At my age it doesn’t take much to trigger long-hidden memories, writes Tony Stafford. I wondered as I sat down to open these words why the song “A little bit of soap”, an ordinary ditty from 1961 by the Jarmels (who they, I ask?) should be inhabiting my brain. The next visit to the bathroom […]
Fifty-five years on from when the wonderful Mill Reef won the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the late Ian Balding, on Saturday at Ascot, his son Andrew sent out Kalpana to win a stellar renewal of the race, writes Tony Stafford. Mill Reef was a Derby winner, and now the five-year-old mare needed […]
What, writes Tony Stafford, does a small money syndicate do when the horse that has won it nine races (seven flat and two hurdles) in 18 months is incapacitated after sustaining an injury during a race at Royal Ascot? Well, the Think Big Syndicate did just that – they thought big and simply got another! […]
Mention it quietly, the youngsters are coming, writes Tony Stafford. Saturday’s July Cup at Newmarket was a refreshing change as future champion jockey Billy Loughnane teamed up for the first time with Aidan’s youngest, Donnacha O’Brien, and collected the big prize with 11/1 shot Commanche Brave. Commanche Brave, a four-year-old son of Wootton Bassett – […]
The £5 million mark for Aidan O’Brien in the UK this year has easily been passed, Constitution River and to a lesser extent his third-placed stablemate Hawk Mountain seeing to that in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes, writes Tony Stafford. The Sandown victory made it 12 Group 1 wins in a season already for the stable and […]
One, two, three, it’s easy as ABC, or rather it’s easy as shelling peas for AOB, writes Tony Stafford. It was thought in some circles beforehand that Irish Derby win number 18 might have been threatened by the unbeaten and highly regarded Owen Burrows-trained Shadwell colt Raaheeb. Backed down to 11/4 second favouritism here, behind […]
Considering how fit he looked the last time I saw him on one of his visits with the Aidan O’Brien team last year, it’s almost unfathomable that it’s 36 years (27 January 1990 to be exact) that Dean Gallagher outrode the top-class Graham McCourt to guide Willsford home first in a staying chase at Cheltenham […]
I’ll be missing the whole of Royal Ascot this week, so the freshly cleaned morning suit will remain on its hanger in the wardrobe, writes Tony Stafford. But the reason for it - ten days’ puppy watch while the beloved takes an educational language trip to Italy – brought home to me yet another reason […]
How many races do you think have been started from stalls in the UK since the obscure rule change which caused such havoc in the Epsom betting ring after Christmas Day won the Betfred Derby on Saturday, writes Tony Stafford. I would suggest thousands, but that woke alteration allowed the Epsom stewards to declare never-in-the-hunt […]
Finally, after more than 70 years of watching horse racing, I can honestly say I’ve seen everything, writes Tony Stafford. We’ve been used to witnessing Aidan O’Brien horses filling the first three positions in Classic races maybe not that frequently. It happens enough not to be a total surprise when it does. Never, though, I […]
You can routinely analyse form as pounds for lengths, but as yesterday’s Irish 1,000 Guineas proved, expecting past form to be repeated is not always as Precise as experts might think it to be, writes Tony Stafford. On a weekend where Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore had previously got everything right in tandem, including Saturday’s […]
York was fun, thanks again Jim and Mary, writes Tony Stafford. I did offer something in return for their amazing hospitality. Believing the expansive knowledge and judgment of friend and Ray Tooth sidekick Steve Gilbey, I guided my hosts to Thompsons Famous (yes that’s what they call themselves) Fish and Chip restaurant around ten miles […]
And now the thinking starts, writes Tony Stafford. Ryan Moore has won two of the last nine editions of the Derby at Epsom for the Aidan O’Brien/Coolmore juggernaut, on Auguste Rodin in 2023 and City Of Troy the following year. O’Brien has won six of the last nine. That means Ryan missed out on Wings […]
Irritatingly, I couldn’t make it to the two big races over the weekend, but watching from home didn’t diminish the experience of seeing three bright lights dominate the first Classic of the European season, writes Tony Stafford. Bow Echo, his young trainer George Boughey and barely-out-of-his-teens rider Billy Loughnane, treated Newmarket to its finest hour […]
Careful. By the time you read next week’s words here the 2026/27 jumps season will already be four days old, we’ll be 40 per cent through the 2026 UK Classics, and only seven weeks short of the longest day of the year, writes Tony Stafford. And what of the 2025/26 season? Well, that was pretty […]
