When you are a grandson of the great show jumper Harvey Smith, what do you do other than become an international show jumper, like your father Steven Smith before you?, writes Tony Stafford. As Yorkshire as they come, Harvey was showjumping’s equivalent to another blunt speaking but highly talented man of his county, in his […]
At a time when interest rates for savers seem woefully low, especially if those savers enjoy having a bet, there must have been people enviously looking across to Sha Tin racecourse early yesterday, writes Tony Stafford. They were calculating what they might win on the Dream Double. Yes, here was the chance to couple Hong […]
A week ago, when talking to Nicky Richards in the morning when he had sent three horses to Ayr – he won in the afternoon with 4/1 on shot Upon Tweed - we had a quick chat about one of his other runners, writes Tony Stafford. Red Cadillac had narrowly won his previous race at […]
Lots of us thought he was a dog! As the series of second places built up to four, many people including me were quick to brand the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained four-year-old Calandagan ungenuine – at the very least a gelding that perhaps didn’t try as hard as he should, writes Tony Stafford. For a while his […]
When you happen to be 78 years of age and own a racehorse that not only is the best you’ve ever had but also could be a future steeplechase champion, it’s hard not to be impatient, writes Tony Stafford. It must have been excruciating for Harry Redknapp to have to wait 331 days for his […]
In this game it’s never too late, writes Tony Stafford. As the rain poured down rendering Saturday’s Cheltenham card in jeopardy after an awful drowning Friday, one Irish trainer was firmly keeping his fingers crossed that the much-vaunted drainage system of Prestbury Park would pass muster. It did, enabling both the Saturday and Sunday cards […]
The jump campaign 2025/26 began half a year and a few days ago but traditionalists, among the trainers especially, still regard the season proper as having begun authentically only at the Chepstow two-day fixture last month, writes Tony Stafford. The season’s climax (or anti-climax if your name is Skelton) at Sandown late in April merely […]
There are different opinions as to whether it was Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw who suggested England and America were two nations divided by a common language, writes Tony Stafford. Once again over 14 races at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar, California, horse racing was the common theme, but American dirt is as […]
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose, writes Tony Stafford. Save an accent or two – if cedillas and circumflex accents can be found on my keyboard, they’ve escaped me so far – but you get my drift. And I’m not going to lead off with Futurity win number 12 and an eighth British […]
On a day when Ascot’s Champions Day supplied winners at 200/1 and 100/1 for home stables, two of Ireland’s biggest yards were at it elsewhere, writes Tony Stafford. It came as little surprise when Aidan O’Brien had the first five and then mercifully allowed someone else to get on the scoresheet before making it six […]
I recently wrote about the sad decline in the attraction to trainers of Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire Handicap, run two weeks ago with a first prize of £90k, writes Tony Stafford. On a track where they could easily accommodate 35 horses and room for five or six London buses in between up the straight it looked a […]
Ten furlongs (and a little bit) on fast ground at York is a world away from a mile and a half in very soft going at Longchamp in October, writes Tony Stafford. Run in a fast time – yesterday’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was the only race among a string of Group 1’s […]
There are doubles and then there are doubles, writes Tony Stafford, with a couple on Saturday courtesy of trainers Richard Spencer and Richard Hannon bordering on the absurd. How else could you describe the feat of Spencer in winning both the Ayr Gold and Silver Cups (in reverse time order) within just over an hour, […]
Now we know why Kevin Buckley was dispatched to Doncaster, writes Tony Stafford. Few trainers or owners would miss the chance of a ninth St Leger, a third in a row, and a possible 1-2-3 to boot, probably enough to wrap up another UK trainers’ title. No, while the boys’ UK representative was on the […]
Placed as it is in the calendar just as the seasons seem to have turned abruptly from debilitating summer heat to breezy early autumn, Kempton’s September Stakes retains its status as a Group 3 race despite being run on Polytrack, writes Tony Stafford. Its recent distinguished roll of honour is overshadowed by the two pre-Longchamp […]
