Nowadays, Mick Fitzgerald is best known as a television presenter on ITV Racing but, in his younger days, was one of the most successful National Hunt jockeys of his generation. Before being forced into retirement after sustaining neck and knee damage in a fall from L’Ami in the 2008 Grand National, Fitzgerald rode 1,295 […]
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David ‘Davy’ Russell announced his retirement from the saddle, for the first time, at Thurles on December 18, 2022, having ridden Liberty Dance to victory for his long-time ally, Co. Meath trainer Gordon Elliott. However, when hapless stable jockey Jack Kennedy broke his leg, for the fifth time in his career, in a heavy fall […]
Read MoreThe winner of just one of is 14 starts for Mick Channon, and two more for Alan King, on the Flat as a two- and three-year-old, Katchit proved something of a revelation when sent over hurdles at the start of the 2006/07 National Hunt season. Ridden by Robert ‘Chocolate’ Thornton, as he was in […]
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To the public at large, L’Escargot is probably best remembered for his exploits in the Grand National, in which he finished third in 1973, second in 1974 and won, by 15 lengths, in 1975, thereby thwarting an unprecedented hat-trick by Red Rum. However, earlier in his career, L’Escargot was a three-time Cheltenham Festival winner, winning […]
Read MoreThe first thing to say about the history of Timeform, as far as National Hunt racing is concerned, is that it dates back only to 1962, when the weekly Timeform Black Book in that domain was first published. Indeed, the ‘Chasers & Hurdlers’ annual, which included Timeform commentaries and ratings for every horse that ran […]
Read MoreAs the same suggest, the Triple Crown of Hurdling consists of a trio of Grade 1 hurdle races, in which horses compete at level weights, but with allowances for age and gender, over the minimum distance of two miles, or thereabouts. In chronological order, as far as the British National Hunt calendar is concerned, the […]
Read MoreThe history books record that the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by the 15/8 favourite Dawn Run, trained by Paddy Mullins and ridden by Jonjo O’Neill, but younger readers may ask, with some justification, ‘So what?’ Well, it would be fair to say that the bare result in no way does justice to what […]
Read MoreThe Cheltenham Gold Cup and the King George VI Chase, in that order, are the two most prestigious weight-for-age steeplechases in the British National Hunt calendar. Indeed, along with the Betfair Chase, run over 3 miles, 1 furlong and 125 yards at Haydock Park in November, they constitute the so-called ‘Jockey Club Chase Triple Crown’, […]
Read More1 Galopin Des Champs 10-11F 2 Gerri Colombe 13-2 3 Corach Rambler 14-1 4 L’Homme Presse 16-1 5 Bravemansgame 14-1 6 Jungle Boogie 16-1
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