Anthony's Blog

  • Sep
  • 19
  • 2011

2050: a racing review

It’s been a fascinating year with Billie’s Angel completing the double of winning the Grand National and the Derby. The National, now held at Beverley, changed to a 1m4f flat race on the insistence of Animal Aid.  This year...

  • Sep
  • 19
  • 2011

An open letter to Khalid Abdulla

Prince Khalid, Anthony Dunkley here. I was but a few inches away from you after Frankel’s devastating win in the Sussex Stakes.  It’s been a few months since then, but I still get shivers thinking about it. The vibe in...

  • Sep
  • 16
  • 2011

Pressure that would make a Jockey quake

“Photograph, Photograph.” The words echo around the course. The crowd's excitement is only silenced when the Tannoy sparks into life: “Here is the result for first place...” Cue pause for dramatic effect. Being a racing Judge. Saying who wins. Sound...

  • Sep
  • 15
  • 2011

Trade in Doncaster for Paris

In 2009, Sea the Stars was set to become the first horse since Nijinsky to win the Triple Crown.   He’d burst onto the scene in the first leg, the 2000 Guineas. He'd made mincemeat of his rivals in the...

  • Sep
  • 09
  • 2011

Liquidation to Salvation: my solution for Great Leighs

Prairie Meadows, Iowa, USA. A modest ‘quarter-horse’ track, but thriving and in rude financial health.  Now in the sharpest possible contrast, we turn to Great Leighs, the defunct course in Essex. Overgrown and probably in contention for a new...

  • Aug
  • 31
  • 2011

Thud. Jockey down. Career over. What now?

 In 2001, David Harrison suffered severe spinal damage from a fall in Hong Kong. It wasn’t just his career that was over…he was paralysed.  He’s not the only one. Shane Broderick was paralysed at Fairyhouse in ‘97, Richard Hawkins...

  • Aug
  • 20
  • 2011

Job Vacancy at C4…or at least there should be

Picture this on the Morning Line on a Saturday morning: “We cross over to Matt Dawson at Ascot.” It’s like giving a Picasso to a looter from Peckham.  His transition from Rugby to Channel 4 Racing guest contributor has,...

  • Aug
  • 16
  • 2011

The horse that refuses to retire

How many horses do you know coming out of retirement because they’re too bored?  Not many. But then again, not many are like The Tatling. 14 years old and still running better than some who are less than a...

  • Aug
  • 07
  • 2011

They call it "Glorious" for a reason...

 Jubilation. Heat. Laughter. Beauty. A fitting summary of Glorious Goodwood 2011. It was always shaping up to be a scorcher, and it didn’t disappoint.  The weather was incredible and the champagne flowed. Yet neither managed to take the spotlight from...

  • Jul
  • 11
  • 2011

Why you need a penis to commentate

I don’t think women should be commentators. Simple as that.   I can hear feminists calling for me to be thrown in the tower. But before I’m hung, drawn and quartered for “sexism”, here are my reasons.  Men have...

  • Jun
  • 08
  • 2011

All emotion, little sense: Welcome to Animal Aid

Carnage? A massacre? Wanton cruelty? Barbarism? As regularly as the clocks going forward, the Grand National stirs a certain section of the British public to reach angrily for their dictionaries. This year’s race was no exception, with the fire fuelled...

About Anthony

I'm a journalism student at the University of Kent. I'm 19, entering my second year of uni, but I also write for trainer Paul Cole on his website. I do his weekly updates for anyone who visits the site. (NB only the blog posts with my name are mine).

I entered this competition because racing is my passion. I love to combine the two things I'm best at, writing and racing. Plus, I'm extremely opinionated, so a blogging competition seemed like something I was very keen on.

Ever since I first stepped onto Goodwood racecourse's premises, I knew it was something special. The atmosphere, the technical side, the behind the scenes stuff; it all fascinates me. Some only seeing racing as a betting opportunity, but I love it for what it is: a sport.

I think the main interest is that how people are so interested in something that is essentially a lot of people watching animals race. The form, the bookies, the behind the scenes, they're all massively thrilling to me. I like blogging about things I've seen going on in the industry, too many things to give you an answer. I take it as it comes; racing news is the first thing I check in the morning (to the bemusement of my lecturers!).