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Date  
27/12/2017 Some more jumping 'black type' today when Brian Ellison's Forest Bihan is third in Kempton's Desert Orchid Chase G2, stablemate Haulani having finished runner-up in the opener. In form Micky Hammond has a winner at Wetherby as do Ellison and Mick Easterby whilst Karen Tutty scores at Wolverhampton.
26/12/2017 The traditional Boxing Day racing blow-out with most eyes on Kempton and Leopardstown. The Yorkshire Christmas highlight is always the Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase Gd3 at Wetherby and this year Sue Smith provided both the placed horses with Wakanda runner-up (for the second consecutive year) and Delusionofgrandeur third. Earlier Smith had won the Novices' Chase whilst Micky Hammond had a double and Philip Kirby took the last. Hammond also struck at Sedgefield whilst Brian Ellison and Tim Easterby had winners at Market Rasen. At the slightly less traditional Wolverhampton meeting Yorkshire took both the main races with Kevin Ryan's Mount Tahan landing the £12,450 Betway Handicap and David O'Meara's Intisaab the £12,450 Betway Conditions Stakes, with Bryan Smart's Mythmaker in third, Karl Burke and Richard Fahey also had winners on the all-weather.
23/12/2017 What a fabulous Christmas present! Jedd O'Keeffe's Stayers Hurdle prospect Sam Spinner bagged a big one when nicely landing the Long Walk Hurdle Gd1 at Ascot this afternoon, sending his Cheltenham odds down to 6-1. O'Keeffe has had a stellar year under both sets of rules, and will certainly be looking forward to Cheltenham now. Newcastle saw chase wins for Tim Easterby and Brian Ellison whilst Sally Haynes took the bumper.
16/12/2017 No runners at Cheltenham but Peter Atkinson landed the £12,512 Bet365 Handicap Hurdle at Doncaster whilst Brian Ellison's Ballycrystal was third in the Bet365 December Novices' Chase Gd3 and John Quinn's Je Suis Charlie occupied the same position in the Bet365 Summit Juvenile Hurdle Gd2 , his debut over obstacles. At Newcastle Mick Easterby landed the opener whilst Theakston Stud bred Mountain Bell won the £16,172 Betway Conditions Stakes. David Barron had a double on Wolverhampton's evening card.
09/12/2017 The battle of Yorkshire's leading chasers at Aintree today saw Brian Ellison's Definitly Red come out on top when landing the Many Clouds Chase Gd2 by a comfortable seven lengths from Malcolm Jefferson's Cloudy Dreams. Some compensation for Malcolm Jefferson earlier on the card with Black Ivory taking the £15,475 Bet 10 Get 20 at 188bet Handicap Hurdle by six lengths. David O'Meara took the opener at Wolverhampton's evening meeting and Tim Easterby the second with the well bred filly Dellaguista. Lot's of excitement at the December Sales this week which largely didn't involve the Yorkshire breeders, although it was encouraging to see Lord Halifax go to 160,000gns, via John Warren, for Starlet a well-bred daughter of Sea The Stars with the stated ambition of producing classic horses in the mould of former stars Shirley Heights and Pentire.
25/11/2017 A bumper day for the Yorkshire raiders at Haydock this afternoon. First up the opening Newton Novices' Hurdle L saw Sue Smith's Midnight Shadow finish second, denied by only a neck. The next was the £16,245 Each Way Edge Handicap Chase which went the way of Sue Smith's Hainan with Philip Kirby's Courtown Oscar in second. The third was the £32,490 Betfair Graduation Chase in which Sue Smith's Vintage Clouds was a decent second, Smith's Cloudy Too was third in the closing £31,280 Betfair Handicap Chase to cap a good day for the handler. In between times however Jedd O'Keeffe's Sam Spinner ran a blinder to run out the seventeen length winner of the Betfair Stayers' Handicap Hurdle Gd3, Cheltenham here we come !
19/11/2017 Malcolm Jefferson's Cloudy Dream ran a respectable second in the Shloer Chase Gd2 at Cheltenham this afternoon, albeit eight lengths behind the winner.
18/11/2017 Yorkshire did everything bar win the Golden Rose Stakes L at Lingfield today with Tyke trained horses filling second to fifth places with Bryan Smart's Mythmaker and David O'Meara's Out Do leading home the Yorkshire quartet. Earlier Richard Fahey's Gabrial edged a little closer to Borderlescott on the winning-most list when third in the mile handicap. Wetherby saw Sue Smith land the main race, a double for Philip Kirby and a winner for Malcolm Jefferson who has Cloudy Dream at Cheltenham tomorrow to look forward to.
15/11/2017 Philip Kirby's Lady Buttons put up her usual strong performance to land the Yorton Stallions Mares' Novices' Chase L at Bangor this afternoon. Tim Easterby struck over hurdles at Ayr and Bryan Smart and Ben Haslam both had winners under lights at Newcastle.
11/11/2017 The final day of Flat Turf racing at Doncaster sees two local black type performances with Mick Easterby's Perfect Pasture finishing second in the Wentworth Stakes L (three days after taking Nottingham's £16,172 Lady Cecil Handicap) and Richard Fahey's Melesina third in the Gillies Fillies' Stakes L. Best placed of the Yorkshire runners in the £43,575 November Handicap was David Griffiths' Storm King and John Quinn took the closing nursery. Karl Burke had a winner on Wolverhampton's evening card.
06/11/2017 Mark Johnston's Titi Makfi got her black-type win this afternoon when landing the 32red Floodlit Stakes L at Kempton, holding on by a head. David O'Meara's Royal Reserve was second in the following £43,575 32red London Middle Distance Series Final Handicap.
04/11/2017 All eyes on Del Mar but at Newmarket this afternoon David O'Meara's Lord Glitters was denied by a neck when second in the Ben Marshall Stakes L, earlier Jason Ward had taken the mile handicap. At Newcastle there are wins for Richard Fahey, Ann Duffield, Ben Haslam and Richard Guest. No wins at Wetherby where the two big horses flopped in the Charlie Hall Chase Gd2 allowing Brian Ellison's Definitly Red to claim third, albeit some 23 lengths behind the second , earlier Phil Kirby's Lady Buttons had finished second in the OLBG.com Mares' Hurdle L. Up at Ayr Malcolm Jefferson and Brian Ellison both land nice races whilst Jefferson's Mount Mews is third in the feature Scottish Champion Hurdle Trial Handicap. The Breeder's Cup Mile G1 at Del Mar was the tightest finish of the day with the second to seventh horses separated by a head, neck, nose, head and a neck. Amidst this blanket David O'Meara's Suedois was fourth and Richard Fahey's Ribchester fifth after a long season. The nett result of the last few months to the Yorkshire Trained Winningmost List is that Ribchester has climbed to second place, Suedois is in with a bullet at six and Gabrial has leapfrogged Teleprompter who sadly drops off the list.
Horse Trainer Amount Best Performances
The Grey Gatsby Kevin Ryan £2,728,203 Prix du Jockey Club G1, Irish Champion Stakes G1, Dante Stakes G2, 2nd.Juddmonte International Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1, Prince Of Wales's Stakes G1, Princess of Wales's Stakes G2, Champagne Stakes G2, Craven Stakes G3, Acomb Stakes G3
Ribchester Richard Fahey £2,641,499 Queen Anne Stakes G1, Lockinge Stakes G1, Prix Jacques le Marois G1, Prix du Moulin G1, Mill Reef Stakes G2, Jersey Stakes G3, 2nd.Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1 (twice), Sussex Stakes G1, Gimcrack Stakes G2, 3rd.2,000 Guineas G1, Sussex Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1
Collier Hill Alan Swinbank £2,317,161 Irish St Leger G1, Hong Kong Vase G1, Candian International G1, Gerling-Preis G2, Stockholm Cup International G3 (twice), Elnadim H, Old Newton Cup H., 2nd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Deutschlandpreis Preis G1, 3rd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Rheinland-Pokal der Sparkasse KolnBonn G1 etc.
Mondialiste David O'Meara £1,188,218 Arlington Million G1, Woodbine Mile G1, Strensall Stakes G3, Pomfret S L, 2nd.Breeders' Cup Mile G1, York Stakes G2 (twice), Lincoln Handicap, 3rd.Earl Of Sefton Stakes G3 etc.
Shakespearean Mark Johnston £1,001,241 Goffs Million Mile, Solario Stakes G3, 3rd.Superlative Stakes G3
Suedois David O'Meara £969,625 Shadwell Turf Mile G1, Boomerang Stakes G2, 2nd.July Cup G1, Duke Of York Stakes G2,3rd.Sprint Cup Stakes G1, Prix de la Foret G1, Greenlands Stakes G2, Lennox Stakes G2, City Of York Stakes G3, 4th.Breeder's Cup Mile G1
Attraction Mark Johnston £899,597 1,000 Guineas G1, Irish 1,000 Guineas G1, Coronation S G1, Sun Chariot S G1, Matron S G1, Cherry Hinton S G2, Queen Mary S G3, 2nd.Matron Stakes G1, Falmouth S G1 etc.
Jukebox Jury Mark Johnston £857,187 Preis von Europa G1, Irish St Leger G1, Jockey Club Stakes G2, Grand Prix de Deauville G2, Royal Lodge Stakes G2, Prix Kergorlay G2, Rose of Lancaster Stakes G3, 2nd.Canadian International Stakes G1, Racing Post Trophy G1, 3rd.Prix la Rochette G3
Borderlescott Robin & Rebecca Bastiman £796,412 Nunthorpe Stakes G1(x2), King George Stakes G2, City Wall Stakes L, Mercury Stakes L, Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes L, Steward's Cup Handicap, 2nd.Temple Stakes G2(x2), Palace House Stakes G3, Bentinck Stakes G3, Ayr Gold Cup, 3rd.Prix de l'Abbaye G1, King's Stand Stakes G1, Temple Stakes G2, Palace House Stakes G3 etc.
Gabrial Richard Fahey £763,572 Midsummer Stakes L, Doncaster Mile L, Lincoln Handicap, Property Weekly Handicap, Betfred Silver Bowl, 2nd.bet365 Mile G2, Celebration Mile G2, Diomed Stakes G3, Fortune Stakes L, Ganton Stakes L, Singspiel Stakes L, Pomfret Stakes L, 3rd.Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1, Sussex Stakes G1 (x2), Summer Mile G2, Superior Mile G3, Strensall Stakes G3 etc.
03/11/2017 Mark Johnston's Izzy Bizu ran well to finish second in the EBF Bosra Sham Fillies' Stakes L at Newmarket this afternoon, David O'Meara's Consequences taking the next race from Richard Fahey's Rajar. At Newcastle there was a Tom Tate double as well as wins for Mark Johnston and Lynn Siddall. No winner at Wetherby but Jedd O'Keeffe's American Craftsman was third in the Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle L. Over at Del Mar for the Breeder's Cup Richard Fahey's Sands Of Mali was prominent in the Juvenile Turf G1 before fading to finish in midfield.
29/10/2017 French protestors disrupted racing at Saint-Cloud. On Merseyside, no stranger to picket-lines, racing went ahead at Aintree and Malcolm Jefferson's Cloudy Dream made an decent seasonal reappearance when second in the Monet's Garden Old Roan Handicap Gd2 whilst Sue Smith's Vintage Clouds took the following race. Continental black-type pot-hunting continued at Hanover with Mark Johnston's Peach Melba taking the Grosser Preis des Gestut Haus Zoppenbroich L.
28/10/2017 Not the best of days for the Yorkshire contigent as the flat season gradually peters out. No winners at Doncaster where Tim Easterby's Staxton was third in the Doncaster Stakes L and Kristin Stubb's Soie d'Leau second in the £28,012 Sun Bets Responsible Betting Handicap. At Leopardstown David O'Meara's Larchmont Lad passed the post first in the Knockaire Stakes L but was demoted to second with stablemate So Beloved back in fourth. Malcolm Jefferson took the opening maiden hurdle at Kelso where Sue Smith's Wakanda was second in the feature EDF-ER Chase. Mark Johnston had a winner on Wolverhampton's evening card.
23/10/2017 John Quinn's Lisheen Castle was a decent second in the Silver Tankard L this afternoon at Pontefract where Mark Johnston's Dominating took the £12,450 Phil Bull Trophy and there were also wins for Richard Whitaker, Tim Easterby and Les Eyre. Richard Fahey had a win at Windsor.
