Mr Hollywood

The Tattersalls Somerville Sale has meant that a return to Newmarket could be delayed no longer but this column sprang, or perhaps staggered, into life on the final day of Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche. The scribbling started reasonably early on Sunday morning from a desk in the press room that boasts one of the best views in the racing world, looking out across the turf to the wooded mountains of the Black Forest. It was also the desk that was once occupied by British-born but German-based racing correspondent David Connolly-Smith, who...

We're starting to feel a little long in the tooth in this corner. The racing equivalent to the observation about policemen looking young these days now applies to the weighing-room, and on Saturday one young gun after another came out with a performance that would entitle them to be considered the next big thing.  Benoit de la Sayette has already achieved plenty in his nascent career. Now 20, he had his first ride in November 2020 and became the first apprentice attached to John Gosden's stable in almost 30 years. ...