The jumps season ended with an hour of extreme emotions for me, summing up why I will always be in love with the sport.
Kitty’s Light was amazing in the bet365 Gold Cup; fully demonstrating what an excellent trainer that Christian Williams is of staying chasers.
Watching Kitty’s Light do exactly as I had anticipated was a moment of enormous gratification. At no point during the race did I believe the seven-year-old would do anything but win and land a decent bet.
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune returned within an hour, however, when my final selection of the afternoon Harper’s Brook came through smoothly to win his race only to put his head up in the air and throw victory away.
One thing I have learnt is that it never pays to get too smug in this game!
It will be a quiet start for me this week. With the older horse handicap fields at Nottingham cutting up, I have headed to Brighton to try to find a winner to kick off the week.
Mick’s Dream did the column a favour on his second start of last season and I am very hopeful he can repeat the dose here.
He ran well enough at Windsor last time, staying on nicely after not getting the best of runs and looking very much like he would benefit from the run.
That run came on heavy ground, but he is back on the good to firm surface he won on here which should be a plus for him.
Alec Voikhansky rode four winners in April and is looking like being an apprentice to be with in the south this this season. He looks good value claiming 5lb in this race confined to apprentices.
Have a day at the races on us. Click here for more details Is only 1lb worse off with Letter of The Law for a half-length hard fought victory over course and distance a couple of weeks ago.
I feel he might be able to confirm the form with blinkers replacing the visor, almost certainly at recommendation of Luke Morris who won on him, which will hopefully give him a little extra resolution.
He started last season off a mark of 80 and performing with credit off marks a lot higher than on Tuesday, so it is not impossible he will regain some of that form now he has learnt how to win again. His new stable are doing well with modest handicappers this term.
At eight years old and having been kept busy, this sprinter looks exposed at first glance. However, he shaped very much as though there might be better to come on his first run for George Baker/British debut last time.
He ran in a tongue strap but without the headgear he wore in Ireland and after missing the break slightly he stayed on encouragingly to finish a decent fifth.
The angle for me is his turf handicap mark, which is 9lb lower than his all-weather rating - achieved almost exclusively from racing at Dundalk.
It was only in late September that he was running a good third off a mark of 59 in a competitive sprint at Bellewstown and apart from a race the day after, where he also ran creditably, he has not been seen on turf since. He runs off 55 her, which looks lenient as often Irish marks are adjusted higher when transferring across. I will definitely be watching for a market move for him.
8:37
Ryan Moore will be hoping the outcome of the Sky Bet Club Irish EBF Maiden at the Curragh is not a precursor to Epsom as the Wayne Lordan-ridden Aix La Chapelle teed up a Royal Ascot bid.
Moore was on his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Giant Sequoia who went off the 4-9 favourite, but he could only finish third.
The more experienced Bull Shark set stiff early fractions that had them all out of their comfort zones but only Aix La Chapelle (4-1) – a son of Justify out of dual Group One winner Immortal Verse – could go with him, eventually winning by a length and a half.
Moore faced some tricky choices choosing his Oaks and Derby mounts having already been on the wrong ones in both the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Irish equivalent.
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9:24
Master trainer Aidan O'Brien speaks from The Curragh to discuss his strong team of runners for Epsom's big weekend across three of the season's biggest races.
The Ballydoyle handler talks through his Betfred Oaks pair Amelia Earhart and Cameo, Coronation Cup contender Jan Brueghel, and his Betfred Derby hopefuls Benvenuto Cellini and Pierre Bonnard, sharing his thoughts on each ahead of the weekend.
#horseracing #derby #bettingtips
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32:37
Martin Dixon joins Niall Hannity and the Tote's Jack Ready as they break down a huge weekend at Epsom and give their selections for the big races.
The panel preview Epsom's biggest weekend, headlined by the Betfred Derby on Saturday, look ahead to the Betfred Oaks on Friday and the Coronation Cup — with expert analysis, sharp betting angles, and must-hear World Pool insights.
Plus the team pick out their best bets from the supporting races across both days of action on the Downs.
Please gamble responsibly - 18+ only - head to gambleaware.org if your gambling is causing you concerns
#horseracing #bettingtips #epsomderby
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0:28
Named after a German spa town (Aachen) Aix La Chapelle (Justify) delivers on debut
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9:35
Royal Ascot could come calling for Senorita Bonita despite leaving it late to make a winning debut at Nottingham.
Owned by Victorious Racing, the daughter of Starspangledbanner was the top lot at the Craven Breeze-Up sales in April, commanding 900,000 guineas before heading into training with Simon and Ed Crisford.
Sent off the 10-11 favourite in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, it looked like Fast Track was going to make experience count, but Oisin Murphy conjured up a race-winning burst when it mattered from his mount, who showed a deadly turn of foot to pounce in the dying strides by a short head.
Simon Crisford said: “She was learning on the job and had to do it the hard way but she’s a very nice filly with plenty of scope for the future.
“She’s got a great temperament and is very nice. She’s got pace and class and whatever we saw today she will be much better next time.
“Midway through the race it wasn’t looking too good and she was probably on the wrong side of the track. Her turn of foot was exceptional and whether she is a five or six-furlong filly remains open.
“We’ll talk to the owners about plans and see what they would like to do.”
Karl Burke’s Leovanni won the corresponding race before landing the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot two year’s ago and Senorita Bonita was made 6-1 by William Hill to repeat that feat later this month.