22/10/2017 Qipco Champions Day at Ascot didn't quite run to the (Yorkshire) script. We started with two sixth places ; Peter Niven's Clever Cookie in the Long Distance Cup G2 and Kevin Ryan's Brando in the Champions Sprint Stakes G1, with Karl Burke's Quiet Reflection further back. Our best hope was Richard Fahey's Ribchester in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1 and whilst his second place cannot be called disappointing, it's certainly not the result we were hoping for, although the ground may have played it's part. Partial redemption however came in the concluding £155,625 Balmoral Handicap in which David O'Meara's Lord Glitters prevailed by a neck. Tim Easterby provide the sole local winner at a soggy Catterick where Roger Fell's Memories Galore was second in the feature £18,675 Catterick Dash, ahead of Easterby's Confessional. Mark Johnston had a winner on Wolverhampton's evening card.
21/10/2017 David Griffiths' Take Cover, a vertiable pensioner at Ten Years Old, travelled over to Dundalk this evening and landed the Mercury Stakes L by a neck. Domestically there were winners at Redcar for David O'Meara, Rebecca Bastiman, Tim Easterby and Richard Fahey. Fahey and O'Meara also scored on Newcastle's evening meeting as did Mark Johnston and Karl Burke. Champions Day tomorrow ....
15/10/2017 Sad news today that former Middleham trainer Patrick Haslam has passed away at the age of 69. His move to Middleham in 1991 was one of the stimuli that brought about the revivial of the town as a training centre and he trained such good horses as Kinnaird, Pipe Major, Maroussies Wings, Progression and Choose Your Moment from Middleham. The late season hunt for black-type today took us to Cologne where Mark Johnston's admirable Renfrew Street landed the Kolner Steher Cup Der Pferdeklinik Burg L whilst stablemate Teofonic easily took the £16,172 'Download The App At 188bet' Handicap at Goodwood.
14/10/2017 A mild dose of seconditis at Newmarket, Mark Johnston's Dee Ex Bee occupying that position in the opening Zetland Stakes L, stablemate Dream Today likewise in the next, the Autumn Stakes G3 and Richard Fahey's Marie Of Lyon finishing runner-up in the Boadicea Stakes L later on the card, with stablemate Queen Kindly disappointing in fifth. Mark Johnston's Cardsharp was the highest place British horse in the Dewhurst Stakes G1, indeed the highest placed non Aidan O'Brien horse, but that translated to fifth with Richard Fahey's Great Prospector in sixth. We did get a winner though with Mark Johnston's Rufus King taking the £18,675 Darley Nursery, in which stablemate Prestbury Park was third. These runs all bode well for next season though whilst Ruth Carr's Sovereign Debt was edged out of third by a neck in the closing Darley Club Stakes G3. We did better on home soil at York though with Mark Johnston's Rebel Assault landing the Rockingham Stakes L from Richard Fahey's It Don't Come Easy and Tim Easterby's Staxton whilst Kevin Ryan's Teruntum Star took the £62,250 Coral Sprint Trophy in which Tim Easterby's Flying Pursuit was third. There was a further winner later on the card for Ryan, whose Syphax had finished second in the opening £21,788 Download The Coral App Handicap. Over jumps Jedd O'Keeffe's Sam Spinner was a decent second in the Totepool Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle Gd3 at Chepstow and Philip Kirby had a winner over the chase fences at Hexham.
13/10/2017 Double joy on Future Champions Day, Part One (or whatever it's called, I think I prefer the Cesarewitch Meeting). Declan Carroll gained his first group victory in the opener when Abel Handy was both able and handy to land the Cornwallis Stakes G3 in good style. A bit later on the card and Karl Burke cemented his excellent two-year-old form when Laurens landed the bet365 Fillies' Mile G1 by a slither of a nose, quite how she was allowed to start at 10-1 is anyone's guess. Earlier Burke had taken the opener at York where there was also a win for Tim Easterby (East Street Revue in the £12,450 Parsonage Hotel & Cloisters Spa Handicap), in addition the Yorkshire named Brimham Rocks took the feature £62,250 Unibet Handicap for stalwart Yorkshire owner David Aykroyd. Richard Guest took the opener on Kempton's evening card.
08/10/2017 Today saw a Kelso treble for Brian Ellison, including an impressive victory for Forest Bihan in the £18,570 NSPCC School Service Handicap, Kevin Ryan also had a winner.
07/10/2017 Richard Fahey fielded eight runners in the £99,242 Totepool Two-Year-Old Trophy L at Redcar this afternoon and duly landed the odds with favourite Darkanna. Later on the card Mark Johnston's Khamaary took the £12,450 Racing UK Straight-Mile Series Final Handicap and there were also winners for David O'Meara and Declan Carroll. At Ascot David O'Meara's Lord Glitters was second in the £112,050 Totescoop6 Challenge Cup Heritage Handicap whilst at Newmarket Mark Johnston's Peach Melba won the £31,125 EBF Breeders' Fillies' Handicap with stablemate Teofonic second in the closing EBF Breeders' Fillies' Series #thisfillycan Handicap. Later in the day David O'Meara's Suedois takes the Shadwell Turf Mile G1 at Keeneland (with stablemate Mondialiste back in fifth), a fantastic result for connections (especially as it means a place in the Breeder's Cup Mile) and Yorkshire's sixth Group One winner of the year (although half of those came from one horse - Ribchester). This result will catapult Suedois into the Top 10 All Time Winningmost List just below Attraction and push Gabrial, who worked so hard to get on, off the bottom. Karl Burke and Mark Johnston both have winners at Wolverhampton.
06/10/2017 More end of season black type hunting today with Mark Johnston's Lake Volta third in the Star Appeal Stakes L at Dundalk and stablemate Hochfeld also third in the Noel Murless Stakes L at Ascot where the same team took the last with Dominating.
04/10/2017 Kevin Ryan's Company Asset ran well at Saint-Cloud this afternoon to be second in the Prix Dahlia L. Domestically a blank, albeit from limited runners.
01/10/2017 Arc day and our best result came in the Prix de la Foret G1 in which David O'Meara's game So Beloved was an excellent second. Earlier David Griffiths' Duke Of Firenze was a creditable fourth in the Prix de l'Abbaye with Richard Fahey's Queen Kindly back in fifth. Over a Hanover Mark Johnston's Titi Makfi picked up the all important black-type when third in the Grosser Preis der BMW Niederlassung Hannover L. Domestically the in-form Richard Guest had another double, this time at Musselburgh where Richard Fahey also had a winner. Mark Johnston and Richard Fahey both landed winners at Epsom.
30/09/2017 Cambridgeshire Day at Newmarket and Les Eyre's Cote d'Azur puts up the best Yorkshire performance in the namesake race, finishing third. Earlier the Mark Johnston duo of Mildenberger and Cardsharp both ran solid races to be third in the Royal Lodge Stakes G2 and the Middle Park Stakes G1 respectively with Kevin Ryan's Hey Jonesy only a head further back in fourth in the later event. Between those races Kingsley Park stablemate Threading flopped in the Cheveley Park Stakes G1 in which Richard Fahey's Darkanna was fifth, subsequently her stablemate Clubbable was beaten only a short head when second in the £31,125 EBF 'Jersey Lily' Fillies' Nursery. Haydock saw the finish of the day when Richard Fahey's Boundsy landed the £28,012 Nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk Handicap by a nose, neck and neck from Tim Easterby's Rasheeq, Paul Midgley's Tarboosh and Tim Easterby's Confessional. Best placed of the Yorkshire hopes in the replacement Ayr Gold Cup, more properly the £56,025 32red Gold Cup, was Richard Fahey's Mr Lupton in fourth which was probably little consolation for the fact that winner Doujuan Triumphant is a former Musley Bank resident ! Kevin Ryan and Mark Johnston took races later on the Haydock card. Chester saw wins for Kevin Ryan, Richard Fahey, Mark Johnston and Karl Burke whilst the local winners at Ripon were provided by Richard Fahey (a double) and Tim Easterby (Flying Pursuit in the feature £15,562 Ripon Cathedral City Of The Dales Handicap). The odd sight of a Yorkshire horse winning a French handicap at Chantilly where Karl Burke's London Protocol took the £28,119 Grand Handicap des Milers on day one of the Arc meeting where Tim Easterby's High Jinx was a plucky fourth in the Prix du Cadran G1. Evening racing at Chelmsford yields a double for Richard Guest and a win singular for Michael Herrington.
29/09/2017 Day Two at Newmarket didn't go quite as well for Mark Johnston but his Nyaleti put up a solid performance to be second, beaten a head, in the Rockfel Stakes G2. Ruth Carr's Sovereign Debt was fourth in the Joel Stakes G2 ahead of David O'Meara's Custom Cut in fifth. Mick Easterby had a winner at a raceable (but 'heavy') Haydock and David O'Meara, Nigel Tinkler and Antony Brittain scored on Newcastle's evening card.
28/09/2017 A good start to the Newmarket Cambridgeshire meeting with Mark Johnston's highly-fancied Elarqam (Frankel - Attraction) a convincing winner of the Tattersalls Stakes G3, the colt hold entries for the Dewhurst and Racing Post Mile. No winners at Perth today but Richard Fahey (a double), Richard Whitaker, Kevin Ryan, Marjorie Fife, Tim Easterby, Karl Burke and Mick Easterby ensure the locals go through the card at Redcar. For good measure David O'Meara had a winner on Chelmsford's evening card.
27/09/2017 A nice precursor to Newmarket and Arc weekend today when Karl Burke's Born To Be Alive is third in the Foundation Stakes L at Goodwood and Mark Johnston's Renfrew Street lands the following £16,172 TBA Centenary Fillies' Handicap. Redcar sees doubles for Jedd O'Keeffe and David O'Meara with Declan Carroll and Tim Easterby providing the other local winners. Malcolm Jefferson has a double at Perth where Brian Ellison also has a winner.
24/09/2017 Karl Burke had a fruitful trip to Naas today, not only did Quiet Reflection get back in the groove by landing the Renaissance Stakes G3 but earlier on the card stablemate Ellthea landed the C.L. & M.F. Weld Park Stakes G3 ! Quiet Reflection sat in midfield and was slightly baulked but once the gap opened up she was away and never looked like being caught, Ascot beckons. That wasn't the end of our interest though as Paul Midgley then proceeded to land a 1-2 in the e29,500 Joe McGrath Handicap with Tylery Wonder coming home in front of old-hand Monsieur Joe.
23/09/2017 No Western Meeting at Ayr but that doesn't stop Yorkshire garnering a big sprint win when David Griffiths' venerable old-timer Take Cover makes all to land the Dubai International Airport World Trophy G3 at Newbury.At Catterick there are local winners for Ann Duffield and Richard Fahey (with El Chapo bred at Tibthorpe Stud). Karl Burke's Quiet Reflection makes a reappearance in Ireland tomorrow, 120 days since her last run. Something resembling an Ayr Gold Cup (but with less runners and a different name) will be run at Haydock next weekend.
20/09/2017 David O'Meara's new recruit Larchmont Lad put up a good performance today on his first run for his new handler when a decent third in the Fortune Stakes L, the Footstepsinthesand colt won the Somerville Tattersall Stakes G3 for Richard Hannon and has been listed placed a further twice. At Beverley there were local wins for John Quinn, Tim Easterby, David Barron, Paul Midgley, Kevin Ryan and Rebecca Bastiman while Malcolm Jefferson and Micky Hammond landed the first and last respectively at Kelso.
16/09/2017 Not much to write home about from Doncaster today. Declan Carroll's Justanotherbottle was third in the £37,350 Portland Handicap whilst Mark Johnston's Dream Today could only manage fifth in the Champagne Stakes G2 ; more to come no doubt. At Chester there were wins for Richard Fahey, David Barron and Kevin Ryan whilst at Musselburgh the winners came from Nigel Tinkler, Richard Fahey and Kevin Ryan with Mark Johnston's Dominating edged out by a nose in the feature £15,562 Caledonian Cup. David O'Meara's Mondialiste picked up useful pocket money when fourth in the Woodbine Mile G1.
15/09/2017 Not that many local runners on Day Three of the St Leger festival but Karl Burke's Havana Grey put up a decent performance to be second in the Flying Childers Stakes G2. The next was the £25,876 Mallard Handicap which fell to Mark Johnston's game Time To Study, who was the subject of a heavy gamble, whilst Peter Niven's Clever Cookie was fourth in the Doncaster Cup G2. Mark Johnston, Ruth Carr and Richard Fahey supplied the Yorkshire winners at Chester.
