My relationship with the works of Proust has much in common with my relationship with Angelina Jolie. If we could get along we would probably be chums, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to
Now and then one steps out into the bright light of day and steps straight into a pile of the very worst sort of ordure – an innocent comment of a chum’s political
It’s going to be interesting to see what August 1st holds for Goodwood. I had already decided to attend and was planning to join a throng on Trundle Hill where, on that magnificent
When trains arrive in stations at 70 mph going sideways, or your marriage to Mr Depp ends up in court, or you have spent many happy hours in the company of your camera-wielding
I wept all the way to the bank yesterday, with frustration, fury and sorrow. If I am brutally honest, and as many of you will know I am an infinitely lazy bugger. A
Some gremlin attacked the writing today and thus refused – unnoticed by me – to update the end product. This meant that the pair of you who read this stuff sadly missed out
A frighteningly quick post today, as once again we face more midweek racing as attention turns to The July meeting at Newmarket and the Dante at York (both courses racing GS). You have
I have finished grinding my teeth, and I sort of accept Frankie’s apology with his admission on Sunday, that he should have come 2nd. Saturday was a bit of a blur and my
I was reminded of Corneille’s view when wondering why I felt quite so deflated after Serpentine’s Derby victory. It is certainly nothing to do with Aidan’s training abilities, although his entry numbers must
Well, the Golf is 50/50 having lost Kevin Na in the Cut but with Tyrell Hatton looking to initiate a Day 3 charge. He’s still 16s but its only for 4 places now,
The picture above was taken one hundred years ago – it is the start of the 1920 Epsom Oaks. The winner Charlebelle is seen second from left and she was bred and owned
THE DERBY RUNNERS Racecard No (draw) HORSE NAME (Trainer/Jockey) 1 (5) AMHRAN NA BHFIANN (Aidan O’Brien/William Buick) Unimpressive debut, (13/16 Curragh – Gold Maze 5th). 3yo career might have some shape, but he was
I have got to take some time out from my near-constant dismay at the car-crash that passes for nuanced debate these days. It’s just a stream of liberal, Woke, virtue-signalling, prurient guff that
Went the day well? It rained, it blew, Madame took the shears to the barnet, and the racing turned out to be way better than I had expected – indeed the Fred Archer
Well stap me vitals, and call me Greta – nine TV races on a drizzly, blowy Sunday afternoon and 56 runners between them. Just goes to show the vital jobs that race-planning, the
Am I alone in thinking that the thousands of people on Bournemouth beach, of which at least 25% appeared to be children, might perhaps have been missing the point? Am I going mad
Our Literary correspondent, High Rise, sent me a brusque note today about my curmudgeonly criticism of ITV and specifically Francesca Cumani’s hats. He pointed out that the poor girl needs to keep her
Really tricky on Thursday, despite the 14 hours notice of impending rain and likely going changes. I was already struggling when I got tucked up by Roger Varian and his observations on Molatham’s
Well, what a cracker for all the Sir Busker owners! Madame had a small wedge on it and we spoke to the rightfully incoherent shareholder afterwards. We might try to speak again tomorrow.
With hindsight, the last Magnum of AIX yesterday was possibly a step too far. Suffice it to say, that I was so drunk, I only backed Pyledriver on the grounds that he was
No preliminaries, we all know why we’re here…… Kick On! 1:15 pm – Buckingham Palace Handicap (Handicap) “Cripes” as Bunter might say. Tricky or what? I have cogitated about this field for almost
If you thought this week that Time had taken leave of his/her/its senses, then you are not alone. Most of this week seems to have had every minute of each hour filled with
What might we have learned at Newmarket last week? FAR ABOVE could be very good if he goes to The Prix L’Abbaye, where he will almost certainly get the damp ground he prefers,
It was a real delight to see the resurrection of The Pharoah of Galway, Peter O’Tool and his wise insights into the 2000 Guineas. On my side I had two hours sorting out
If Pinatubo has ‘trained on’ he may be a once in a generation horse with the ability to turn this into a procession. There is, of course, no reason to believe that he
Every now and then, we might be able to find the time in our grinding schedules, to step out for a light snack at lunchtime. Perhaps some potted shrimps and a chilled glass
Hours of work have simply disappeared when I hit the Publish button. It was the second time today it has happened and I have obviously got a gremlin. This, therefore is by way
I signed off the last note, “Onwards, ever onwards”. My concept of the S de Souza’s front-running ability wasn’t far off the mark, but it did feel lateral rather than progressive. We had
A terribly sad and worrying note from my chum Thomm in St Pauls, Minneapolis who lives in what might be considered akin to the Sloane Square end of Chelsea. In fact, it is
While I would love to pass off my crude notes as some sort of well-honed guidance, the reality is of course that I am, like most of you, still getting my eye in.
