The Barbury Castle winner machine that is Alan King has been enjoying plenty of success in bread and butter races, but to maintain a position at racing's top table, it's the big races that enable you both to catch the eye and rack up some valuable prize money on which your ranking is decided.  Such is Alan's reputation that we've grown to expect winners in the big Pattern and handicaps that ...

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Britain's latest lockdown has put paid to Point-to-Point fixtures until at least the third week in February, and very likely later, notwithstanding the ability of organising hunts to stage subsequent fixtures. This has put increased importance on the relatively small number of Hunter Chases run under Rules at which horses can qualify for a place at Cheltenham or Aintree.This will now be exacerbate...

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If the loss of the only Barbury Point-to-Point fixture remaining this season through the lockdown has got racing fans down, the news has thankfully not spread to Marlborough's racing yards, which continue to flourish in this arduous winter.  After a Christmas period where the spotlight largely shone elsewhere, Barbury and Ogbourne Maizey were once again the focus of attention at Kempton and ...

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In the light of the Prime Minister’s Announcement last night, the Point-to-Point Authority acted immediately to call a pause to the Point to-Point season from today.  Peter Wright, CEO of the governing body, remarked, "Whilst I know that many of you would have liked to press on, and indeed the sport remains inherently safe, we cannot claim that we are acting in a vacuum.  The nati...

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With the notable and welcome exception of Chelmsford, the growth in numbers of racecourses in the UK has been one-way traffic in the wrong direction over the past 80 years. Since the outbreak of World War II in 1939, at least 16 racecourses have disappeared, leading to anomalies like the Lincoln Handicap being run at Doncaster. and the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.  A majority of these closur...

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The Christmas period is one of great anticipation for racing fans and the professional horsemen that populate the sport; more so perhaps this year when TV audiences have been consistently higher than the norm as everyone is confined at home and unable to attend  the races. The effect therefore of a televised winner on ITV Racing is magnified more than usual with significant viewing audiences....

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A deserted Ascot did no justice to the race of the weekend, when a red hot renewal of the Grade I Long Walk Hurdle, sponsored by Porsche, produced a breath-taking three way finish in which last year's winner Paisley Park, scythed down Thyme Hill and Roksana, winner of the Grade I Festival Mares Hurdle to capture the prize. How appropriate that the race was sponsored by a performance sports car ma...

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In stark contrast to the previous day's sunny weather at Larkhill, conditions were poor at Barbury as trainer Sam Jukes was thrilled to see Marcle Ridge and Hannah Lewis click at the first attempt with an impressive victory at the Barbury International Racing Club meeting held behind closed doors at Barbury Racecourse, near Marlborough, writes Russell Smith. Jukes, who is based at Dymock, near Le...

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Immy Robinson reports The Dellercheckout to be in great form as they bid to do the double at the Barbury International Racing Club meeting, which takes place behind closed doors at Barbury Racecourse, near Marlborough, on Sunday writes Russell Smith. With a bumper entry of 175 across the now seven scheduled races, the first race has been brought forward to 11.00 and with further divisions expecte...

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Highworth trainer Sean Curran tasted Listed race success at Aintree this afternoon when Talking About You had plenty in hand to win the Juvenile Fillies Hurdle over Alan King's contender. This was Sean's 7th winner of the term, and he's racked up over £100,000 in prize money from some smart placing.  In recent years, this dual purpose yard has been more focused on the Flat, but to be f...

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Wiltshire trainers have been busy again this week and among the winners too as the big prizes come thick and fast at this formative time of the season.  Barbury's Alan King was represented at 4 fixtures today, but the big prizes eluded the yard. Sceau Royal put up a good fight, leading the Fighting Fifth until the final flight, but was no match for Epatante. Nevertheless, the stable didn't l...

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After a weekend where Wiltshire - trained horses didn't make the top berth at the marquee meetings, it's been good to see Marlborough-based trainers among the winners again.  Barbury's Alan King, who is generously supporting a race at next month's Internatioanl Point-to-Point, withdrew horses from Cheltenham last weekend on ground issues, and recent November Handicap winner Who Dares Wins di...

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A brace of winners on an overcast Monday in Fakenham can in no way compensate for disappointment in some of the big races at Cheltenham this past weekend, but a winner is a winner, wherever it happens, and Alan King set sail to cement his solid record in November today with a brace at the Norfolk venue.  His winners in the Weatherbys E-Passport Mares Novices Hurdle and Sculthorpe Mares Handi...

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There were signs that the horses were coming into form; a winner at Fontwell on Plumpton on the first of the month, another at Fontwell on Thursday hinted of more to come. November is normally a very good month for the Barbury stable; 19 winners in 2016, 18 two years later tell of a stable relentlessly focused on big prizes as the season accelerates. Today's runners. spread between Wincanton and A...

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This weekend marks the start of the autumn Jumps calendar, with the advent of the first Pattern event of the season, and a quality card over two days at Chepstow. Yet what an anticlimax it will feel. Despite everyone's best intentions to keep the good ship racing rolling forward, it's hard to feel any satisfaction in a sport that has been denied much of its joie de vivre through the prevention of ...

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Irrespective of where you sit in the racing pyramid of excellence, there's no-one in our sport that doesn't dream of winning the Grand National. It's the race we all grew up watching, astride the armchair, riding a finish like Ron Barry, Jonjo O'Neill, AP McCoy, Dickie Johnson or Jack Tudor, depending on your age.  The Grand National is the one race each year across the UK and Ireland that g...

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The days are getting shorter and summer is winding down. It is the time of year that horse racing fans turn their attentions from fast-paced Flat racing and focus on the joys of the Jumps season. Although the Jumps season began on July 1, the core season begins in  next month as trainers ramp up the National Hunt campaign. Some of the biggest horse festivals in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

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Autumn is a time of keen anticipation among National Hunt racing fans, none more so than Point-to-Point fans who will have to wait only until the end of October to follow the young equine and human talent being nurtured in the amateur ranks. This season's Point-to-Point calendar will start on October 24, its earliest ever, to compensate for the abrupt termination of the spring campaign due to Covi...

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The National Hunt season is already two months old, although October heralds the start of the higher grade races that punctuate some of the biggest meetings during the campaign. Amongst the highlights in October will be the Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle at Chepstow, and the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, as well as Cheltenham's opening two day fixture. Regarded as one of the most pre...

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Ogbourne Maizey trainer Emma Lavelle has continued the tremendous form of her summer Jumps team since the season's late start on July 1st, clocking a fifth winner from 15 runners at Market Rasen earlier this week, when Enniscoffey Oscar stayed on to win the 0-140 Handicap Hurdle by 1 1/4 lengths.  Emma's purple patch this month has allowed her a 33% strike rate to be envied by any stable. No...

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