what we already know. Ruby has great observational skills, his analytical reprise of races has taken the craft of the 'expert' in racing to a whole new level. Yet the great racing brain he posssesses should be capable of proposals that might infuse the debate with the fire of exceptional thought that provide the answers that racing desperately needs. Giving readers the equation without providing the answer is something all of us can do; with Ruby I expect more. For instance, not that I boast I have any ready-made answers, I have suggested...

When David Jennings announced he was leaving The Racing Post, I was gutted as he was one of my favourite contributors to the paper. One week on and I sort of feel 'who was David Jennings?' The Racing Post has announced that from tomorrow the legend that is Ruby Walsh will be penning a Saturday article. Unlike with Mr. Jennings, we cannot expect much humour from Ruby Walsh, what we will get though is forthright opinions, scathing opinions and a good dose of common-sense. What the fabled analyst doesn't know about the sport is not worth knowing. One thing is for sure, I will be too scared of catching alight Ruby's choler to be sending in my thoughts on his thoughts to the letters column. I know my place, and it is a long way in arrears of Ruby. People generally love autumn because of the reds and oranges of the...

For anyone who might be wondering if life is really worth the effort, I suggest you do not read today's Racing Post. No matter that the 3-day Chepstow fixture over the coming days heralds the start of the National Hunt season proper, that on Saturday we have both the Dewhurst and the Cesarewitch to look forward to, as well as Champions Day the following Saturday, The Racing Post today is chock-a-block with all of racing's woes.  On the front page there is a story about the closure of betting shops and the loss that brings to local communities. Richard Forristal uses his column to regale his readers with the financial problems of French racing. Dragon Bet, the sponsors of Chepstow's Welsh Racing Festival, believe, no doubt rightly, that due to the structure of media rights payments horse racing 'is in a death spiral'. And what has come out of the Conservative...

The subject of horses' eyes has always intrigued me. Trawlerman's sensitivity to bright sunlight was evidence, in my opinion, that when looking for solutions to a horse losing its form, the eyes can be overlooked. It is the same when a horse starts falling in races after being considered a good jumper. Eye trouble might have been the cause of Constitution Hill's problem, though it was proven not to be as Nicky Henderson had the foresight to have his eyes checked-out. Which brings me to the appeal by the owner of Paddy The Squire to the result of a race at the latest Newbury fixture. Ryan Moore won the race on Balsac, trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam. At or around the furlong pole, Barsac veered away from the rails and 'impeded' Paddy The Squire, ridden by Andrew Mullen. On the day, the stewards saw no reason to reverse the placings which angered...

At the 60th Annual Federation of Horse Racing Authorities get-together yesterday, Princess Zahra Aga Khan spoke with passion about what the racing industry brings to rural communities. It was gladdening to hear someone from elite society speak with her feet firmly on the ground. Yes, she lives a privileged life and had the honour of being able to reference the Arc winning performance of Darys the day before, yet she reminded her influential audience that the perception of the outside world was that the racing industry is all about 'top hats and tails, and hats and heels', when in reality what goes on in the background is a lot of hard graft by a lot of working-class people. If I were to meet Princess Zahra and was able to conduct a conversation with her, the only topic of interest we would have in commom, as far as I could know, would...

'Obliterated', absolutely not Mr. Forristal. 'Great Champion', absolutely, Monsieur Graffard. There was only a smidge over 10-lengths between first and last in the Arc, so Richard Forristal's proclamation that Darys obliterated his rivals yesterday was well over the top. It has be said, though, that in winning two Arcs in succession, Darys has proved himself to be a rare beast, worthy of his trainer's belief that he is a great champion. As you may know I am afflicted with cynocism and I struggle to accept hyperbole when it comes to annoiting racehorses with superlatives such as 'one of the greats'. For Richard Forristal to suggest Darys obliterated the opposition is to put yesterday's performance on a par with Frankel's 2,000-guineas, Nijinsky's King George & Queen Elisabeth victory or even Mill Reef's Arc win. Darys for all his superiority did not win with his head in his chest, he won all-out -...