However, Victorious Racing’s racing manager Chris Wall believes she will have no problem if the team decide to tackle the extra furlong of the Albany Stakes.
Wall said: “She’s a nice filly to be involved with and one with a big future. Simon and the team have done well to get her this far in such a short space of time as she was quite wintery in her coat at the sales and it’s the same again now.
“She’s tested their patience a bit to get her ready but showed a great turn of foot there.
“She was bought to go to Ascot and that’s what we’ll have to do. Whether we go for the Queen Mary and the Albany we’ll have to have a think about which direction we go.
“I think she could stretch out to six as she was strong through the line today. She was a bit green early on but was stuck out on a wing and had to do things the hard way.
Meanwhile, Andrew Balding’s runner-up Fast Track could also now roll on to the Royal meeting after her brave run in defeat on her second outing.
“She’s a nice filly and I liked her first run at Goodwood and thought she would come on a lot for that which she has done,” said Philip Robinson, racing manager for owner Sultan Ali.
“I saw Simon’s gallop the other day and knew which one we had to beat and unfortunately she just got us on the line.
“The Queen Mary might be her race and a possibility but I think the winner might be going there as well and you have to remember we’ve had a run and the winner hadn’t.”
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0:26
900,000gns buy Senorita Bonita (Starspangledbanner) makes a winning debut at Nottingham.
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0:19
Favourite Benvenuto Cellini breaks from stall 12 in Saturday's Derby.
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13:49
Rishi Persad speaks to Kevin Buckley, Kevin Blake and more following today's Betfred Derby draw.
It could prove a fitting omen if Benvenuto Cellini was able to provide Aidan O’Brien a record-extending 12th Betfred Derby from stall 12 in the Epsom Classic on Saturday.
The Chester Vase winner is one of four for the master of Ballydoyle among the 14 declarations for the mile and a half feature and a race O’Brien has proved unstoppable in recently, as he seeks a fourth successive win after the victories of Auguste Rodin (2023), City Of Troy (2024) and Lambourn (2025).
Benvenuto Cellini will be joined by stablemates Pierre Bonnard (eight), Action (11) and Christmas Day (five), with juvenile Group One winner Pierre Bonnard held in the highest regard despite being yet to strike this term and the latter pair arriving having finished second and third respectively in the Dante.
Speaking at the Derby draw held at The Peninsula Hotel in London, Coolmore’s UK representative Kevin Buckley said: “I think Benvenuto Cellini is a worthy favourite and we would be happy enough with his draw in 12 which is the same one Australia and Serpentine won out of so you would have to be happy.
“I’ve always had a personal soft spot for Pierre Bonnard, but I was equally impressed with what Benvenuto Cellini did at Chester and I thought that was the perfect prep for the Derby.
“It is interesting Christmas Day is drawn five and that is the same stall his sire Camelot came out of when he won the Derby. He was third in the Dante behind Action, who is closely-related to Lambourn and won the Derby last year, so we have some nice runners this year and we’re looking forward to it.”
The winner at York that day was Item, who is one of two in the race for Andrew Balding alongside A Taste Of Glory (seven), and is regarded by the bookmakers as the most likely challenger to the Ballydoyle-trained favourite.
Item will exit from stall three that New Approach won from in 2008, as the Kingsclere handler attempts to replicate the achievement of his late father Ian who won the Derby with the famous Mill Reef in 1971.
The trainer’s wife Anna Lisa Balding said: “The Dante was a good place to start and you can do nothing about the draw, it’s all about what you do with it.
“He’s drawn three but is in great form. I think he looked pretty good in the Dante and everyone was bigging up the race before the race. He really delivered on the day and finished strong. He might have been a little bit green in front so hopefully he will have learned plenty.
“I suppose the one thing for us is we haven’t quite had the conditions weather-wise to have done as much with him on the grass at home that we would have liked to have done.
“It is Andrew’s dream to win the Derby, he’s only 54 and has a few more years to do it, but he will keep trying and you never know.”
Lingfield Derby Trial winner Maltese Cross will be just a fifth Derby runner for William Haggas who won the race with Shaamit 30 year’s ago. He will exit stall one often referred to as the ‘coffin box’ but successfully navigated by the imperious City Of Troy in 2024.
Maltese Cross made it two from two for the year when edging out Ralph Beckett’s Bay Of Brilliance (nine) at Lingfield and they will lock horns again on the Surrey Downs, with Charlie Johnston’s Ancient Egypt (10) another British-trained contender having impressed in the Newmarket Stakes.
Also heading to Epsom on a high is Joseph O’Brien’s James J Braddock (13) who having downed the aforementioned Pierre Bonnard at Leopardstown, will seek to land another telling blow in a race his handler won twice as a jockey aboard Camelot (2012) and Australia (2014).
Jane Chapple-Hyam and Faye Bramley will both try to become the first female trainer to win the Derby when saddling Balzac (two) and Rebel Rocker (14) respectively, with the field completed by Karl Burke’s 4.3million guineas yearling Poker (four) and Richard Hannon’s Alderman (six), who both head into the race as maidens.
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1:27:23
Rishi Persad and Steve Mellish reflect on the remarkable career of Johnny Murtagh, looking back at the triumphs, challenges and defining moments that made him one of racing’s most celebrated jockeys.
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