Terrible Tout

“Have I missed anything?” the small boy in the disheveled prep school uniform hopped nervously from foot to foot, peering over his father’s shoulder for a glimpse of the as-yet-forbidden fruit. “Take a bath, eat your lunch and then we can talk” was the gruff response. “But, have they...

The new racing promoter has taken some steps in the right direction. For example, I notice there has been an attempt to raise the value of claiming tags albeit only at the top end. A few races have been successfully offered for horses prepared to enter for claiming tags...

I spent last week glued to the world’s best flat racing festival, Royal Ascot. Some fun facts about the five days of world class horse racing: Royal Ascot welcomes 300,000 race-goers across five days; 70,000 attend Thursday’s Gold Cup Day; Viewed in over 200 countries around the globe; Approximately...

 Recently, traditionalists, programmed to believe only England has answers to anything, have renewed a call for the return to an English system of handicapping/rating as the panacea for what ails local racing. “Bring it on,” I say. Hurry up! Let’s scrap the claiming system and return to the rating...

Toldja! Since I wrote about the embarrassing scenario among Jamaica’s jockey colony as exposed by 54-year-old Gary Richards (published June 4) the Old Master has ridden 7 winners from 34 rides (21% win percentage) which is bettered by only one (Shane Ellis; 22%) of the top ten jockeys. He...

Cawn’t sey mi neva dida warn yu! Punters got useful pointers for Jamaica’s first two classics from my very early look (published April 6).  After 1,000 Guineas winner Disability Charm’s winning debut (1000m round; January 20), I noted: “Disability Charm was visually impressive….lengthening stride and readily drawing clear final...

Belated happy first birthday to the new Public Opinion which celebrated its first birthday last week! Its focus on independent opinion and critical thought fills a void in local media. Regarding contributions from yours truly, comments received have been concentrated on the “Clocked-in” department. Many are curious as to...

It’s the time of year when gender and age trends are flipped. Punters should pay attention. Turfites should understand that 3 year olds are just like teenagers, so they are not yet fully developed. Especially when it’s remembered that all thoroughbreds, for administrative reasons, have January 1 as their...

My usually reliable sources tell me this year’s Yearling Sale has hit rock bottom with only 86 entries. EIGHTY-SIX? Christ on a crutch, that’s down 34% from 2016’s paltry 130 and a massive 60% from 2009’s 213 entries. It can no longer be swept under the carpet. Jamaica’s breeding...