Two special guests will make the pilgrimage to Epsom this weekend to mark the 150th anniversary of the Derby victory of the Hungarian-bred Kisber, a sporting achievement still lauded in the country of his birth. Andras Krebs, the deputy director of Kincsem Park racecourse in Budapest, will attend this year's Derby with his wife Linda, [...]

'The Home of the Original' is the Jockey Club's tagline for Epsom, and that original is of course the Derby, which for almost 250 years has inspired the hopes and dreams of owners and breeders across England and beyond.  To a degree, the race has become the preserve of the major owner-breeder operations: nine of [...]

Across the Epsom Downs the temporary structures that form the Betfred Derby backdrop are going up but of most importance on this sweltering morning is what's coming down the hill. Five Classic hopefuls have arrived for a taster of this most unusual of tracks, though one is back for take two. Balzac, third in the [...]

Golden boy of the week has to be Starspangledbanner (though Wayne Lordan and Karl Burke both deserve consideration for that title). To have had both Cartier champion two-year-olds last year was a big enough feather in his cap but for both Gstaad and Precise to progress into Classic winners in the space of 24 hours [...]

To the casual observer at Longchamp on Thursday evening there would not have appeared to be too much wrong with French racing. A lively, sell-out crowd of 10,000 was on course for two reasons: top-class horse racing and an after-party which shimmered through to the small hours while the Eiffel Tower sparkled in the distance.  [...]

The National Stud, like its Irish counterpart, treads a dual pathway in being both a commercial stallion operation and boarding farm as well as a seat of learning. Managing those twin aspects of the business within the wider umbrella of its parent company the Jockey Club means that the plate of chief executive Anna Kerr [...]

There can be few crueller blows than Classic dreams being dashed after a winter fuelled by expectation and excitement.  This was sadly the case for all those connected with last year's champion two-year-old Gewan (Night Of Thunder), who suffered a fatal injury in April while being prepared for the 2,000 Guineas. Trained by Andrew Balding [...]

For a jockey, any day you ride a winner is a good day, but Wednesday proved to be even sweeter for Kieran O'Neill, who is also the breeder of his winning mount Naana's Sparkle. It's not the first time he has won aboard the Twilight Son gelding either, as O'Neill guided him to his first [...]

If horse racing is your thing and you value the Derby above all other races, then there can be no finer way to spend a Monday morning in May than at the place which has had more influence on the great race than any other. Ballydoyle can be held up alongside any of the great [...]

With just a few pieces of the jigsaw still to be slotted into place this week at York, the Epsom picture has emerged a little more clearly over the past week or so through some key Derby and Oaks trials at Chester, Lingfield and Leopardstown. Most have been dominated by Aidan O'Brien, including a clean [...]

After months of longing for the turf season to get underway, it is now that time of year when you have to have your wits about you just to keep up with the results from around the world. With many owners and trainers now beginning the countdown to Royal Ascot, an area that is quickly [...]

Where to begin? Perhaps to say that, though this sport faces myriad challenges, the mere thrill of actually going racing is the perfect antidote to such pernicious worries.  And it wasn't just the blazing sunshine and searing performance of Bow Echo on the Rowley Mile that has renewed the faith. A week earlier a trip [...]