14/09/2017 Ladies Day at the St Leger Festival, and a much better show from the locals. In the opening Lady Riders' Handicap Paul Midgley's Buccaneers Vault leads home a Yorkshire 1-2-3 , whilst it's a similar story in the £25,204 EBF 'Carrie Red' Fillies' Nursery with Karl Burke's Ellthea coming home in front of Richard Fahey's Clubbable and Nigel Tinkler's She's Different. The third race is the May Hill Stakes G2 which sees the finish of the day when Karl Burke's Laurens gives him a memorable double when winning by two heads from Mark Johnston's Nyaleti back in third. Best placed of the Yorkshire runners in the Weatherbys Racing Bank £300,000 2-y-o Stakes is Richard Fahey's Great Prospector who picks up £14,730 for finishing fourth. Richard Fahey scores at Epsom whilst Kedd O'Keeffe and Micky Hammond do likewise at Hexham.
13/09/2017 The usual low-key start to the St Leger Festival at York saw Tim Easterby's Off Art land the 'Legends' race (under Brian Harding) whilst in the feature Scarbrough Stakes L our highest finisher was Paul Midley's Final Venture in fourth. Kevin Ryan had a double at Carlisle where Richard Fahey, Tim Easterby, Karl Burke and David Barron also scored whilst Mark Johnston had a winner on Kempton's evening card.
10/09/2017 And so it came to pass, OK not Lord Yeats, but Richard Fahey's pride and joy Ribchester did land his career fourth (and season third) group one by comfortably landing the Prix du Moulin G1 at stand-in Chantilly this afternoon. Surely the QEII next and there is even talk of the Breeders' Cup Mile. Ribchester now overtakes Collier Hill to rise to second place in the Yorkshire trained All Time Winningmost list, which will be repeated here at the end of the season. In the opening Prix du Petit Couvert G3 David O'Meara's Fashion Queen (bred by Bolton Grange) was a very good third, only a neck and a short head behind the winner. O'Meara also had a good day at the Curragh with Al Qahwa finishing second in the EBF 'Bold Lad' Sprint Premier Handicap. Tony Coyle's Capsian Prince was fourth in the Flying Five G2 whilst Jedd O'Keeffe's Lord Yeats could only manage fifth in the Irish St Leger G1 , finishing some distance down. At York meanwhile the locals won all bar one with Kevin Ryan's Tommy Taylor taking the feature Garrowby Stakes L and scoring a double on the card whilst our other wins were provided by Lawrence Mullaney, Richard Fahey, Mark Johnston (in the Novice Stakes with Elarqam ; a son of Frankel and former stable star Attraction) and Micky Hammond.
09/09/2017 Racing everywhere, most of it soggy. Domestically the best Tyke result came at Kempton where Kevin Ryan's Brilliant Vanguard ran on well to land the £37,350 London Mile Handicap. Later on the card Mark Johnston's Lake Volta was a respectable third in the Sirenia Stakes G3. Kevin Ryan also struck at Haydock with Company Asset landing the opening £18,675 EBF Bredders' Series Fillies' Handicap from Tom Tate's Empress Ali. The next race was the Ascendant Stakes L where Mark Johnston had another black-type juvenile third, this time with Dee Ex Bee. Mr Lupton was best placed of the Yorkshire runners in the Sprint Cup G1, finishing sixth whilst Tim Easterby's Confessional was third in the £19,407 Be Friendly Handicap. Sovereign Debt was fourth in the Super Mile G3 whilst Mark Johnston rounded out the card with yet two more third placings; Jaameh in the £38,814 32red Casino Handicap and Time To Study in the £62,250 32red.com Handicap. Ascot was largely best forgotten although Karl Burke's Mijack was second in the £49,800 Cunard Handicap, ahead of Richard Fahey's Heaven's Guest back in third. Thirsk yielded local winners for Jedd O'Keeffe, Tim Easterby and Nigel Tinkler (a dead heat). We did better over the Irish Sea with David O'Meara's Suedois handily taking the Boomerang Stakes G2 and Roger Fell's Burnt Sugar landing the e88,500 EBF 'Sovereign Path' Premier Handicap nicely with Richard Fahey's Withernsea back in third. Antony Brittain won the last at Wolverhampton's evening meet. Hopefully Ribchester will oblige tomorrow ... or maybe even Lord Yeats !
02/09/2017 No joy (albeit from only the one runner) in the Sandown Group races today but otherwise a good day. Beverley had their biggest meeting of the year and the locals took both the main races with David Griffiths' Take Cover keeping on strongly to land the Beverley Bullet L from Paul Midgley's Final Venture and Richard Fahey's Wagon Wheel whilst in the £28,012 Totepoolliveinfo Download The App Handicap Richard Fahey's Society Red was a neck victorious with Tim Easterby's Appointed back in third. The other local winners at Beverely were provided courtesy of Tom Tate, Nigel Tinkler and David O'Meara. It was a similar story over the Pennines at Chester where Tim Easterby's My Reward made all the land the Chester Stakes Handicap L from Mark Johnston's Cape Coast whilst Richard Fahey's bottom-weighted Penwortham took the £28,012 Corbettsports.com Handicap with Tim Easterby's Breakable back in third. Fahey then proceeded to win two more to make it a treble.To return to Sandown Richard Fahey also landed the nursery there. Evening racing saw Mark Johnston land the two big races at Chelmsford with Cape Bunting taking the £32,345 Betfred 50th Anniversary Conditions Stakes and the ever-popular Masham Star landing the £51,752 Betfred Chelmsford City Cup by a head from stablemate Sutter County. At Hamilton there was a double for Kevin Ryan and a winner for Karl Burke but the best was saved till last when James Bethell's Jessinamillion broke his duck to land the maiden, a fitting tribute to the late Jessica Bethell.
28/08/2017 Bank Holiday action at Ripon sees wins for Richard Fahey, Sally Haynes, Paul Midgley and Kevin Ryan whilst Mark Johnston's Lake Volta is a slight disappointment when third in the Ripon Champion Two Year Old Trophy L. Richard Fahey, Declan Carroll and Philip Kirby all have winners at Southwell and Tim Easterby lands the feature at Epsom with Midnight Malibu.
27/08/2017 Assorted Irish and German sorties went astray today but David O'Meara's Salateen was a useful second in the Supreme Stakes G3 at Goodwood. At Beverley the home advantage kicked in and there was yet another double for David O'Meara as well as wins for Bryan Smart, John Quinn, Karl Burke and Tim Easterby.
26/08/2017 The final day of York's Ebor meeting sees Richard Fahey's Sands Of Mali spring a surprise when landing the Gimcrack Stakes G2 , with Mark Johnston's Cardsharp dead-heating for third. The opener had seen Fahey's Forest Ranger finish second in the Strensall Stakes G3 with Ruth Carr's Sovereign Debt back in third. Declan Carrol's Abel Handy runs well to be second in the Roses Stakes L whilst Mark Johnston's Titi Makfi is a short head second in the £43,575 Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap. At Newmarket Mark Johnston's Hochfeld leads a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £28,012 CJ Murfitt Ltd Handicap with Kevin Ryan's Kajaki in second and Johnston's Jaameh in third. Also at HQ David O'Meara's Intisaab is third in the Hopeful Stakes L and Paul Midgley lands the penultimate race on the card. No winners at Goodwood although Roger Fell's Burnt Sugar is second in the £62,250 Grosvenor Sport Handicap. Mark Johnston provides our only winner at Chester and Sue Smith does likewise at a busy Cartmel. Evening racing at Redcar yields a double for David O'Meara and wins for Kevin Ryan and James Bethell.
25/08/2017 We only managed to win a maiden race at York today ...... OK, so it was Britain's richest maiden race the £43,575 EBF Convivial Maiden Stakes that fell to Mark Johnston's Dream Today, but it's rather in the category of sales races in terms of being statistic distorting. Still Johnston has now won £62,982 across two maidens at York and Goodwood ! In the opening £43,575 Sky Bet First Race Special Handicap Kevin Ryan's Erik The Red finished third whilst Richard Fahey's Toscanini took a break from Ribchester pacemaking duties to be a neck second in the City Of York Stakes G3, picking up £37,625 for his efforts with David O'Meara's Suedois a further short head back in third. Evening racing saw Mark Johnston's Mildenberger take the Stonehenge Stakes L (worth less than half of Dream Today's maiden win!) at Salisbury whilst Nigel Tinkler, John Quinn, David O'Meara, David Barron and John Wainwright all scored at Hamilton.
24/08/2017 The locals took the Lowther Stakes G2 for the second year in a row when Mark Johnston's supplemented Threading put up a commanding performance to win strongly. The preceding race was the Goffs Premier Yearling Stakes in which Richard Fahey's Great Prospector took home £55,350 for finishing a neck second and Kevin Ryan's Hey Jonesy £27,510 for third. After the Lowther it was the £52,913 Clipper Logistics Handicap which fell to Kevin Ryan's Flaming Spear with David O'Meara's top-weighted Firmament third. Jedd O'Keeffe's More Mischief put up another good performance to be second in the Galtres Stakes L whilst David O'Meara's top-weighted Lincoln Rocks landed the £43,575 EBF Fillies' Handicap from Tim Easterby's Breakable in second. Paul Midgley had a double on Hamilton's evening card where Richard Fahey also had a winner.
23/08/2017 Day One of York's Ebor meeting sees another excellent result for the resurgent Tim Easterby when his Wells Farhh Go held on by a nose to land the Acomb Stakes G3, beating a number of well regarded horses in the process. Earlier Paul Midgley's Desert Law had led home a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £43,575 Symphony Group Handicap finishing in front of David O'Meara's Edward Lewis and Nigel Tinkler's Thesme. We finished the day with a pair of seconds, Tim Easterby's My Reward in the £43,575 Fine equinITy Handicap and Kevin Ryan's bottom-weighted Queen's Sargent denied by a head in the £43,575 Betway Nursery Handicap, with Richard Fahey's Areen Faisal back in third. Carlisle saw a Karl Burke double with additional winners supplied by Ann Duffield, Paul Midgley, Kevin Ryan and Mark Johnston with Burke making it a treble with another winner on Kempton's evening card.
20/08/2017 'Unfortunately' (ha, ha) Mark Johnston's Nyaleti hadn't read the script (she finished sixth, albeit not far behind the third) so we 'only' had a Middleham 1-2 in the Prix Morny G1 at Deauville this afternoon, in fact a Karl Burke 1-2, for it was he, with the unfortunately named Unfortunately landing the spoils from stablemate Havana Grey. Yorkshire's second Group One of August, and third of the season. At Pontefract Richard Fahey's Queen Kindly made all to land the EBF Highfield Farm Flying Fillies' Stakes L by a head whilst there was a double for David O'Meara (including the Sir Robert Ogden homebred Isabella) and winners for Mark Johnston and Les Eyre. John Quinn takes the last at Southwell's National Hunt meet.
19/08/2017 Tim Easterby's Mattmu put his short-lived stud career behind him today at Ripon by, second race back into his kick-started career, landing the £46,688 Great St Wilfrid Handicap, with Ruth Carr's Pipers Note back in second. Tim Easterby is on a roll and has already amassed more prize money this season then he has in any whole season since 2012. The Mark Johnston/Franny Norton combo landed a treble on the same card whilst Kevin Ryan had a double which included Teruntum Star in the £12,450 'Consolation' race. Karl Burke made another trip over the channel and again had to make do with second this time with Laurens in the Prix du Calvados G3. Mark Johnston and David Barron took the last two at Newmarket with the later also scoring at Doncaster along with Julie Camacho and Paul Midgley ; Midgley's and Barron's winners both being Nine Year Olds, namely Desert Law and Bertiewhittle respectively. Evening racing at Market Rasen yielded wins for Harriet Bethell, John Wainwright and Malcolm Jefferson. Here's hoping for a (unlikely but not impossible) Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the Prix Morny G1 tomorrow.
18/08/2017 Karl Burke's Born To Be Alive made the trip to Clairefontaine today and was rewarded with second place in the Prix Pelleas L. John Quinn, David O'Meara and Tom Tate came back from Nottingham with winners with O'Meara doubling up at Wolverhampton where Michael Herrington also scored. Evening racing saw wins at Catterick for Richard Fahey, Marjorie Fife and Les Eyre whilst Paul Midgley scored at Newmarket.
17/08/2017 Bad news yesterday that Declan Carroll's Royal Ascot performer Santry, due to run in next week's Gimcrack, had suffered a fatal accident on the gallops. Two good horses gone in less than a week. Evening racing at Leopardstown saw David O'Meara's Custom Cut finish third, only a short head out of second, in the Desmond Stakes G3. Earlier the locals went through the card at Beverley with a double for Kevin Ryan and winners for Mark Johnston, Richard Guest, David O'Meara, Tim Easterby, David Barron and Clive Mulhall.
