December 29 Alan is hoping to end 2023 on a high, and, though his three Newbury runners tomorrow are the high-profile representatives for Barbury, Ezmerelda proved the perfect hors [...]
December 28 Paul Nicholls tries to win the fourth Challow Hurdle in a row at Newbury on Saturday, courtesy of Captain Teague, but Alan hopes to spoil another Ditcheat celebration with Masaccio. [...]
December 26 Only 2mm of rain fell overnight at Kempton, but, while the official going is “good, good to soft in places”, the Sunbury course expects wind and rain on Wednesday morning, [...]
December 21 Things have gone well for Alan when he has sent horses for the northern tracks this season. The highly-rated Favour And Fortune won at Wetherby, while we celebrated a double at [...]
December 20 It’s D-Day for Royal Deeside in the juvenile hurdle at Newbury today as he ran no race on his jumping debut at Warwick, so should he disappoint again, Alan would put Plan B into [...]
December 19 Early indications from the track this morning were that Alan’s two runners there today will encounter less testing ground than his trio who tomorrow are earmarked for Newbury, [...]
December 10 Alan has twice used the Grade 1 Ascot Chase as a stepping-stone to Cheltenham, winning it with Voy Por Ustedes (2009) and Balder Succces (2015), and that might well be the next race [...]
December 8 Besides being a fervent Arsenal supporter, Andrew Cooper has plenty of other qualities, not least being held in high esteem by racing professionals as one of the best clerks of the [...]
December 5 Helnwein is high up in the pecking order of what looks a strong team of Alan’s novices this season, and everyone at Barbury will doubtless be glued into Haydock on Wednesday to [...]
December 1 Predicted overnight temperatures of minus five degrees are a big concern, but the weathermen can be as erratic with their forecasts as us racing tipsters, so Alan has fingers and toes [...]