No wonder they stayed in town. After the disappointment of Masar’s missing the previous weekend’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes – parlayed into a season-long absence late last week – the full Sheikh Mohammed entourage was on view for the whole of the Newmarket July meeting’s three days, writes Tony Stafford. The boys in blue were rewarded with […]
You can blame it all on novichok and Brexit, writes Tony Stafford. But for the political reaction to the first Salisbury poisonings back in the spring of a former Russian spy who years ago sold secrets to the British, and his daughter, many more England supporters would have dared to travel to Russia for the […]
Last Wednesday, my wife suggested a trip to the seaside to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, writes Tony Stafford. This Thursday will be the 49th anniversary of my first wedding – I doubt I’ll be marking that date other than sub-consciously, never mind next year. The present Mrs S’s suggestion for the location of the […]
I’ve always liked the idea of a series of races with a valuable final as a decent way of promoting a commercial organisation, writes Tony Stafford. Many years ago I was asked by a man called Roger Broomhall – sadly no longer with us, like I fear many of the guests of the 20 days […]
What is the relevance of the following succession: neck, head, nose, short head and neck? No they are not a new variant on the heads, shoulders, knees and toes kiddies rhyme, although they would comfortably fit the meter of the song, normally sung to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down, writes Tony Stafford. […]
Nick Luck on Sunday should be required viewing every week on Racing UK, writes Tony Stafford. This Sunday the show conveniently wrapped around racing from Hong Kong featuring Graham Cunningham who seems to have settled seamlessly into the racing there after a long career on this side of the pond, in more recent years as […]
Almost 12 years on from riding his first winner on the Paul D’Arcy-trained Bank on Benny at Salisbury on September 27th 2006, William Buick fulfilled all the aspirations of his friends and family, not least his father Walter, when driving home Masar to win the Investec Derby at Epsom on Saturday, writes Tony Stafford. He […]
The clock was ticking on towards 3 p.m. last Wednesday, and the staff in Theatre 1 of Homerton University Hospital’s Day Stay Unit – I think that’s its correct description – prepared yet another patient for surgery, writes Tony Stafford. Actually surgery is rather stretching the point for what was a minor procedure to excise […]
Anyone who has regularly waded through these jottings over the past six years or so will probably believe that my professional life has been one of many more ups than downs, writes Tony Stafford. However, thanks to an inability to equate a decent knowledge of horse racing and before that greyhound racing form with sensible […]
After last week’s eulogy about the continuing success and imagination of the Coolmore operation, I got a gentle nudge from my editor, saying “other stud farms are available”, writes Tony Stafford. At Lingfield on Saturday, one such stud, Abergwaun Farms, took centre stage with its home-bred colt Knight to Behold, impressive winner of the Derby […]
When you watch American racing – not that I do very often these days – it is always obvious that when there is a tight outcome, any deviation off a straight line by one of the protagonists is treated with unsympathetic correctitude, writes Tony Stafford. Memories of those middling-to-far-off evenings in the old Racing Channel […]
I was looking around for a middlingly-busy English trainer to make a point, writes Tony Stafford. Apologies to Jeremy Noseda for singling him out, but his situation amply puts into focus the absurd strength of the top two Irish jumps stables. Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott play out a year-long private numerical and prizemoney battle, […]
I know that at least 25 people see these ramblings every week – I send them to that number of friends and acquaintances and they get them, errors and all, without the benefit of the editor/proprietor’s editing, writes Tony Stafford. We both – the prop and me - like to think that a fair number […]
Did you enjoy the Grand National meeting? I did, although it was one of the less conventional Aintree experiences of my existence, writes Tony Stafford. I didn’t go up until the Friday; disappeared north-easterly after racing, only returning to Liverpool the following morning. Then, instead of watching the race first hand, with some friends, I […]
Once upon a time I thought I had a decent memory, writes Tony Stafford. Not quite total recall, but pretty good. Yet nowadays it’s anything but. For example I was recently given a couple of slim bright red volumes of Copes Racing Encyclopaedia (properly ae-diphthong-ed) for 1958 and 1960. Copes were one of the old […]