12/08/2017 Whilst the hype was at Ascot for the Shergar Cup, the quality was at Newmarket and Haydock and we did very well at the later with Mark Johnston's Frankuus staying on gamely to land his second group race, the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes G3, Richard Fahey's Gabrial finished fifth to (slightly) consolidate his position in the all-time winningmost list. Next was the Dick Hern Fillies' Stakes L in which David O'Meara's Lincoln Rocks was second whilst Paul Midgley took the penultimate race. Newmarket was best forgotten. At Ascot meanwhile I'm sure Tim Easterby appreciated the razzmatazz, or at least tolerated it, when Golden Apollo took the closing £22,131 Shergar Cup Sprint under Fran Berry with Kevin Ryan and Richard Fahey supplying second and third respectively. Earlier Kevin Ryan trained the third in the Dash and Mark Johnston the third in the Classic. Locally at Redcar there were winners for Karl Burke, Ruth Carr, David O'Meara, Roger Fell and Lawrence Mullaney whilst Sally Haynes, assistant and partner to the late Alan Swinbank, sent out her first flat winner in the last. On a not dissimilar note Adrian Nicholls sent out his second ever runner in the second, only a matter of time before 'Trotter' lands his first winner. Evening racing at Ayr saw wins for Kevin Ryan, Ruth Carr, Ann Duffield and John Quinn. Sadly Mark Johnston's Permian broke down badly in the Secretariat Stakes G1 and had to be destroyed, an incredibly tragic end for such a brave and talented horse.
06/08/2017 Boom, Kevin Ryan's Brando joins Ribchester as the second Yorkshire trained Group One winner of 2017 when landing the Prix Maurice de Gheest G1 at Deauville this afternoon, a great fillip for the trainer after the EHV-1 worries of June. At Chester there was a Yorkshire 1-2 in the feature Queensferry Stakes L with the Richard Fahey trained Kimberella coming home in front of Julie Camacho's Judicial. Mark Johnston had a double on the card (including Prestbury Park in the £12,450 Conditions Stakes) and Tim Easterby provided our other winner. Brian Ellison ran four in the e59,000 EBF 'Ahonoora' Handicap at Galway ; one finished last, but the other three can home 1-2-3 with Dream Walker beating Baraweez and Be Kool.
05/08/2017 The last day of Goodwood saw another double for Mark Johnston, this time the winners were Soldier In Action getting up in the final stride in the £62,250 Qatar Summer Handicap and newcomer Dee Ex Bee in the £19,407 (!) maiden .... some listed races are worth less than that ! In the Stewards' races plural our best placings were fourth, with Rebecca Bastiman's Royal Brave occupying that slot in the Stewards' Sprint and Richard Fahey's Growl doing likewise in the actual Stewards' Cup. David Griffiths' Storm King took the closing £16,172 Qatar Apprentice Handicap, with Karl Burke's Born To Be Alive runner-up. At Thirsk there was a local dead-heat for the feature £19,407 Thirsk Summer Cup with Chris Fairhurst's Florzena and John Quinn's Moonlightnavigator sharing the honours, further wins were provided by Declan Carroll, David O'Meara (Sir Robert Ogden's homebred Isabella) and Chris Fairhurst in the last, outright this time. At Newmarket Mark Johnston's Faithful Promise was second in the £24,900 EBF Fillies' Nursery, with Richard Fahey's Queen Penn in third whilst David O'Meara's Salateen was second in the £16,172 EUF Ruby Anniversary Handicap, ahead of Johnston's Love Dreams. Doncaster yielded wins for Richard Fahey and Kevin Ryan with the later also scoring on Hamilton's evening card as did David Barron and Rebecca Bastiman.
04/08/2017 Wednesday is starting to look like a dream, no winners at Goodwood today. The opening Glorious Stakes G3 saw Tim Easterby's Snoano finish fourth in front of Jedd O'Keeffe's Lord Yeats, next was probably our best result of the day when Richard Fahey's Forest Ranger was third in the Thoroughbred Stakes G3 whilst stablemate Birchwood led home a Yorkshire 3-4-5-6 in the following £93,375 Betfred Mile. David Griffith's Take Cover was fourth in the King George Stakes G3 whilst Mark Johnston's Londinium, victorious on Wednesday, was second in the closing £15,563 Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Handicap. Even racing home on soil didn't help much with Kevin Ryan and Ruth Carr providing our only winners at Thirsk. On the bright side Kevin Ryan made it a four-timer for the day with a winner in the last at Newmarket and double at Musselburgh where there were also winners for Karl Burke, John Quinn and David Barron.
03/08/2017 Goodwood looking slightly more Glorious today, unfortunately the less Yorkshire like weather translated into less success for the Yorkshire horses! Indeed the only notable result was also the most disappointing with Mark Johnston's 2-1 favourite Cardsharp only managing third in the Richmond Stakes G2, albeit giving three pounds all round. A double for Richard Fahey at Nottingham where John Quinn also had a winner and Mark Johnston and Karl Burke struck on Epsom's evening card.
02/08/2017 Four Goodwood winners today, but unfortunately the one that really mattered was beaten a neck ! Mark Johnston opened his account with Londinium landing the £46,688 Better Odds With Matchbook Betting Exchange Handicap, the second race on the card. In the next Karl Burke's Havana Grey put up yet another excellent performance to take the Molecomb Stakes G3. With the withdrawal of Churchill all eyes were on odds-on Ribchester to deliver the Sussex Stakes G1 for Yorkshire but unfortunately Richard Fahey's champion was beaten by a neck, picking up a mere £213,300 for his efforts, stablemate and (supposed) pacemaker Toscanini picked up £26,700 for finishing fifth ! Next up was the spectacle of a £16,163 maiden which Mark Johnston's Threading took very easily by six lengths. Johnston's Titi Makfi was second in the next, the £18,675 EBF Breeders' Series Fillies' Handicap before James Bethell's Truth Or Dare put up a sterling effort to land the closing £16,173 Cantor Fitzgerald Handicap. Phew. The slightly more relaxed dress code at Redcar saw a double for Kevin Ryan and wins for Declan Carroll, Karen Tutty and Ruth Carr. Evening racing yields two more winners for Mark Johnston to make it four for the day with a winner at Sandown and also at Leicester where David Barron also scores.
01/08/2017 Glorious Goodwood kicked off today and we didn't do too bad. Early doors Mark Johnston's highly regarded Mildenberger was a respectable third in the Vintage Stakes G2 whilst the following Lennox Stakes G2 saw David O'Meara's Suedois pick up £32,280 for occupying the same position, with stablemate So Beloved back in fifth. We had to wait for the penultimate race for a winner when John Quinn's El Astronaute took the £19,407 New & Lingwood Handicap by a short head, whilst David O'Meara's Lincoln Rocks was second in the last. Beverley saw local wins for Paul Midgley, Roger Fell, Richard Guest and Rebecca Bastiman. Brian Ellison sent three to the BMW Mile at the Galway Festival of which Dream Walker fared best, finishing third.
30/07/2017 Another good day for Yorkshire with six out of seven winners at Pontefract headed by Richard Fahey's Another Touch who landed the Pomfret Stakes L by a neck from David O'Meara's Custom Cut with Fahey's Gabrial back in third. Tim Easterby had a double and the other wins were provided by James Bethell, Lawrence Mullaney and Micky Hammond. Down at Deauville Richard Fahey's Darkanna ran a blinder to be second in the Prix de Cabourg G3 . Gabrial's recent placings mean he has finally displaced Tim Easterby's Somnus on the all-time winningmost list, which now looks like this (I've re-reconciled some of them, pesky exchange rates!) ;
Horse Trainer Amount Best Performances
The Grey Gatsby Kevin Ryan £2,728,203 Prix du Jockey Club G1, Irish Champion Stakes G1, Dante Stakes G2, 2nd.Juddmonte International Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1, Prince Of Wales's Stakes G1, Princess of Wales's Stakes G2, Champagne Stakes G2, Craven Stakes G3, Acomb Stakes G3
Collier Hill Alan Swinbank £2,317,161 Irish St Leger G1, Hong Kong Vase G1, Candian International G1, Gerling-Preis G2, Stockholm Cup International G3 (twice), Elnadim H, Old Newton Cup H., 2nd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Deutschlandpreis Preis G1, 3rd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Rheinland-Pokal der Sparkasse KolnBonn G1 etc.
Ribchester Richard Fahey £1,923,099 Queen Anne Stakes G1, Lockinge Stakes G1, Prix Jacques le Marois G1, Mill Reef Stakes G2, Jersey Stakes G3, 2nd.Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1, Gimcrack Stakes G2, 3rd.2,000 Guineas G1, Sussex Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1
Mondialiste David O'Meara £1,138,517 Arlington Million G1, Woodbine Mile G1, Strensall Stakes G3, Pomfret S L, 2nd.Breeders' Cup Mile G1, York Stakes G2 (twice), Lincoln Handicap, 3rd.Earl Of Sefton Stakes G3 etc.
Shakespearean Mark Johnston £1,001,241 Goffs Million Mile, Solario Stakes G3, 3rd.Superlative Stakes G3
Attraction Mark Johnston £899,597 1,000 Guineas G1, Irish 1,000 Guineas G1, Coronation S G1, Sun Chariot S G1, Matron S G1, Cherry Hinton S G2, Queen Mary S G3, 2nd.Matron Stakes G1, Falmouth S G1 etc.
Jukebox Jury Mark Johnston £857,187 Preis von Europa G1, Irish St Leger G1, Jockey Club Stakes G2, Grand Prix de Deauville G2, Royal Lodge Stakes G2, Prix Kergorlay G2, Rose of Lancaster Stakes G3, 2nd.Canadian International Stakes G1, Racing Post Trophy G1, 3rd.Prix la Rochette G3
Borderlescott Robin & Rebecca Bastiman £796,412 Nunthorpe Stakes G1(x2), King George Stakes G2, City Wall Stakes L, Mercury Stakes L, Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes L, Steward's Cup Handicap, 2nd.Temple Stakes G2(x2), Palace House Stakes G3, Bentinck Stakes G3, Ayr Gold Cup, 3rd.Prix de l'Abbaye G1, King's Stand Stakes G1, Temple Stakes G2, Palace House Stakes G3 etc.
Teleprompter Bill Watts £760,881 Arlington Million G1, Queen Elizabeth II S G2, Prix Quincey G3, Desmond S G3, Pacemaker International S. G3 (x2), 2nd.Queen Elizabeth II S. G2 (x2), Lockinge S G2, THF Mile G2, 3rd.Eclipse S. G1, Queen Anne Stakes G2 etc.
Gabrial Richard Fahey £753,632 Midsummer Stakes L, Doncaster Mile L, Lincoln Handicap, Property Weekly Handicap, Betfred Silver Bowl, 2nd.bet365 Mile G2, Celebration Mile G2, Diomed Stakes G3, Fortune Stakes L, Ganton Stakes L, Singspiel Stakes L, Pomfret Stakes L, 3rd.Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1, Sussex Stakes G1 (x2), Summer Mile G2, Superior Mile G3, Strensall Stakes G3 etc.
29/07/2017 On the evidence of today a Yorkshire trainer should have run the stable cat in the King George ..... Apart from the big one Yorkshire trainers pretty much dominated today, the final weekend before Goodwood. At Ascot Mark Johnston's Nyaleti destroyed her rivals to land the Princess Margaret Stakes G3 by five lengths from Richard Fahey's Dance Diva. Two races later there was a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £93,375 International Stakes Heritage Handicap with Richard Fahey's Stamp Hill coming home in front of Karl Burke's Mjjack and Fahey's Withernsea. After the King George Karl Burke took the Pat Eddery Stakes L with Raydiance and then followed up in the next. At York Tim Easterby's Flying Pursuit led home a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £31,125 Sky Bet Dash ahead of David O'Meara's Al Qahwa and winner's stablemate Rasheeq. David O'Meara's Mondialiste was back on form finishing a nose second in the York Stakes G2 whilst Kevin Ryan, Tim Easterby (Appointed in the £15,562 Fillies' Handicap) and David Griffiths won three of the final four races. Chester saw a double for Richard Fahey, the main race fall to Tim Easterby (ten year old Confessional in the £12,450 Chalice Handicap) and also a winner for Kevin Ryan. OK so we only had one winner at Newmarket, but it was Richard Fahey's bottom-weighted The Feathered Nest taking the £28,102 Adnams Sole Star Handicap by a neck and a nose. At Newcastle local boy Brian Ellison landed the feature £16,177 Beeswing Handicap with Northgate Lad and Richard Guest and Paul Midgley also had a winner apiece whilst to cap it all Mark Johnston's Izzy Bizu landed the Prix Six Perfections L at Deauville.
