SANDRACER.COM ALL WEATHER RACING BLOG

Scottish trainer Sandy Thomson could not hide his frustration as the British Horseracing Authority banned Mr Incredible from running in Saturday's Randox Grand National....

Watering will continue at Aintree as a warm and dry week leads into the Grand National meeting. The going at the track is currently good, good to soft in places on the Mildmay hurdle and chase tracks, with the Grand National course described as good to soft at present. It...

Ben Pauling is likely to point Handstands at Friday’s Huyton Asphalt Franny Blennerhassett Memorial Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree. The six-year-old fell on his chase debut at Wincanton before reeling off a hat-trick of victories, highlighted by edging out Jango Baie in the Scilly Isles at Sandown. He also holds...

Harry Fry is yet to decide which race to tackle with Gidleigh Park at the Grand National Festival. Fry has the option of running his charge in the opening EBC Group Manifesto Novices’ Chase over two and a half miles on Thursday or waiting until Saturday’s two-mile Rosconn Group Maghull...

The British Horseracing Authority has offered clarification as to why the Sandy Thomson-trained Mr Incredible has been prevented from running in Saturday’s Randox Grand National. While the nine-year-old, who unseated Brian Hayes at The Chair in last year’s race, was guaranteed a run with a mark of 150, he had...

Brighterdaysahead will sidestep a potential clash with Constitution Hill and Lossiemouth in the William Hill Aintree Hurdle and instead be saved for the Punchestown Festival. Gordon Elliott’s mare claimed a Grade One double earlier this season in the Morgiana Hurdle and the Neville Hotels Hurdle, when scoring by 30 lengths...

Connections of Thunder Roar are considering an appeal against his demotion in the Spring Mile Handicap at Doncaster on Saturday. The chestnut, who is trained by Tony Coyle and Kaine Wood, was a 25-1 chance under Tom Eaves when carrying top weight in the contest. He crossed the line a...

Last year's winner I Am Maximus heads the confirmations for the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday....

Jamie Snowden is eager to see how Ga Law takes to the challenge of the Grand National course when he tackles the Randox Supporting Prostate Cancer UK Topham Handicap Chase at Aintree on Friday. The six-time winner – who has long been one of the Lambourn handler’s established stars –...

Strong Leader, successful in the Grade One Ivy Liverpool Hurdle 12 months ago, is among 16 entries for this year’s renewal. Olly Murphy is hoping the fact he skipped the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham will play into his hands and accepts the eight-year-old will have “no excuses” should he be...

All the weights and entries for the Grand National at Aintree on 5 April....

Last year’s winner I Am Maximus heads the confirmations for Saturday’s Randox Grand National at Aintree. Willie Mullins’ nine-year-old was a hugely-impressive winner 12 months ago and will attempt to add his name to an elite list who have won the race more than once. Champion trainer Mullins has his...

Mr Incredible has been barred from running in Saturday's Grand National by the British Horseracing Authority....

Godolphin’s Superlative Stakes winner Ancient Truth has met with a setback which will rule him out of the Betfred 2000 Guineas. Trained by Charlie Appleby, the Dubawi colt beat Seagulls Eleven and Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Newmarket Group Two, with both placed horses going on to frank the form. He...

A supercomputer has predicted who is most likely to win the 2025 Grand National ahead of the flagship race at Aintree on Saturday afternoon....

Schedule for the Grand National meeting from 3 to 5 April, race times and details of BBC coverage....

Willie Mullins has received a glowing appraisal from Paul Townend ahead of I Am Maximus's attempt to join an exclusive club as he readied his battalion for the Grand National....

Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Monday's meetings at Wincanton, Wolverhampton and Newcastle....

Break Point, trained by Derek Shaw, set off as a 100-1 outsider in the first race of the day but quickly threw Philip Armson to the ground before fleeing....

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DOMINIC KING: The message that beeps through just after 6am on Thursday is laser-sharp in its precision but also unwittingly poignant....

The fates of Lulamba, Constitution Hill and Jonbon at the Cheltenham Festival would have left a bitter taste in the mouth of trainer Nicky Henderson at the team at Seven Barrows....

Godwinson wins the Lincoln Handicap by a nose in a thrilling finish at Doncaster on the opening day of the 2025 British flat racing season....

Midnight Gun, ridden by James Doyle for trainer Hamad Al Jehani, carries most confidence but Native Warrior is not without a chance in a bumper field of 22....

Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Saturday's meetings at Doncaster, Kempton, Stratford, Newcastle and Uttoxeter....

Seven days after this year's Gold Cup, I found myself in Cheltenham - Inothewayurthinkin. 

Actually, I was there for my daughter's wedding.

In the evening of the following day, the day after the main event in a manner of speaking, while my wife and I were looking for a quiet place to...

Sunday heralds the start of British Summer Time when the clocks “spring forward” an hour and we all lose a little bit of sleep......

Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Friday's meetings at Frontwell, Wetherby, Southwell and Lingfield....

Let’s wind back four years to the 2021 staging of Aintree’s Grade One Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, and the runaway victory of My Drogo. It could hardly have been more striking, and was greeted with all sorts of excited hyperbole, accompanied by predictions of even greater things in the future.

The post...

The second day of the Randox Grand National Festival on Friday 4 April, will feature the return of the annual Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) Parade, taking place before racing from 12.55pm to 1.15pm. This year’s parade will showcase a stunning 12-horse line-up, highlighting the remarkable versatility of the Thoroughbred and...

