Hertha Berlin and the Skibbe saga – a depressing tale
Perhaps, in a few decades time, some German writer will transform Michael Skibbe's excruciatingly br...
Sport blogs
Top 14: Day of reckoning looms for Racing Metro
By the middle of Wednesday afternoon we should have the first indication of what lies ahead for Raci...
iBet: Barcelona are struggling away from home
My betting instinct in any first leg of a two-legged tie is to go low on goals, and that applies eve...
Fingal Bay takes Neptune plunge
14 February 2012 12:00 AM
There is some significant Cheltenham i-dotting and t-crossing due to be carried out later this week but a certain amount of punctuation was put in place yesterday ahead of the four-day, £3.3m Festival that starts four weeks today. Binocular, for instance, one of Nicky Henderson's Champion Hurdle candidates, will miss tomorrow's Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso and challenge for the title he won two years ago without further conditioning in public.
Quel Esprit jumps to head of Ireland's Gold Cup hopefuls
13 February 2012 12:00 AM
The novice chasers who did look the part last season have largely failed to do so since entering open company. Yet the one who finally made the grade, at Leopardstown yesterday, failed to get round in three of his first four steeplechases. For all that Quel Esprit did not beat a vintage field in the Hennessy Gold Cup, then, he may yet continue to confound expectations.
St Moritz races show their pulling power
13 February 2012 12:00 AM
Fadri Casty is pulled by his horse Bergonzi during the White Turf ski joering ("ski driving") event on the frozen lake at St Moritz.
Henderson's Oscar enjoys his Flat spin
11 February 2012 12:00 AM
Trainers are finding some exotic sanctuaries from the big freeze, the timing of which is causing increasing disquiet. With a diminishing window to give his Cheltenham Festival candidates a race, Nicky Henderson yesterday took no less a horse than Oscar Whisky to the all-weather at Kempton, and he could yet send Binocular up to Kelso on Wednesday.
Gifford, jump racing doyen, dies
10 February 2012 12:00 AM
The best measure of Josh Gifford is that his death yesterday robbed the jump racing community of so cherished a friend that his status as one of its greatest achievers seemed almost incidental. Though a multiple champion jockey, and trainer of one of the most loved Grand National winners, Gifford will be mourned primarily as one whose relish for life and laughter warranted a far broader indulgence than 70 years.
Prince attempts to end exile in Dubai
09 February 2012 12:00 AM
The latest leg of the Dubai Carnival introduces a distant beam of sunshine to the petrified domestic scene – and could yet make a down payment towards the European summer. For it is not so much his name that summons Dubai Prince to centre stage today, as his untapped potential. After just four career starts, the fact that he returns in a trial for the Dubai World Cup suggests he could yet develop into a Godolphin flagship for the months ahead.
Conan goes on reconnaissance mission
08 February 2012 12:00 AM
It remains to be seen whether Long Run can go to Newbury on Saturday, and Oscar Whisky may yet end up running on the all-weather at Kempton the previous day. But at least Nicky Henderson appears to have guaranteed himself one key Cheltenham Festival trial this weekend, having yesterday committed Captain Conan to a race at Leopardstown on Sunday, when the weather forecast promises at least half a banquet, after a week of very cold gruel.
Nicholls ready to get Zarkandar up and running
07 February 2012 12:00 AM
Wearing a decidedly affronted air, as he surveyed all the bustle and activity outside his stable, Kauto Star for once found himself a neglected spectator yesterday as his neighbour and former rival was instead restored as centre of attention. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all, and while Denman continues his recuperation from the injury that ended his career in December, he is not yet in a condition to be paraded before the race that bears his name on Saturday. Not that even Denman could be counted the most remarkable veteran posing for the cameras during a morning to promote the big Newbury card – joined, as he was, by two of the humbling servicemen who will shortly be "Walking With The Wounded" up Everest itself.
Europe Sizing up Cheltenham defence
06 February 2012 12:00 AM
For the second Sunday in succession, it would seem that events in Ireland ticked another box in the "Cheltenham bankers" column. Seven days after Hurricane Fly showed that his grip on his two-mile hurdles crown is not for prising, Sizing Europe presented his own persuasive case ahead of the defence of his two-mile chasing title.
Europe now long overdue recognition for size of his achievements
04 February 2012 12:00 AM
Much the best race of the weekend is scheduled at Punchestown tomorrow, when Sizing Europe and Big Zeb extend a rivalry that continues to set standards for the emerging steeplechasers over two miles. Moreover, the course management seems optimistic that the card – also featuring a valuable novice hurdle, in which Simenon tries to follow up a 23-length success at Cork for Willie Mullins – will beat the weather.
Gamilati hot – before a tot of Whisky?
04 February 2012 12:00 AM
Originally devised to keep the racing and betting industries on the move during exactly this kind of freeze, the all-weather has since evolved into a surface for all seasons. Many trainers nowadays like to start off well-bred young horses on the polytrack rather than on firm, heavy or unevenly watered turf.
O'Dwyer fans can now give Folsom praise
03 February 2012 12:00 AM
In his riding days, Conor O'Dwyer had as safe a pair of hands as any jockey round Cheltenham. Many who cherish the memory of Hardy Eustace in the Champion Hurdle, or War Of Attrition in the Gold Cup, will be gratified to see his horsemanship telling in a new career. Certainly, Folsom Blue looks his best chance yet of training a Festival winner, having handled a step up in class in style at Clonmel yesterday.
National a big target for red-hot Mullins
02 February 2012 12:00 AM
The trainer whose domination of Irish jump racing is surely exceeding all precedent – at least in matching quantity with quality – yesterday laid down two fresh markers to measure the restless limits of his dominion. Willie Mullins not only set a new record for the fastest 100 in an Irish season, but also accounted for no fewer than a dozen of the 82 entries published for the John Smith's Grand National.
Nicholls takes Triumph aim with Dildar
01 February 2012 12:00 AM
It had seemed remarkable enough that two of the first five in the JCB Triumph Hurdle market – Minsk and Dildar – were yet to leave the ground in public. Still less accountably, however, Dildar was actually eased in the betting after duly making a winning start to his hurdling career at Taunton yesterday.
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