22/07/2017 Another Yorkshire group winner today when Karl Burke's Unfortunately survives an enquiry to land the Prix Robert Papin G2. On the domestic front there are wins at Redcar for Mark Johnston (a double), Tim Easterby and Ron Barr.
22/07/2017 Today's best results happened at Newbury where Richard Fahey took the £157,500 Weatherbys Super Sprint courtesy of Bengali Boys (by six lengths!), with stablemate Maggies Angel third, and Mark Johnston took the opening £16,172 Bathwick Tyres Handicap. The start of the Yorkshire Racing Festival at Ripon sees Tim Easterby land a double including the feature £15,562 Ripon Bell-Ringer Handicap and supporting winners from Ollie Pears, Roger Fell, Alan Brown, John Quinn and David Barron. At Newmarket Jedd O'Keeffe's More Mischief was third in the Aphrodite Stakes L and Mark Johnston had a winner later on the card. Jumps racing saw a win for Sue Smith at Cartmel and for John Quinn at Market Rasen whilst evening racing saw success for Richard Fahey at Lingfield and for Mark Walford at Haydock.
21/07/2017 A good day up at Hamilton for Marjorie Fife when Classic Seniority lands the £21,165 Scottish Stewards' Sprint Cup with Richard Fahey's bottom-weighted Six Strings in third. Next was the Glasgow Stakes L in which Mark Johnston's Frankuus was second. Our winners were provided by Mick and Tim Easterby. Mark Johnston landed wins at both Haydock and Newbury (the promising Mildenberger) whilst the local winners at Pontefract were produced by Richard Whitaker, Ollie Pears and Paul Midgley.
16/07/2017 And breath. The calm after the storm. David O'Meara's So Beloved put up another good performance today when a 20-1 second in the Minstrel Stakes G2 at the Curragh. Under Hunt Rules there was a double for Brian Ellison at Perth and a winner at Southwell for Malcolm Jefferson.
15/07/2017 Super Saturday, and our best results came at the two HQ's ; Newmarket and The Curragh. At Newmarket things started quietly until Mark Johnston's Masham Star was a good second in the £18,675 bet365 Mile Handicap. In the next David Barron's Above The Rest lived up to his name to take the £74,700 Bunbury Cup Handicap with a strong performance. Next up was the Superlative Stakes G2 in which Richard Fahey's Great Propector finished a good (not Great) third before it was finally the July Cup G1 in which Kevin Ryan's 28-1 shot Brando was an odds-defying third. At the Curragh it was all about Tony Coyle (from a Yorkshire perspective) with Snap Shots finishing second in the e59,000 Scurry Premier Handicap and then Caspian Prince running the race of his life to land the Sapphire Stakes G2 by a short head, regaining the lead only in the final stride. At York local favourite Clever Cookie was third in the John Smith's Silver Cup L for Peter Niven and then John Quinn's Mistiroc occupied the same position as best of the locals in the £124,500 John Smith's Cup. David Griffiths' old timer Take Cover led home a Yorkshire 1-2 in the City Walls Stakes L ahead of Paul Midgley's Final Venture, whilst James Bethell took the novice stakes and John Quinn the nursery. Ascot saw Ruth Carr's Pipers Note finish third in the £62,250 Totescoop6 Heritage Handicap, but stablemate Sovereign Debt could only manage fifth in the Summer Mile G2 in which Richard Fahey's Gabrial was fourth, Mark Johnston's Cape Coast was second, beaten a head, in the penultimate £31,125 Woodford Reserve Handicap. Over at Chester Richard Fahey and Mark Johnston landed two of the main supporting races with Fahey doubling up in one of the lesser races, David Griffiths won the penultimate race. Kevin Ryan and Paul Midgley had winners on Hamilton's evening card ..... where Brimham Rocks also won, sort of a Yorkshire victory (actually owner David Aykroyd lives at Aldborough near Boroughbridge and is very well known in Yorkshire racing circles).
14/07/2017 Far too many second places when it mattered today. Taking the last first Mark Johnston's Permian was denied, literally on the nod, when second in the Grand Prix de Paris G1 at Saint-Cloud this evening, having led nearly all the way and rallying bravely when briefly headed in the run-in. Earlier at Newmarket Johnston's Nyaleti was also second, in her case in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes G2. Another close finish at York saw Richard Fahey's Queen Kindly finish a short head second in the Summer Stakes G3, although this run at least showed that she has trained on. There was at least some consolation at York with a double for Tim Easterby and also a win for Kevin Ryan. Mark Johnston also had some consolation with a nursery winner earlier in the day at Ascot and a double on Musselburgh's evening card where Paul Midgley and Brian Ellison also struck. Jedd O'Keeffe, John Quinn, Mark Johnston and Tim Easterby came away from Carlisle's evening meeting with a winner apiece.
13/07/2017 A good start to Newmarket's July meeting for Mark Johnston with Sofia's Rock third in the opening Bahrain Trophy G3 and Cardsharp the winner of the second race on the card, the July Stakes G2. The next was the £62,250 bet365 Handicap which saw Kevin Ryan's Tommy Taylor finish a head second with Tim Easterby's Golden Apollo a little further back in fourth. With Richard Fahey's Forest Ranger a decent second in the closing Sir Henry Cecil Stakes L this wasn't a bad start at all. Carlisle saw winners for David Barron, Tim Easterby, Mark Johnston, Tony Coyle, Jason Ward and Brian Ellison, whilst at Doncaster John Quinn provided our sole win. Kevin Ryan landed the second on Newbury's evening meeting whilst at Epsom there were winners for Jacqueline Coward (Tapis Libre in the Ladies Derby) and David O'Meara.
11/07/2017 Today at Pontefract David O'Meara's Lincoln Rocks landed the Pipalong Stakes L and the locals took all the races apart from one with other winners coming from Richard Fahey, Nigel Tinkler, Mick Easterby, Rebecca Bastiman and Declan Carrol. We did well at Wolverhampton as well thanks to Ruth Carr (a double), the in-form Roger Fell and David O'Meara.
08/07/2017 A pretty poor day in terms of major race results, the best performances came from the Mark Johnston pair of Dominating and Soldier In Action who both finish second at Haydock in, respectively, the £31,125 bet365 Handicap and the £62,250 Old Newton Cup. No joy at Sandown whilst at Leicester there were opening and closing race wins for David Barron (with the Theakston Stud owned and bred Melonade) and Mark Johnston. Locally at Beverley there were wins for Bryan Smart, Tony Coyle, Antony Brittain, Karen Tutty and Tim Easterby. Evening racing yields a yawn and wins for Mick Easterby and Paul Midgley at Nottingham with the later, along with Richard Fahey, also striking at Carlisle.
07/07/2017 Mixed fortunes at Sandown today, Karl Burke's Havana Grey landed the Dragon Stakes L but Mark Johnston's Rebel Assault was last, fellow Kingsley House inmate Frankuus with only fourth in the Gala Stakes L but stablemate Beardwood was second in the £18,675 Besso Handicap. Doncaster saw a winner for Marjorie Fife whilst David O'Meara and Mark Johnston struck at Haydock's evening meeting, the Beverley equivalent saw a treble for Richard Fahey (one of which is a dead heat with Grant Tuer) and also winners for Mark Johnston and Antony Brittain.
01/07/2017 You wait sixteen years for a black-type winner, and then two come along at once. Twenty-four hours on and Jedd O'Keeffe struck again in black-type company when Lord Yeats landed the opening Fred Archer Stakes L at Newmarket. The next at HQ was the Empress Fillies' Stakes L and this saw a Richard Fahey one-two with Dance Diva finishing in front of Maggies Angel, Brian Ellison struck later on the card. Curragh aside, most eyes were however on Newcastle where we drew a blank in the three big races although in the Chipchase Stakes G3 we did get second and third in a head and neck finish with David O'Meara's Intisaab second and Richard Fahey's Kimberella third, in the end Mattmu didn't run. Tim Easterby's My Reward was our best finisher in the Plate, but only fifth whilst James Bethell and Tom Tate had winners on the under-card. At York there were wins for Tim Easterby, Paul Midgley and David O'Meara and Richard Fahey's Society Red was runner-up in the £31,125 sunbets.co.uk Handicap. Chester produced wins for Kevin Ryan and Mark Johnston with the later also scoring at Windsor. Evening racing at Doncaster saw wins for Declan Carroll, Paul Midgley and Lynn Siddall, we had one runner and one winner at Lingfield, courtesy of Declan Carroll
30/06/2017 An red letter day for Jedd O'Keeffe with a double a Doncaster quickly followed by a double at Newcastle's evening meeting including his first 'black type' win when More Mischief, off the course for nearly 300 days, landed the EBF Hoppings Stakes L, a race she was second in last term. The other big offering at Newcastle, on the even of Plate Day, was the £28,013 Gosforth Park Cup which went the way of Paul Midgley's Line Of Reason with Kevin Ryan's Lexington Abbey second and Tim Easterby's top-weighted Orion's Bow in third, Richard Fahey took the last on Tyneside. Cartmel saw wins for Sue Smith and Brian Ellison with the later also scoring at Chester where Mark Johnston (Titi Makfi in the £12,450 Fillies' Handicap), Tony Coyle and Ruth Carr (with the Tibthorpe Stud bred Explain) also had wins.
28/06/2017 Carlisle's big day, and Yorskhire take two of the big three races. Tim Easterby's Dance King lands the £18,675 Cumberland Plate whilst Richard Fahey's Carnageo takes the £18,675 Carlisle Bell, with David Barron's King's Pavilion in second, that was pretty much it but we won the ones that mattered (Mark Johnston may disagree with Miss Infinity unplaced in the Eternal Stakes L). Tim Easterby's Mattmu, a dual group winning sprinter, covered precisely zero mares in his brief career at Norton Grove Stud and has returned to Habton Grange and is being aimed at Saturday's Chipchase Stakes G3 at Newcastle.
24/06/2017 We've had Ladies Day, but today was Yorkshire Day at Royal Ascot. Proceedings started well with Mark Johnston's Nyaleti a game second in the opening Chesham Stakes L. Next up was the Wolferton Handicap L and this went the way of Tim Easterby's Snoano by a neck (told you he was in form!) in a searing finish. The penultimate cavalry charge was the £108,938 Wokingham Handicap and this went to David O'Meara's Out Do whilst Mark Johnston's game campaigner Oriental Fox landed the closing £49,800 Queen Alexandra Stakes, his second victory in the race. Up at Ayr Kevin Ryan, now able to run most of his horses, bounced back with Rural Celebration finishing second in the Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes L ahead of Richard Fahey's Queen Kindly in third, the Yorkshire winners on the card being provided by John Quinn and David O'Meara. Mark Johnston landed a treble at Newmarket, from only three runners, whilst the local winners at Redcar were provided by John Quinn, David Barron and Tony Coyle. Roll on Newmarket, Goodwood and York !
23/06/2017 And relax (fat chance). Mark Johnston's exemplary Royal Ascot record was maintained today when Permian bounced back from Derby disappointment to land the King Edward VII Stakes G2, worth more than some Group Ones ! Johnston now wants another tilt at Group One level with Permian, which is hardly surprising as he's now won two of the richest Group Two's on the calendar. Apart from Permian's stablemate Time To Study finishing fifth in the Queen's Vase G2 that was pretty much it for today, but we wouldn't want to be too greedy anyway ! Redcar yielded winners for Richard Fahey (a double), Karl Burke, David O'Meara and James Bethell whilst Brian Ellison landed the bumper at Market Rasen. Evening racing at Ayr sees winners for David O'Meara and the in-form Tim Easterby (4 wins from 10 runners in the last 3 days).
22/06/2017 Royal Ascot Day Three, past half way, better than yesterday, not as good as Tuesday. Again our best results came in the opener when Declan Carroll's speed-ball Santry was a good second in the Norfolk Stakes G2, with Mark Johnston's Cardsharp back in third. In the last, the King George V Handicap, Johnston's bottom-weighted Bear Valley was third, only a head out of second but some distance from the winner. However, as we all know, the real glamour is at Ripon and here the locals swept the board with winners for Richard Fahey, John Quinn, Paul Midgley, Tim Easterby, Mick Easterby, Brian Ellison and Les Eyre.
21/06/2017 Not a good day at Royal Ascot today, we got precisely zero out of proceedings. There were winners at Hamilton for David O'Meara, Jedd O'Keeffe, Mark Johnston and Tim Easterby whilst Nigel Tinkler and Tim Easterby landed the opening two races on Ripon's evening card, closely followed by winners for Roger Fell, Richard Fahey and David O'Meara whilst Richard Guest and David O'Meara won at Chelmsford.