Nottingham Racecourse on Monday announced a partnership with Harmless by naming the user-led organisation as its inaugural ‘Charity of the Year’ for 2025. Harmless, which has a base in the Nottingham, has been at the forefront of suicide prevention and mental health support, providing life-saving services and vital education to...

Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) Oaksey House welcomed 40 local beneficiaries for a chicken lunch and to watch the racing on the Thursday of Cheltenham Festival.  This initiative supported older charity beneficiaries in particular, who benefitted from a large screen, sound system and good company to watch the racing unfold in...

Racehorses in Britain are to be tested for gene doping as part of a new initiative by the British Horseracing Authority....

Last week’s events at Cheltenham perfectly illustrated the unpredictable nature of this fascinating game. Nobody could have foreseen the sequence of incidents that unfolded in the Champion Hurdle, while the defeat of five odds-on favourites ensured that the layers finished … Read More »

Jockey Hollie Doyle secures her 1,000th winner in Britain - and says she hopes to go on and double her tally....

Businesses in Kelso tend to be deep-rooted, the pace of change in Borders commerce being as languorous as the slow waters of the River Tweed flowing past John Hogarth’s Mill......

They seem to race a lot at Doncaster. It’s not just my imagination. Summer and winter, afternoons and evenings, fixtures on Derby day and fixtures during Cheltenham; Jonjo O’Neill was recently anticipating a routine task on Town Moor until Willie …

Lorcan Williams had to make a decision between horse racing and rugby when he was a teenager. After winning the Champion Hurdle on Golden Ace, he's convinced he made the right call....

Elite horses would be vulnerable to air pollution from the site, trainers tell a council meeting....

In the week of the Cheltenham Festival, over 100 local young people descended on Prestbury Park for a special behind-the-scenes experience dubbed ‘Festival Monday’, cementing ties between the world-famous racing showpiece and the community. The third edition of the event, which is the brainchild of Jockey Club Racecourses and led...

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin will skip next month's Grand National after trainer Gavin Cromwell decides to rest him for the Aintree showpiece....

Well it’s almost upon us … the highlight of the season. By the end of this week we’ll know which of the good things got beat and whether Constitution Hill and Galopin Des Champs belong in the stellar galaxy of …

This year seven of the blog's eight highlighted selections came under starter's orders over the four days - Langer Dan was a non-runner, declared to be suffering from a respiratory infection on the morning of the Stayers' Hurdle.

Shown below the recorded loss to level stakes (1 point win, 0.5 points...

The Ladbrokes Go North Weekend is our way of supporting the future of the Cheltenham Festival......

Earlier today Frank Keogh reported that the attendance on Wednesday was the lowest seen at the Festival since 1993.

Fact To File looked something special in the Ryanair this afternoon and, in other news, Frankie Dettori has announced he's filing for bankruptcy...

Malina Girl ran a creditable third on...

An emotional second day with victories for Marine Nationale in the Champion Chase and Jazzy Matty in the Grand Annual.

Two days in, and there have been some unsatisfactory starts to races - a debate for another day, no doubt.

A couple of suggestions for Thursday...

3.20 Ryanair Chase

A hot looking renewal.

Favourite Fact...

Still recovering from the high drama of the Champion Hurdle earlier this afternoon in which the two previous winners, Constitution Hill and State Man, both fell, the former four from home, the latter at the last when five lengths clear. 

Golden Ace (25/1) won, with Burdett Road (66/1) second and Winter...

It was only on Saturday that I was telling someone that we were approaching a time of the season when it was important to keep your eyes on the cards away from the main action, while most people are focused …

I'm struggling to recall a run-up to the Festival quite like it.

Greg Wood talks of the Festival at a crossroads in The Guardian while Cheltenham's new chief executive, Guy Lavender, predicts a fall in attendance from last year's figure of 229,999 (over four days).

The Sunday Times' royal...

It's a spirited soul who saunters into the surreal world of slots.

Back in October 2020 Mrs Corrine Durber thought she had won a 'monster jackpot' totalling £1,097,132.71 on a Paddy Power slot described as 'a combination of a fruit machine and a wheel-of-fortune style game'.

Claiming a mapping error,...

Was T.S. Eliot thinking about the Cheltenham Festival when he wrote? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?...

They say that there aren’t the same characters at Cheltenham as there used to be, and certainly there will be a colourful non-runner next week as Michael Hourigan, trainer of star names of yesteryear Dorans Pride and Beef Or Salmon puts, “my devilry days over there” behind him.

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Just how many horses are there in Croydon? Well, not the 200 I put down as my answer when a special horse-related quiz was introduced as part of a regular weekly session organised for a small group of pupils at the Harris Academy in South Norwood. The seven young people on...

Hundreds of schoolchildren experienced the power of sport within their local community at the inaugural City of Sporting Excellence event, where three of Liverpool’s top sporting institutions united to inspire the next generation. Aintree Racecourse, the LFC Foundation and Everton in the Community came together to create an unforgettable day...

This year’s sixth annual Racing Together Community Day – a recognised national day of community volunteering for racing employees – will be a week-long initiative to expand industry-wide activity. Racing organisations nationwide are targeting their efforts between May 5th– 11th to give back in numerous ways to charities and other...