Blog Archive

It was with much sadness that the news of Presenting Percy’s death was announced late on Thursday. The ten-year-old, a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner, contracted a rare blood infection, and after a three-month battle it was decided to euthanise the horse at …

Nothing could make up for the loss of a partner of 74 years. The Queen will be in mourning for some time, of course, and she will be seen for the first time since the death of her husband, Prince Phillip, at …

It was not a happy Monday for Bez, the maraca-shaking dancer for the kings of the 1980s ‘baggy’ scene, as his racing dream got off to a rather inauspicious start. Bez, real name Mark Berry, has created his own racing syndicate to …

Given the tribal rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool, Sir Alex Ferguson does not typically enjoy his time on Merseyside. But the long-serving Red Devils boss certainly had platy to shout about at Aintree on Thursday as three of the racehorses he …

A player from Scottish League Two outfit Elgin City has appeared in court this week over alleged betting fraud offences. The case will hear that Kane Hester deliberately got himself booked in a game against Hibernian so that he and three alleged …

When the Grand National at Aintree comes along, casual punters can often be found backing an outsider or two – ‘you’ve got to be in it to win it’, as the old saying goes. Triple-figure gambles rarely pay off in the National …

Of the many catastrophes that the coronavirus pandemic has brought, for horse racing one of the mist significant negatives has been the absence of on course bookmakers from the sport. A tradition dating back more than a century, not only has their …

In a competition that has seen just three different winners in 25 years, the National Hunt champion jockey trophy could have a new name on it in 2021 as the season reaches its business end. Harry Skelton, who delivered a hat-trick of …

It is widely expected that UEFA will announce a complete overhaul of the Champions League on Wednesday in a bid to ward off a European Super League. The raft of changes, which would introduced in 2024, include the end to the traditional …

When the bookies suspend a betting market, you can be sure that there has been a significant move on a particular selection. And that appears to be the case with Roy Keane, who has apparently been in talks all week with officials …

Adrian McCarthy, a prolific winner on the Flat in the noughties who has won more than £1 million in prize money, has been banned from the saddle for six months after admitting taking cocaine. A disciplinary meeting was held on Thursday to …

There can be no doubt as to who the star of the Cheltenham Festival 2021 has been. Of all the narratives and all the highlights, it’s Rachael Blackmore’s incredible winning streak that has captures the hearts and the headlines at a meeting …

Death, taxes and Envoi Allen winning the Marsh Novices’ Chase. That was the idea anyway, but a calamitous fall from the odds-on favourite caused punters around the globe to draw their breath on Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival….not least Paul Dean. He’s …

The last thing that the bookmakers wanted was for the favourites to get punters off to a winning start at the Cheltenham Festival. But that’s exactly what happened as three red-hot fancies all hit the line in first place with the minimum …

It has been a while in coming perhaps, but the worst case scenario for Football Index has finally been realised. Football Index has entered administration, with its platform closed for business with immediate effect and their license issued by the UK Gambling …

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it….unless there’s money to be made. That must be behind the thinking of Andrea Agnelli, the chairman of Juventus and the European Clubs’ Association (ECA), who wants to overhaul the Champions League in time for the …

There could be trouble ahead for Football Index and its users after the firm announced considerable changes to its dividend format. For the uninitiated, Football Index is the world’s first stock exchange style platform covering the beautiful game, with site users able …

While we can debate the merits – and otherwise – of VAR until we are blue in the face, the handball rule should, in theory, be black and white. Did the ball strike the player’s hand/arm? Was it deliberate or accidental? That’s …

In a year in which she has smashed many of the glass ceilings in racing, Hollie Doyle did it again on Wednesday with another astonishing day in the saddle. The 24-year-old rode five winners at Kempton – equalling her own record of …

Whether a momentary lapse in judgement or a sign of something more sinister, there’s no doubt that Gordon Elliott has been a prized idiot. The photo of him sitting astride a dead horse on the gallops, giving the peace sign and generally …