Awesome Ravens Pass Retires! - 07/11/2008

Turf Talks favourite racehorse Ravens Pass has been retired to stud after winning The Breeders Cup Classic. He will be sent to Sheikh Mohammeds Kildangan Stud in Ireland and will command a stud fee of £40,000. A true champion who made us a lot of money.

Ravens Pass Wins Breeders Cup Classic - 26/10/2008

Frankie Detorri and John Gosden cleaned up in Santa Anita last night as Donativum won earlier before our favourite horse Ravens Pass proved what we have been telling you all along, that he is the best racehorse there is. His old rival Henrythenavigator had to play second fiddle again. There was certainly some value about both horses and had this race been in the UK you certainly wouldn't have been getting exacta odds of 150/1!! Congratulations John Gosden and Frankie Detorri.

Blockley and McKeown Found Guilty - 23/10/2008

Trainer Paul Blockley and jockey Dean McKeown have been found guilty following the latest racing corruption hearing. Blockley and McKeown had both been found guilty of breaching rule 201 (v) in that they conspired with other persons to commit a corrupt or fraudulent practice. Blockley was declared a disqualified person for two and a half years, and McKeown disqualified for four years. The Lambourn handler was also found guilty of breaking rule 155(ii) in that he failed to give or cause to be given to McKeown such instructions as were necessary to ensure Hits Only Money ran on its merits at Wolverhampton in December 2005. McKeown was judged by the BHA disciplinary panel to have breached rule 157 in that he intentionally failed to ensure that Only If I Laugh, Smith N Allan Oils, Hits Only Cash and Hits Only Money ran on their merits in races between June 2004 and December 2005.

Champion Zarkava Retired To Stud - 14/10/2008

The Aga Khan has retired sensational Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe star Zarkava to stud. After her impressive win 8 days ago it had been widely expected that she would be retired and the Aga Khan said on Monday, "Whilst no-one will regret more than my management team and I not to see Zarkava race again, as she is such a supreme athlete and she will be an invaluable asset to the Aga Khan broodmare band."
Her disappointed trainer Alain De Royer-Dupre said "As a trainer, it is normal to feel some disappointment at her retirement but I understand that it is important for the valuable continuation of the Aga Khan's breeding operation. She is going to be a wonderful prospect at stud."

Crack Away Jack Impresses At Chepstow - 11/10/2008

Our forum tip Crack Away Jack won quite impressively today giving away 18 pounds in weight to second horse Squadron. Bookies have cut his Champion Hurdle odds significantly as the classy 4 year old won convincingly in his first run since winning the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival.

Zarkava Proves Her Class In The Arc - 05/10/2008

Zarkava won the Arc on Sunday in fine fashion. After her last race we were confident that she would be hard to beat and told you on here that even the 6/4 looked like good value. We were fortunate enough to get ludicrous odds of 9/4 and yet again made the bookmakers pay for the massive error. Zarkava is different class and to see her win another race with such ease was very pleasing indeed.

Ravens Pass Beats Henry at Last!! - 27/09/2008

Ravens Pass finally got what he deserved and beat Henrythenavigator. He has come close in the past and was undoubtedly undone by the Irish tactics last time they met. There was to be no mistake today and Jimmy Fortune took no prisoners as Ravens beat his arch rival with relative ease. John Gosden was delighted with the win and said "We wanted to be a little handier today and we have finally got it right. The obvious target now is the Breeders' Cup Mile. He is finishing his races a lot better than he used to."
Winning jockey Jimmy Fortune was critical of his rides on the winner earlier this season: "I messed it up in the Sussex and it was nice to get it right today."

Ballydoyle Trio Found Guilty - 25/09/2008

Aidan O'Brien, Johnny Murtagh and Colm O'Donoghue appeared at a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary panel hearing in central London on Thursday to answer charges relating to O'Donoghue's manoeuvre aboard Red Rock Canyon in the final four furlongs of the Group 1 event. Duke of Marmalade won the race and all three were found guilty of breaching team tactics rules. The two jockeys were handed 7 day riding bans, which will hit them much harder than the £5,000 fine O'Brien will have to pay.