20/06/2017 Royal Ascot, Day One, Race One, Bang ; Yorkshire winner. Richard Fahey's Ribchester justified favouritsm to nicely land the Queen Anne Stakes G1 and looks every inch Champion Miler in waiting, especially with Churchill beaten later on the card. That was it really although David Griffiths' Take Cover was fifth in the King's Stand Stakes G1 and Fahey's Forest Ranger occupied the same position in the St James's Palace Stakes G1, both picking up a useful £10,760 for connections. Ribchester is getting closer to Collier Hill in the all-time winningmost list (obviously!), but is still some way off. Thirsk saw winners for Chris Fairhurst, Richard Fahey and Ruth Carr whilst Mark Johnston, Julie Camacho and Mark Walford struck on Beverley's evening card.
18/06/2017 Bryan Smart, back in action, saddled Mythmaker to be a gallant neck second in the EBF Cathedral Stakes L at Salisbury today, with Mark Johnston landing the (relatively) valued Novice race. Johnston also had a winner at Doncaster where other local winners were trained by Ruth Carr and Bryan Smart.
17/06/2017 A busy pre-Ascot Saturday. At York it was Team(s) Easterby to the fore with Tim Easterby's Golden Apollo landing the £62,250 Catherine Kinloch Paver Memorial Macmillan Charity Handicap by a neck from Richard Fahey's The Wagon Wheel with Declan Carroll'a Justanotherbottle in third, between them the bottom three in the weights. In the opener Mick Easterby was represented by winning grandaughters Jacqueline Coward (as trainer) and Joanna Mason (as jockey) in the £11,992 Queen Mother's Cup Handicap, with Peter Easterby's son Tim (as trainer) and grandaughter Emily (as jockey) finishing second. Other winners on the Knavesmire came from Ruth Carr and Richard Fahey with the laters Gabrial fourth in the Ganton Stakes L . At Musselburgh it was Paul Midgley in the driving seat with not only his Line Of Reason landing the £62,250 Wm Hill Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap by a neck (with Richard Fahey's Kimberella in third) , but also taking the 'consolation' £25,876 Wm Hill Tartan Trophy Consolation Race Handicap with Orient Class. In between David O'Meara took the £12,938 Wm Hill Mares & Fillies' Handicap from Mark Johnston's Khamaary whilst Tim Easterby took the penultimate race. Karl Burke had a winner at Sandown where Tim Easterby's good day continued when Copper Knight was third in the Scurry Stakes L. Mark Walford took the opener at Hexham, whilst evening racing yields a treble for Mark Johnston at Leicester.
16/06/2107 Mark Johnston today sent four runners to Sandown, and came back with three winners, all ridden by Silvestre de Sousa , who had an additional two winners on the card (with an additional one at Goodwood's evening meet to boot). Less joy locally at York although John Quinn and Brian Ellison did provide some local cheer.
15/06/2017 Richard Fahey's Don't Touch is a decent second in the Ballycorus Stakes G3 at Leopardstown this evening, his seasonal debut. Domestically a quiet day with winners for David O'Meara and Mick Easterby at Haydock's evening meet whilst at Nottingham Richard Fahey has a double and there are also winners for John Quinn and Lawrence Mullaney.
10/06/2017 A very busy day, especially for Team Richard Fahey, however it was Mark Johnston who landed a big one with Jaameh taking the £28,012 John Sunley Memorial Handicap at Newmarket where earlier Fahey's Six Strings was second in the £28,012 AHT Celebrating 75 Years Handicap from Johnston's Town Charter in third. It was a similar story at Beverley with Johnston landing a 1-2 in the Brian Yeardley Continental Trophy with Cardsharp keeping on well to finish ahead of stablemate Rufus King, in the Hilary Needler Trophy Fahey's Maggies Angel was second, no doubt there are some Royal Ascot contenders within those three, and possibly also Johnston's Rebel Assault who could only manage fourth in the Hilary Needler. Richard Fahey did land the opener on the Westwood and Declan Carroll and Richard Guest also had winners later on the card. At Haydock David O'Meara, David Barron and Karl Burke provided the Yorkshire winners whilst O'Meara's So Beloved was third in the John Of Gaunt Stakes G3. Richard Fahey did land a double at Chester including the main race with Starlight Romance whilst other winners were provided by Tim Easterby and Brian Ellison. The victorious local trainers at Catterick were David O'Meara, Phil Kirby, John Balding and John Quinn.
09/06/2017 A quiet days racing, but a rather better evening. Afternoon winners came for John Weymes at Wolverhampton and for Ruth Carr, Richard Guest, David O'Meara and Lawrence Mullaney at Carlisle. Evening racing saw Paul Midgley's Final Venture take the Achilles Stakes L at Haydock, where Marjorie Fife also had a winner whilst at Stratford Guy Brewer's Young Hurriane landed the £14,990 Stratford Foxhunters Champion Hunters' Chase.
04/06/2017 It was announced today that the 'Sprint King' David 'Dandy' Nicholls had died at the age of 61. A former journeyman jockey (421 wins in 21 seasons) who achieved great success with a string of David Chapman sprinters, most notably Soba, Nicholls turned to training at Tall Trees, Sessay, Thirsk in 1993 and achieved great success with over 1,200 winners and six Group One wins namely the Nunthorpe Stakes G1 (with Ya Malak and Bahamian Pirate), the July Cup G1 and Prix de l'Abbaye G1 (both with Continent) and the Betfred Sprint Cup G1 and Prix Maurice de Gheest G1 (both with Regal Parade). But it was the big sprint handicaps that he was mostly closely associated, including winning the Ayr Gold Cup six times and the Steward's Cup three times, the fact that three of his group one winners (Bahamian Pirate, Continent and Regal Parade) also won the Ayr Gold Cup was testament of his ability to improve a horse through the ranks. A sad day indeed. If it matters Brian Ellison had a winner at Fakenham
03/06/2017 What do we have to do to win the Derby !?! Mark Johnston's Permian put up a reasonably respectable performance, finishing midfield, and was possibly lacking a little in finishing speed on this evidence. Still, it's not all doom and gloom in fact Yorkshire was pretty dominant today, apart from on home soil ! Yorkshire won the two races prior to the Derby and the two after it with Ruth Carr's venerable Sovereign Debt kicking off proceedings to land the Diomed Stakes G3 by a neck from Richard Fahey's Gabrial, who is getting ever closer to an appearance on the Top 10 Winningmost list. Next up was the £61,590 'Dash' in which Tony Coyle bagged the biggest win of his career with Caspian Prince coming home in front, with David Griffiths' Duke Of Firenze back in third. After the Blue Riband Mark Johnston's Soldier In Action took the £24,900 Investec Out Of The Ordinary Handicap whilst Yorkshire completely annexed the closing £24,900 Investec Asset Management Handicap, the first six all being trained in God's Own with the princpals being John Quinn's Reputation in first followed home by Paul Midgley's Naggers and Richard Fahey's George Bowen. At Musselburgh Richard Fahey's It Don't Come Easy took the £12,450 Edinburgh Castle Conditions Stakes from Mark Johnston's Rebel Assault whilst in the feature £49,800 Edinburgh Gold Cup Mark Johnston's top weight Time To Study came out on top, Johnston's Thomas Cranmer took the following £12,938 Ian McLeod Distillers Handicap from Richard Fahey's The Eagle's Nest. Chris Fairhurst provided the sole local winner at Doncaster and Henry Hogarth scored at Hexham. Evening racing saw Richard Fahey and Chris Fairhurst dead heat the opener at Newcastle, whilst Peter Niven and Richard Guest also scored later on the card. With four wins this season Chris Fairhurst has already had the same number of wins as the previous three seasons combined and this years total prize money is higher than any year since 2007, and it's only the beginning of June !
02/06/2017 Epsom Derby Festival Day One sees three second places for Yorkshire, but no winners. Mark Johnston's Cardharp fills that position in the opening £24,900 Woodcote Stakes with Richard Fahey's Zap in third whilst in the following £24,900 Investec Click & Invest Mile Handicap it is David O'Meara's Mythical Madness and Richard Fahey's Home Cummins occupying the placed slots. Closest to a win was Richard Fahey's Innocent Touch, a neck second in the £31,125 Investec Wealth & Investment Handicap. Catterick resulted in winners for David O'Meara, Julie Camacho and David Griffiths whilst Mike Sowersby won the last at Market Rasen. Evening racing at Doncaster saw winners for Roger Fell and Richard Whitaker.
01/06/2017 Shattering news today, the day before the Epsom Derby Meeting, that Kevin Ryan has had a single horse come down with the potentially deadly EHV-1 virus resulting in the immediate closure not only of his own yard but also those of near neighbours Bryan Smart and Michael Herrington. This could last for weeks, a devastating blow at the height of the season. Mark Johnston had a double at Hamilton where 'retired' Kristin Stubbs, Marjorie Fife and David O'Meara provided the other Yorkshire trained winners. John Balding had a winner at Wolverhampton whilst evening racing saw the in-form Mark Johnston land the opener at Chelmsford with Tom Tate, Richard Whitaker, David O'Meara and John Weymes all having winners at Newcastle.
29/05/2017 A typical Bank Holiday offering although Redcar at least had the £16,172 Zetland Gold Cup which went to James Bethell's Briardale by six lengths from Mark Johnston's Rainbow Rebel. Other local winners on Teeside were provided by David O'Meara, David Barron, John Quinn and Mark Walford with the later also scoring at Cartmel, along with Tim Easterby. Micky Hammond had a winner down at Huntingdon.
27/05/2017 A good day for Mark Johnston who landed a treble at Haydock with Yorkidding taking the £12,938 AMIX Ready Mixed Concrete Handicap (from Richard Fahey's Suegioo), Rusumaat the £37,350 AMIX Silver Bowl Handicap (with stablemate Masham Star in third) and the penultimate race with Sofia's Rock. In between Bryan Smart's Alpha Delphini was a very decent third in the Temple Stakes G2 (with Paul Midgley's Final Venture in fourth and Karl Burke's Quiet Reflection, known to not like the going, but in need of a pre-Ascot run, well back) and Kevin Ryan's Futoon occupied the same place in the Cecil Frail Stakes L. Goodwood saw Johnston's always consistent Sutter County finally land a big one in the £64,690 Winners Are Welcome At Matchbook Handicap, although stablemate Galapiat could only manage fourth in the Tapster Stakes L. On local soil at York Tim Easterby annexed the £31,125 Unibet Sprint Championship with his Copper Knight coming home in front of stablemate Rasheeq with David O'Meara's Watchable back in third. That was it for Yorkshire trained winner on the Knavesmire although Brian Ellison's Seamour was third in the Grand Cup Stakes L and William Haggas and Ralph Beckett, who both have strong Yorkshire connections, had three winners between them. A Chester Mark Johnston had just the one winner with Jaameh landing the penultimate £14,006 Mionetto Prosecco Handicap but Richard Fahey also had a win with Energia Fox who's stablemate Penwortham was second in the feature £28,012 MBNA Handicap. On Guineas day at the Curragh David O'Meara's Suedois was third in the Greenlands Stakes G2.
25/05/2017 The biggest evening meet of the season today at Sandown and Karl Burke's Havana Grey takes one of the four black type races on offer when Havana Grey lands the National Stakes L., David O'Meara's Mondialiste marginally added to his already extensive winnings when finishing fourth in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes G3. Earlier Mark Johnston scored a double at Catterick where Ruth Carr also had a winner. The other evening meeting at Chelmsford saw Mick Easterby's Qaffaal finish third in the £22,642 totewin At betfred.com Handicap.
22/05/2017 A Yorkshire 1-3 in the day's only race of note when the Jean Turpin bred Perfect Pasture lands the Leisure Stakes L at Windsor for Mick Easterby with Richard Fahey's Mr Lupton back in third. Earlier Richard Fahey had a double at Carlisle where Ruth Carr and Kevin Ryan also had winners with the later also scoring at Redcar along with Tim Easterby, Mark Johnston, Roger Fell and David O'Meara.
20/05/2017 The week just gets better and better .... today Richard Fahey's Ribchester put up a magnificent performance to jusitfy favouritism when making all to land the Lockinge Stakes G1 , his second victory at the highest level, and the first Yorkshire trained win at this level for the year. Off this performance he has been made favourite for the Queen Anne, so onwards and upwards. This doesn't change his position on the all-time winningmost list (see below), so I won't re-publish it, and he still has a way to go to catch Collier Hill, never mind The Grey Gatsby, but you certainly couldn't rule it out on this performance. Earlier at Newbury Karl Burke's Simmie was a decent second in the Carnarvon Stakes L, with David O'Meara's Florida Times back in third. Mark Johnston had to make do with some decent placings from both Time To Study, third in the £43,575 London Gold Cup Handicap and Starlight Mystery, second in the £32,345 Olympic Glory Conditions Stakes before Fahey capped his trip to Berkshire by landing the closing £24,900 Toronado Handicap with Withernsea. Fahey also had a winner at Newmarket whilst at Thirsk the local winners came courtesy of a double from Paul Midgley and a win for Antony Brittain in the last. Evening racing at Doncaster saw a double for Richard Fahey (that's five for the day) and Karl Burke taking the last.