Well, that actually went pretty well. We saw a couple of decent maidens and marked some notebook performances; we had a couple of decent results and – thanks entirely to Alex “But-er” Hammond,
Yup – it’s racing. After months, and with sobbing flat trainers down to the last dozen of that jolly Burgundy they picked up at Cagnes-sur-Mer; with owners getting sticky with the sobbing trainer,
As various bundles of intelligence thump onto my desk, the headlines make for depressing reading. (I say headlines – I am from the BJ school of thought. If you want heavy lifting with
John Leeming seems to have been a remarkable man. Born in 1895 into a middle-class Mancunian family, Leeming was an accomplished glider pilot by the age of fifteen. Some sixteen years later, and
I am trying hard not to be grumpy, but I fear that I could easily become the younger cousin of that most despicable of all social stereotypes, The Sanctimoanious Suburbanite. Like the Remoaners
As Brighton, Carlisle, Nottingham and Worcester decide to keep the doors shut this summer, the BHA has published their fixture list and their future racing plans. You can have a look at the
Almost every conversation in the last four months has inevitably contained a number, statistic or formula. Even the barely sentient will rush to tell you what the R number is, or why the
A perfectly ordinary day to start. Brekker, a trip to the opticians to get new specs, as my eyes have been giving me grief since March, some work on the new project. For
Exciting news from HM Vineyards, where Her Majesty’s loyal advisers have produced an exciting programme of more. There are now six extra races, (Sorry about the Fake News headline) including consolation races for
Much like the Monkees 4th hit, “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, the Charcoal was burning everywhere last Sunday – not least at Raceweb Towers. Some delicious Lamb cutlets from a whole carcass purchased from my
What Ho, tout le monde et Bienvenue to racing “in absentia” from Longchamp. Like a Shakespearian speech, the racing was sans crowds, sans le picnic, sans hacks (well there were five in fact,
Some years ago, I was introduced to Sam Hoskins who had just launched Hot to Trot, a racing syndicate which, in name at least, had all the potential of becoming a hotbed of
This extraordinary memoir catalogues the experience of the author as he underwent four years in the western front trenches without even being wounded – an outcome that he himself rates as a twenty
High Rise has posted two new book reviews, and I am thrilled to discover that I have actually read one of his recommendations! The reason I was so delighted to secure HR’s literary services,
Published in 1980 this was Lewis’s last book before he died of the drink aged 42. A very large proportion of my (male) friends would put Get Carter into their list of top
Somewhere in a rat-infested cellar in Hamburg, will gather tonight a little group of Aryan thugs to celebrate the birth of Adolf Hitler. I can’t tell you the address or the names of
It has been in recent days, increasingly clear from all the various sensory inputs, that we – the general public – are becoming tiresomely self-righteous. Our moral outrage is relentless, self-harming, corrosively dangerous,
I have a friend who owns an original, signed photograph by Robert Capa, it is one of his most precious pictures. It shows three women walking across an arid landscape that one presumes
Yes, folks, this is what it all boils down to – the inestimable sport of Trotting or Harness Racing. The latter, according to Wiki, is the more correct title and is described thus:
Some of you may be familiar with our small Christmas booklet, a collection of little pieces that have caught our fancy, taken our imagination or which we simply thought might amuse you. There
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