Duke Of Marmalade Entered At Great Leighs - 23/09/2008

Great Leighs are delighted with some of the entries for their new Thoroughbred Open meeting on Saturday night, especially with Duke Of Marmalade set to be the main attraction. Aidan O'Brien has given his colt an entry in the Thoroughbred Open Classic, along with regular pacemaker Red Rock Canyon, as he considers giving his star a run on the artificial surface in readiness for a possible crack atthe Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita next month. Great Leighs Chairman John Holmes said: "We have been putting the components for The Thoroughbred Open in place for a long time, even the date has been secured in the long term to coincide with the annual Breeders' Cup trials at Santa Anita and Belmont Park. I believe that the depth and quality of entry across all fourraces shows that the demand is there and that we have pitched this just right. am delighted with the recognition and support we have received from international trainers."

Denman Misses Hennessy - 19/09/2008

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Denman is set to miss the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury due to the detection of an irregular heartbeat. Trainer Paul Nicholls said "He's been very lethargic, not looking good, and he lost a bit of weight rapidly, so we had him examined today by Geoff Lane and Buffy Shirley-Beavan, our vet. They found he is suffering from an irregular heartbeat, so he'll go to Newmarket next week for further examination and treatment. There's no cause for alarm, but I thought it was important to keep everyone informed about the horse. However, it means Denman is unlikely to be ready to reappear in the Hennessy. I've lost a couple of weeks with him and it would be too much of a rush to get him to Newbury, but he should still be ready to return around Christmas time." Nicholls added that he will be issuing a further update in due course.

Zarkava Impresses at Longchamp - 14/09/2008

French filly Zarkava was extremely impressive after losing several lengths at the start and still beating her rivals with some comfort in Longchamp. She came from last to first in a cruise and beat classy horses in Dar Re Mi, Treat Gently and back in fourth Michita. Her odds have been slashed to 6/4 for the Arc, but on yesterdays showing that sounds like good value and as John Gosden quite rightly stated "only the weather can beat her". As long as the going isn't heavy for the Arc then she will surely win.

Sir Michael Stoute Finally Wins The St Leger - 13/09/2008

Conduit has won the St Leger for Sir Michael Stoute after the trainers previous 25 tries at landing the race had failed. Ryan Moore picked the wrong Stoute horse in Dr Freemantle and Frankie Dettori reaped the benefits with the win. Stoute said "It is a great thrill and it is a great relief to finally crack this race. I thought it was a strong St Leger, but he had a good preparation and we came here very hopeful."

Lingfield Park and Leicester Racecourse Get Green Light - 08/09/2008

Tomorrows racing at Lingfield Park (turf track) and Leicester have passed inspections to race. So the grim prospect of losing racing most of the week has at least passed for one day. Both courses are still reporting heavy going and there are no further inspections scheduled.

Leopardstown Is On But Duke Withdrawn - 07/09/2008

Todays meeting at Leopardstown has been given the go ahead, but Duke Of Marmalade has been withdrawn from the Irish Champion Stakes. Trainer Aidan O'Brien said:"We have decided not to run Duke Of Marmalade at Leopardstown today because of all the rain they had on Friday which resulted in the meeting being postponed. He has achieved so much this year on good or quicker ground and we felt it would be unfair on the horse to run him on ground that would not suit him with a view to the rest of the season. Plans for the horse will be decided at a later date."
So the rematch between The Duke and New Approach will not be seen today.

Only The All Weather Survives! - 06/09/2008

Unfortunately the horrific British Weather has claimed another great days racing. Haydock, Stratford and also Leopardstown have all been abandoned, leaving us with just two all weather meetings. Possibly the worst summer for racing in recent years.

Catterick Abandoned - 05/09/2008

Cattericks meeting today has been abandoned after an unexpected inspection was scheduled for 1.30pm only an hour before the first race.
The racecourse was hit with a substantial amount of rain on Friday morning and areas of standing water were found on the track which worsened as time pressed on as the rain refused to stop.