19/05/2017 Another good day at York for Middleham with Jedd O'Keeffe, certainly a trainer on the rise, saddling Lord Yeats to land the £31,125 Betway Jorvik Handicap. Earlier Tim Easterby's new recruit High Jinx was a very good third, beaten only two necks, in the Yorkshire Cup G2, more to come no doubt from this former James Fanshawe trained son of High Chaparral. Local horses occupied second to fifth positions in the £12,450 Irish EBF Whittle Partnership Fillies' Handicap with Chris Fairhurst's Florenza second whilst the penultimate £12,450 Yorkshire Equine Practise Handicap saw a Yorkshire 1-2-3-4 with David O'Meara's Coolfitch landing the spoils from Richard Fahey's Megan Lily. We even took the main race down at HQ with Declan Carroll's Saigon City the victor in Newmarket's £18,675 Edmondson Hall Solicitors & Sports Lawyers Handicap ahead of Mark Johnston's old-timer Oriental Fox in second. Karl Burke took the opener on Hamilton's evening card where David O'Meara and John Quinn also had winners whilst Richard Fahey landed a double at Newcastle (including Prying Pandora in the £11,644 Rutherford Wilkinson Fillies' Hcap) where Ben Haslam took the last, Peter (son of Richard) Fahey landed the closing bumper at Aintree, a first runner and winner under rules !
18/05/2017 First the good news ; the locals did much better today at York with Mark Johnston's Permian leading the way by landing the Dante Stakes G2 itself, furthermore he will be supplemented for the Derby ! There was admirable support on the Knavesmire from David O'Meara's Fashion Queen (bred by Bolton Grange) who took the Westow Stakes L whilst David Griffiths' Duke Of Firezne led home a Yorkshire 1-2 in the opening £15,562 Betfred Support Jack Berry House Handicap and Richard Fahey and Jedd O'Keeffe took the last two races. Micky Hammond scored at Perth. The shock bad news was the unexpected death of leading Yorkshire trainer, and all-round nice guy, Alan Swinbank at the age of 72. From a farming background but involved in racing as an owner and in the point-to-point world he eventually obtained a public licence in 2001 and garnered over 800 winners including most significantly the globe-trotting Collier Hill, winner of three Group One races. A sad day indeed.
17/05/2017 Day one of York's Dante meeting and no luck for the locals in the major races but David O'Meara's Al Qahwa lands the £15,563 Infinity Tyres Handicap and Declan Carroll's Santry the £12,450 Novice race.
13/05/2017 A very busy day, but not much joy for the Yorkshire runners in the bigger races. At Haydock David O'Meara's So Beloved is third in the Spring Trophy L whilst Bryan Smart's Mythmaker takes the following £12,450 Conditions Stakes. At Ascot there was no joy until Mick Easterby's Robero took the last whilst at Lingfield our best performance was Mark Johnston's Frankuus finishing an unspiring fourth in the Derby Trial L. At Nottingham Kevin Ryan's Futoon acquited herself well when second in the Kilvington Stakes L (or the EBF Weatherbys General Stud Book Online Kilvington Stakes to give it it's full name). Micky Hammond and Henry Hogarth both had winners at Hexham. Evening racing at Thirsk saw a double for Richard Fahey and winners singular for David O'Meara (in the Cliff Stud sponsored handicap) Paul Midgley and Chris Fairhurst.
12/05/2017 A Yorkshire double on the final day at Chester with Tim Easterby's Chester-loving Copper Knight taking the £18,675 Sustainable Group (UK) Ltd Handicap and Julie Camacho's Judicial also scoring later on the card. Micky Hammond had a winner at Market Rasen and David O'Meara's Edward Lewis won a race at Lingfield that at a (remeasured) 4 furlongs 217 yards is technically shorter than the official minimum distance of 5 furlongs ! Evening racing yielded a winner for Nigel Tinkler at Ascot and for Mark Johnston and Ruth Carr at Ripon.
11/05/2017 Only a win in one of the supporting races at Chester today with David Griffiths' Storm King landing the last. On home turf at Catterick there were winners for Mark Johnston, Kevin Ryan, Richard Fahey, Ruth Carr and Mick Easterby whilst Micky Hammond took the second on Carlisle's evening card and almost neighbour Ben Haslam also scored.
10/05/2017 Close, but no cigar. Mark Johnston's Yorkidding was tantalisingly close to landing the £73,908 Chester Cup today when beaten only a neck having led in the final furlong. Earlier on the Roodeye John Quinn's El Astronaute had taken the £18,675 Boodles Diamond Handicap with Tim Easterby's old-timer Confessional back in third. Mark Walford and Marjorie Fife scored at Kelso.
07/05/2017 At least we had two runners in today's 1,000 Guineas, but no joy. The previous race at HQ however saw a Richard Fahey 1-2 as Mr Lupton pipped Eastern Impact in the £31,125 Longholes Handicap. There was a group victory however over at Leopardstown when David O'Meara's Custom Cut took the Amethyst Stakes G3, his first victory since landing a group race at the same track in September 2015, although he has had a number of good placings in between times. Hamilton yielded winners for Julie Camacho, Alan Swinbank and Roger Fell.
06/05/2017 Day One of Newmarket's Guineas meeting, we had no runner in the 2,000 Guineas itself but Mark Johnston's progressive Permian continued his rise up the rankings when landing the Newmarket Stakes L by over four lengths and David Barron's Danielsflyer took the £12,938 Hot Streak Handicap. Locally Les Eyre's Cote d'Azur won the £16,172 Thirsk Hunt Cup whilst the other local winners were provided by Richard Fahey, Paul Midgley, David O'Meara and Tim Easterby. Doncaster's evening meet saw David Barron land the opener and Mark Johnston the feature £12,450 Water Aid Handicap with Aardwolf, albeit off bottom weight.
29/04/2017 The day when the National Hunt season finally dies traditionally is a bit weak on the flat, and so it proved today with plenty of racing but only one 'black type' offering. It's full steam ahead after today though. Wins of the day came at Ripon with Tim Easterby's My Reward taking the £18,675 Download The Free Attheraces App Handicap and David O'Meara's Intisaab the £13,695 Visit Attheraces.com Handicap, the only other local winner at Yorkshire's 'Garden Racecourse' was provided by Les Eyre who took the last. Mark Johnston had a winner at Leicester and also at Doncaster.
28/04/2017 Two weeks on from Sovereign Debt providing Ruth Carr with her most valuable win he will be rising even further in her esteem after today when he provided her with her first Group winner when taking the bet365 Mile G2 at Sandown, with Richard Fahey's old-timer Gabrial a gallant second. The prior race saw Mark Johnston's Frankuus finish a respectable third in the bet365 Classic Trial G3. David Barron had a double at Doncaster where Mark Johnston also had a winner whilst Philip Kirby took the Hunters' Chase at Perth.
22/04/2017 Yet another excellent winner for Malcolm Jefferson when Cloudy Dream, so often the bridesmaid, stays on strongly to land the Future Champion Novices' Chase Gd2 up at Ayr on Scottish National day. Richard Fahey's Queen Kindly gives out mixed messages at Newbury but stablemate Another Touch is second in the £31,125 Spring Cup Handicap. The locals do well at Thirsk with a treble for Richard Fahey and singular wins for John Quinn and Bryan Smart. Fahey has yet another two-year-old winner on Nottingham's evening card where Brian Ellison took the last.
21/04/2017 More early season black-type for Kevin Ryan when Futoon is a decent second in the Lansdown Stakes L at Bath this evening. Ben Haslam has a winner over fences at Southwell.
20/04/2017 Today sees the first Yorkshire trained Group winner of the flat season when Kevin Ryan's Brando wears down Ornate to land the Abernant Stakes G3 at Newmarket. The locals ruled at Ripon with wins for Richard Fahey, Karl Burke, Ruth Carr, Mark Johnston and Ollie Pears with a dead-heat in the last between Mick Easterby and Ruth Carr ..... now that's a match race I'd pay to watch. David Griffiths had a winner on Lingfield's late afternoon card.
15/04/2017 Winners galore up at Mussleburgh today with Richard Fahey's excellent start to the season continuing when Cullingworth landed the £32,345 Royal Mile Handicap our other winners came from Paul Midgley's Desert Law in the £12,938 Borderlescott Sprint Trophy Conditions Stakes, David Barron, Bryan Smart and Rebecca Bastiman. Sue Smith took the Novices' Chase at Carlisle.
14/04/2017 Sorry for the delay, I was at Silverstone, with a quick trip to Towcester races yesterday en-route. David Nicholls would have had an excellent All-Weather Champions Day at Lingfield today if he hadn't retired so it fell to the now Richard Fahey trained Kimberella to land the £93,375 Betway All-Weather Sprint Championship Conditions Stakes and to the now Ruth Carr trained Sovereign Debt to take the £93,375 Sunbets All-Weather Mile Championship Conditions Stakes, with Fahey's Nimr in second and David O'Meara's Salateen in third. Earlier Mark Johnston's Watersmeet was second in the £93,375 Betway All-Weather Marathon Championships Conditions Stakes and Kevin Ryan's Ashadihan (bred by Highbank Stud) third in the £93,375 32Red All-Weather Fillies And Mares Championship Conditions Stakes. Ruth Carr had an excellent day with a double at Newcastle where Richard Fahey's Forest Ranger took the feature £62,250 Burradon Conditions Stakes from Kevin Ryan's Syphax and John Quinn's Misitroc was second in the £52,913 Betway Handicap, our other Tyneside winners came courtesy of James Bethell and Julie Camacho. No winners at Bath but Mark Johnston had a 2-3-4 in the feature £37,350 Bathwick Tyres Handicap with second and third placed Minster Manduro and Permian only going down by a head and a short head respectively.
08/04/2017 Incredibly our third Grade One second place of the National Festival, this time it's Brian Ellison in the runner-up spot when his Forest Bihan is denied by a head in the Maghull Novices' Chase Gd1. Stablemate Definitly Red was denied in the Grand National after acrobatics to miss a fallen horse caused his tack to slip and he had to be pulled up. No joy on the flat but Micky Hammond and Sue Smith both had winners at Newcastle's NH meeting.
07/04/2017 Incredibly (distressingly!) Malcolm Jefferson had his second Grade One runner-up spot in consecutive days today, and his third in a month, when Mount Mews was second in the Crabbie's Top Novices' Hurdle Gd1. Richard Fahey, Mark Johnston and Mick Easterby each had a winner apiece at Leicester (proper flat racing, almost a week after the season started!) whilst Brian Ellison had a timely winner at Sedgefield, the day before Definitly Red's attempt on the National.
06/04/2017 So the flat season is in full swing, not, luckily however we have Aintree to look forward to and it was a good start to the National Festival for Malcolm Jefferson who saw his Cloudy Dream finish second in the opening Manifesto Novices' Chase Gd1 before stablemate Double W's landed the penultimate race the Red Rum Handicap Chase Gd3. Richard Fahey, Karl Burke, Alan Swinbank and Marjorie Fife were our winning representatives at Southwell.
01/04/2017 And so the Flat Season 2017 kicks off, and David O'Meara's new recruit, the former Coolmore charge Bravery, starts proceedings with a bang by landing the traditional season curtain raiser the £62,250 Lincoln Handicap with Richard Fahey's old-timer Gabrial back in fourth. The opening Cammidge Trophy L had seen Ruth Carr's (also new recruit) Pipers Note finish a neck third whilst Jedd O'Keeffe's Candelisa occupied the same position in the £28,012 Spring Mile. The Brocklesby was split into two divisions (sacrilege!) , but no matter as Declan Carroll landed division one and Richard Fahey division two ! The all-weather at Kempton saw another black type performance for Ruth Carr when the former David Nicholls charge Sovereign Debt, unlucky in running, was a neck and a neck third in the Magnolia Stakes L. Ruth Carr previously had only one black-type performance to her name, so to get two on the opening day of the season, both with new recruits, certainly bodes well for the months to come. Over sticks Harriet Bethell had a winner at Uttoxeter. Mark Johnston had a winner on Chelmsford's evening card.
25/03/2017 Richard Fahey's Ribchester, tried over further than a mile for the first time, was a decent third in the Dubai Turf G1 at Meydan this afternoon, picking up £407,804 for his efforts, the going may not have aided his cause and all-in-all this bodes well for the season ahead, David O'Meara's Mondialiste finished well back. As a result Ribchester jumps from seventh to third in the all-time winningmost list, pushing Mondialiste down into fourth. Fahey had a winner at Lingfield with David Nicholls' former charge Kimberella coming home ahead of Mick Easterby's Bowson Fred, Mark Johnston's Isharah was second in the other main race on the card. Micky Hammond's Silver Tassie was third in a nice race at Kelso, whilst Sue Smith's Cloudy Too was third in Newbury's opener. Ann Duffield and Ruth Carr scored on Wolverhampton's evening card. Proper racing starts at Naas tomorrow, and Richard Fahey is well represented.
Horse Trainer Amount Best Performances
The Grey Gatsby Kevin Ryan £2,709,405 Prix du Jockey Club G1, Irish Champion Stakes G1, Dante Stakes G2, 2nd.Juddmonte International Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1, Prince Of Wales's Stakes G1, Princess of Wales's Stakes G2, Champagne Stakes G2, Craven Stakes G3, Acomb Stakes G3
Collier Hill Alan Swinbank £2,317,161 Irish St Leger G1, Hong Kong Vase G1, Candian International G1, Gerling-Preis G2, Stockholm Cup International G3 (twice), Elnadim H, Old Newton Cup H., 2nd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Deutschlandpreis Preis G1, 3rd.Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Rheinland-Pokal der Sparkasse KolnBonn G1 etc.
Ribchester Richard Fahey £1,336,151 Prix Jacques le Marois G1, Mill Reef Stakes G2, Jersey Stakes G3, 2nd.Queen Elizabeth II Stakes G1, Gimcrack Stakes G2, 3rd.2,000 Guineas G1, Sussex Stakes G1, Dubai Turf G1
Mondialiste David O'Meara £1,108,059 Arlington Million G1, Woodbine Mile G1, Strensall Stakes G3, Pomfret S L, 2nd.Breeders' Cup Mile G1, York Stakes G2, Lincoln Handicap, 3rd.Earl Of Sefton Stakes G3 etc.
Shakespearean Mark Johnston £1,001,241 Goffs Million Mile, Solario Stakes G3, 3rd.Superlative Stakes G3
Attraction Mark Johnston £899,597 1,000 Guineas G1, Irish 1,000 Guineas G1, Coronation S G1, Sun Chariot S G1, Matron S G1, Cherry Hinton S G2, Queen Mary S G3, 2nd.Matron Stakes G1, Falmouth S G1 etc.
Jukebox Jury Mark Johnston £857,187 Preis von Europa G1, Irish St Leger G1, Jockey Club Stakes G2, Grand Prix de Deauville G2, Royal Lodge Stakes G2, Prix Kergorlay G2, Rose of Lancaster Stakes G3, 2nd.Canadian International Stakes G1, Racing Post Trophy G1, 3rd.Prix la Rochette G3
Borderlescott Robin & Rebecca Bastiman £798,863 Nunthorpe Stakes G1(x2), King George Stakes G2, City Wall Stakes L, Mercury Stakes L, Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes L, Steward's Cup Handicap, 2nd.Temple Stakes G2(x2), Palace House Stakes G3, Bentinck Stakes G3, Ayr Gold Cup, 3rd.Prix de l'Abbaye G1, King's Stand Stakes G1, Temple Stakes G2, Palace House Stakes G3 etc.
Teleprompter Bill Watts £760,881 Arlington Million G1, Queen Elizabeth II S G2, Prix Quincey G3, Desmond S G3, Pacemaker International S. G3 (x2), 2nd.Queen Elizabeth II S. G2 (x2), Lockinge S G2, THF Mile G2, 3rd.Eclipse S. G1, Queen Anne Stakes G2 etc.
Somnus Tim Easterby £743,966 Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup G1, Prix Maurice de Gheest G1, Prix de la Foret G1, betabet Two Year Old Trophy, £200,000 St Leger Yearling Sales Stakes, 2nd.Sprint Cup G1, Park Stakes G2, Chipchase Stakes G3, 3rd.Duke Of York Stakes G2
19/03/2017 Back from her jollies in Dubai Richard Fahey's Melesina has another good French outing when taking the Prix la Camargo L at Saint-Cloud this afternoon. Carlisle rained off.
18/03/2017 The lull. A double for Malcolm Jefferson at Newcastle with Dubai Angel taking the main race on the card, Julia Brooke also had a winner on Tyneside whilst down at Wolverhampton Richard Fahey took the last on the evening card.
17/03/2017 Well the Gold Cup winners was owned by a Yorkshireman ! Erm, that's it.
16/03/2017 As far as can be discerned with the naked eye there was NO Yorkshire involvement at Chelthenham today (barring Yorkshire based or born jockeys). So zero of interest for the denizens of this website. Henry Hogarth scored at Hexham, Mick Easterby and Mark Johnston likewise at Chelmsford.
15/03/2017 Brian Ellison’s Nietzsche was third, beaten a neck and a neck, in the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle Gd3 at Cheltenham today, although that was it from a Yorkshire perspective. Newcastle sees a double for Mick Easterby as well as winners for Richard Fahey and Ben Haslam.
14/03/2017 Not a bad start to proceedings at Cheltenham with Malcolm Jefferson’s Cloudy Dreams second to Altior in the Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase Gd1 and improving on his position relative to Brian Ellison’s Forest Bihan, who beat him two starts ago but could only manage fifth this time. Small fields at Sedgefield saw winners for Sam England, Peter Winks and Mick Easterby whilst there were flat winners at Southwell for Marjorie Fife, Rebecca Bastiman, Roger Fell and Richard Fahey and at Wolverhampton’s evening meeting for Alan Brown.
11/03/2017 Sadly one suspects the words 'annexed', 'Yorkshire' and 'Cheltenham' won't be much in use in the same sentence next week, but today the Tyke raiders did annexe proceedings at Wolverhampton landing both the big races with Richard Fahey's Nimr taking the £31,125 Lincoln Trial Handicap, in which Mick Easterby's Holiday Magic was third, and David O'Meara's Salateen winning the Lady Wulfruna Stakes L by a nose and a head, distances which would have been better if he hadn't hung in the closing stages. In addition Brian Ellison took the opener at Wolves whilst Micky Hammond had a chasing winner up at Ayr. Kevin Ryan and Mark Johnston both had winners at Chelmsford's evening meeting. Meanwhile the Manor House Stud bred Redkirk Warrior landed major honours in Australia in the early hours of this morning when taking the Newmarket Handicap G1, yet another Group One winner for Lennie Peacock !
09/03/2017 Shock news today that 'Sprint King' David Nicholls is retiring with immediate effect. Nicholls has gone out with a bang with stable stalwart Sovereign Debt landing the £92,682 ITB Cup at Doha a couple of weeks ago. Nicholls has trained a host of stars, mostly other trainers' cast offs, including Ya Malak, Continent, Bahamian Pirate, Regal Parade, Proud Native, Rudi's Pet, Strike Up The Band, Tax Free, Inxile and the aforementioned Sovereign Debt. If the finances are that bad there is presumably a strong possibility that Tall Trees Stables could come on the market in the near future. 'Dandy's' near neighbours David Barron and Kevin Ryan had winners at Southwell (where David Griffiths also scored) and Newcastle respectively with further winners at the later for Rebecca Bastiman, Alan Swinbank and Roger Fell.
04/03/2017 Cheltenham edges closer, but the Grand National was on the agenda today with the £34,408 Grimthorpe Handicap Chase at Doncaster won very nicely by Brian Ellison's Definitly Red, with Sue Smith's Wakanda a respectable third. Good news up at Kelso as well with Malcolm Jefferson's Mount Mews taking the Totescoop6 Premier Kelso Novices' Hurdle Gd2, one of four winners on the card for Brian Hughes (the opener was won by Brian Harding and the last by Blair (close!) Campbell !). On the flat at Lingfield Mark Johnston (who had a bumper winner earlier in the week !?!) had a winner whilst his Sutter County was second in the Spring Cup Handicap L. Evening racing at Newcastle yielded a double for David Barron and winners singular for Bryan Smart and Richard Guest.
20/02/2017 Monday afternoon in Wolverhampton? Let's put on a £28,635 Class 2 Handicap !?! Anyway, it was a good move for the Yorkshire trainers as David Barron's Robot Boy took the honours in the Betway Handicap with Mick Easterby's Bowson Fred back in second. Julie Camacho and Mark Johnston both had winners later on the card whilst Richard Fahey landed the bumper at Carlisle.
18/02/2017 Sue Smith's Vintage Clouds finished third in the Betfred Grand National Trial Handicap Chase Gd3 at Haydock today whilst stablemate Cloudy Too was fourth in the Swinley Chase Limited Handicap L at Ascot. Mark Johnston and Mick Easterby both had a winner apiece at Lingfield.
16/02/2017 Up at Kelso today Malcolm Jefferson's Cyrus Daris landed the £16,642 Timeform Morebattle Hurdle whilst stablemate Firth Of Clyde was second in the following £16,245 Ivan Straker Memorial Chase. Les Eyre, Mark Johnston and John Quinn all scored at Lingfield whilst Mick Easterby and Richard Guest provided our winners at Chelmsford. At Meydan Roger Fell's Caspian Prince was third in the Meydan Sprint G3.
11/02/2017 Only a couple of Yorkshire runners at Meydan today but Paul Midgley's Final Venture did the business to land the £85,365 Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa Handicap; his second win in three Dubai starts (there was also a third place) for a total of £165,445. Nice ! Domestically Phil Kirby took the last at Uttoxeter and Richard Guest had a winner at Wolverhampton. Kristin Stubbs retired and then unretired twice today .... probably.
09/02/2017 Another good day at Meydan with David O'Meara's Salateen taking the £85,365 Range Rover Handicap by a nose, short head and a head and Richard Fahey's Rajar finishing third in UAE 1,000 Guineas L. Philip Kirby took the last at Donnie and Marjorie Fife did likewise at Lingfield.
04/02/2017 No joy in daytime racing today, but Bryan Smart's Mythmaker was a good second, beaten only a nose, in the Cleves Stakes L at Lingfield whilst up at Musselburgh Brian Ellison's Dominada was second in the £28,475 Scottish County Hurdle Handicap L whilst John Quinn's Project Bluebook was third in the Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial Juvenile Hurdle L. Evening racing at Newcastle yields wins for David Barron and John Quinn.
28/01/2017 Distressing events at Cheltenham, but the highlight at Doncaster was a Yorkshire 1-2 in the Sky Bet Lightning Novices' Chase Gd2 with Brian Ellison's Forest Bihan taking the plaudits from Malcolm Jefferson's Cloudy Dream. In the preceding £21,280 Sky Bet First Race Special Handicap Chase Jefferson's Double W's was a good second. Mark Johnston had a winner at Lingfield.
21/01/2017 Prior to day the highlight of the week was Richard Fahey's Rajar finishing third in the UAE 1,000 Guineas Trial at Meydan. However Malcolm Jefferson sent a strong team to Haydock this afternoon and was rewarding at the first opportunity when Waiting Patiently did just that and struck at the last to land the Star Sports Cheltenham Preview Evening Novices' Chase Gd2 thus retaining his unbeaten record over fences, although he was receiving 3lb's from second placed Politologue. Later on the card stablemate Cyrus Darius, who needed the race, was fourth in the Champion Hurdle Trial Gd2 whilst Mark Johnston had a winner at Lingfield and evening racing at Newcastle yielded wins for David Barron, Alan Brown, Richard Guest and John Quinn.
14/01/2017 Our first winner at Meydan this season when Paul Midgley's recent recruit Final Venture lands the £65,853 Jebel Ali Port Handicap by a nose. On home turf (actually all-weather) there is a Yorkshire 1-2-3 in the £28,013 Sunbets.co.uk Handicap with Kevin Ryan's Flaming Spear coming home a neck in front on Brian Ellison's Fort Bastion with Ryan's Al Khan a further neck back in third. Tthere are further winners at Newcastle for James Bethell, Brian Ellison, Mark Johnston and Michael Herrington whilst Sue Smith and Micky Hammond both return from Catterick with a winner.
05/01/2017 A reasonably good start to proceedings at Meydan with Richard Fahey's Rene Mathis picking up £21,951 for finishing second in the Longines Dolce Vita Handicap and Roger Fell's Capsian Prince third in the £65,306 Longines Master Collection Handicap. Domestically plenty of placings but just the one winner courtesy of Mick Easterby's Aldreth at Chelmsford.

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