Haydock Taking No Chances After York Washout - 02/09/2008

Haydock Racecourse have taken some rather unorthodox measures to prevent a repeat of the York disaster. Officials have splashed the cash on some covers to protect the majority of the 6 furlong sprint track. They have spent approximately £30,000. Clerk of the course Kirkland Tellwright said: "Now we have got the sheet down where the problems might be we are confident. Without this action it's questionable as to whether we would be fit to race by Saturday. We are expecting 5 to 6mm of rain per day with the forecast particlarly bad for Friday. The going is currently soft. The prudent expectation is that it will be the same on Saturday," Tellwright told the Guardian on Monday.

Seb Sanders Out For Season - 31/08/2008

Seb Sanders broke his leg in a nasty accident at Chester yesterday. The joint champion jockey was on board Luca Cumanis Speed Gifted, when he was brought down in an incident involving Sir Duke and Cheshire Prince. Sir Dukes injuries sadly proved to be fatal, but the other horses and the two other jockeys, Dean Heslop and Pat Dobbs avoided injury. Seb will now undergo an operation and will obviously miss the remainder of the season.

Mick Channon Injured and Agent Killed In Car Crash - 28/08/2008

Mick Channon broke his jaw and arm and punctured a lung and bloodstock agent Tim Corby was killed in a car crash on the M1 on Wednesday night. Micks son Jack was also in the accident and is "battered and bruised". It is so far unknown exactly what happened to cause the Mercedes driven by Tim Corby to leave the motorway. A full investigation is underway. Mick will undergo an operation on Friday.

Jimmy Fortune Misses Wednesdays Racing - 27/08/2008

Turf Talks favourite jockey Jimmy Fortune will miss his rides at Great Leighs today, after injuring his finger in the stalls aboard Natural Action at the course on Tuesday. Jimmy said: "I won't be riding on Wednesday but I hope to be back on Thursday or Friday. "I think I have broken the top of my finger on my right hand but it's not too bad and I will put some ice on it and see what happens when the swelling goes down."

Geoff Wragg Retires At End Of The Season - 27/08/2008

Geoff Wragg has announced that he is bringing down the curtain on his illustrious training career. At the end of this season he will relinquish his training license at the age of 78. He was assistant to his father Harry Wragg for 30 years and he took over from him in 1983, winning the Derby in his first season with Teenoso, ridden by Lester Piggot. He has had a disappointing season by his standards and it is probably time for him to call it a day. He will always be remembered as an excellent trainer and Teenoso was probably the star of his career.

Chepstow Abandoned - 25/08/2008

Due to a significant amount of rain overnight, officials have had to abandon todays meeting.
Clerk of the course Tim Long explained:
"Unfortunately we've had to abandon, we've had more rain overnight. There are some patches that are not so much waterlogged but they are false so from a health and safety point of view we had no choice. "I just feel really sorry for all the staff here as they have worked so hard this weekend to try and get the meeting on, moving rails and other things but it was not to be unfortunately."

Duke of Marmalade & New Approach To Meet Again - 24/08/2008

Derby winner New Approach and Duke of Marmalade will race against each other yet again. They are due to meet in the Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes next month after Duke of Marmalade comfortably beat New Approach in the Juddmonte International at Newmarket.

Stoute Not Concerned For Patkai - 23/08/2008

Sir Michael Stoute is not worried by the switch from York to Goodwood for the Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur. He doesn't think it will affect Patkai in the slightest. Stoute has won the race with Fantastic Light, Air Marshall and Hard Top in recent years and is confident this will be much of the same for the impresive Patkai. He ent on to say: "We gave him a break after Ascot and he's not an extravagant worker at home but I've been happy with his preparation."

Top York Races Saved - 21/08/2008

Newmarket have taken on some of Yorks abandoned races this Friday and Saturday. The Juddmonte International Stakes will be run at Headquarters on Saturday. The Darley Yorkshire Oaks and The Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes and DBS Sales Race will be run there on Friday forming a bumper 11 race card. The Ebor will be run as The Totesport Newburgh Handicap at Newbury on Friday where the course have agreed to give free entry to anybody that had tickets for a day at the abandoned York meeting. The Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur will be run at Goodwood on Saturday