Tom's Blog

  • Oct
  • 01
  • 2011

Hiruno D’Amour Can Pocket Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Place at 12/1

The renowned and recently retired Lambourn handler Barry Hills, trainer of more than 3,000 winners in his career, was very good at backing winners as well as saddling them. One of his golden betting tenets was to never back each...

  • Sep
  • 30
  • 2011

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe: Pour Moi Conspicuous By His Absence

The news only broke a month ago, but it seems to lie in a much more distant past. A solitary message amongst Twitter’s incessant churn revealed that Pour Moi, stunning winner of the Epsom Derby, suffered a sever overreach to...

  • Sep
  • 27
  • 2011

Whip Review: Stringent Penalties Should Not Interfere With Big-Race Rides

The ten-month review into the use of the whip carried out by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has concluded, and racing’s regulatory body has published its report today. Nineteen new recommendations have been forwarded by the Review Group and approved...

  • Sep
  • 27
  • 2011

Nicky Henderson Open Day: Hit The Headlines Could Be Aptly Named

Nicky Henderson paraded ninety horses at his owners’ open day at the weekend and more than a handful of those are formerly exciting bumper horses that will now embark on novice hurdling campaigns.  One such horse is Darlan, whose...

  • Sep
  • 26
  • 2011

Nicky Henderson Open Day: Strong Team Will Challenge Nicholls

Nicky Henderson is as short as 5/4 to topple Paul Nicholls and claim a first Champion Trainer title for twenty four years after he unveiled his team for the forthcoming season at his owners’ open day at Seven Barrows yesterday....

  • Sep
  • 24
  • 2011

No Harm in Harbouring Lofty Ambitions for Noble Mission

As light broke yesterday morning, Frankel worked on the Watered Gallop at Newmarket as Sir Henry Cecil continued to crank his star towards peak-condition for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day at Ascot next month.  Frankel...

  • Sep
  • 24
  • 2011

Wootton Bassett: A Credit to a Town and His Connections

Wootton Bassett has been retired with stud duty in mind after failing to sparkle this season as three-year-old, after an unbeaten juvenile campaign that culminated in a Group One win in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp last October.&...

  • Sep
  • 22
  • 2011

Sizing Europe Not Certain to Defend Champion Chase Crown

Sizing Europe, spectacular winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase in March, is not certain to contest that race again this season after trainer Henry De Bromhead pledged to keep plans fluid for his stable star.  Sizing Europe is...

  • Sep
  • 21
  • 2011

Another Glorious Finale for Perth

While the summer jumping campaign can meander along rather aimlessly, meetings at Perth often provide a comparative highlight and the Scottish track’s Glorious Finale – the venue’s oldest fixture and last meeting of the season – begins today.  The...

  • Sep
  • 20
  • 2011

Injured Imperial Commander Denied Chance to Prove Himself

Imperial Commander, winner of the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup, will not race this season after incurring a “minor tear” to a tendon while working in Northern Ireland.  While handlers currently monitor their strings in view of ever-closer targets, Nigel...

  • Sep
  • 19
  • 2011

Ginger McCain: A Character Hard To Forget

Ginger McCain, handler of the legendary Red Rum and only one of two trainers to win the Grand National four times, died in the early hours of this morning at the age of 80.  So closely associated with the...

  • Sep
  • 09
  • 2011

Paul Nicholls Open Day: Haldon Gold Cup Can Herald Bigger Things for Ghizao

Ghizao, one of last term’s most eminent two-mile novice chasers who just fell short at the Aintree Festival, is set to begin his campaign in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter on November 1.  Ghizao was beaten on his...

  • Sep
  • 08
  • 2011

Paul Nicholls Open Day: Kauto Star Will Head To Haydock

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls revealed at his owners’ open day last Sunday that Kauto Star will make his seasonal reappearance in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on November 19, against a field which is likely to include the last two...

  • Sep
  • 07
  • 2011

Thespis Of Icaria: Not Your Typical Uttoxeter Pedigree

The Ladbrokes St Leger Festival starts at Doncaster today and, while some interesting conditions events sandwich the Listed Scarbrough Stakes, arguably the most well-bred horse that holds an entry today is 70-odd miles away from Town Moor.  The Dapple...

  • Sep
  • 06
  • 2011

Tizzard Ponders Cue Card Clash With Big Buck's

Amongst the recent high-profile trainers’ open days in the West Country, the plans for Paul Nicholls’s new juveniles or Philip Hobbs’s spring festival winners may have obscured the update from their fellow native Colin Tizzard, who revealed the possible route...

About Tom

I’m 23 and currently unemployed, but I help out at my dad's greengrocery in South London while I'm looking for another job - hopefully one involving writing.

I entered the competition because it seemed a great opportunity. I love racing and writing, and the competition was the perfect blend of those interests.

I'm interested in racing for various reasons really - horses are great animals, engaging to watch and a challenge to try and work out. I love the punting aspect, of having an opinion and then testing it against a bookie, and my family have a fair interest in racing which I guess rubbed off on me. The defining hook though was having £1 at 10/1 on Bindaree when he won the Welsh National in 2003, which really got me into the sport.

I'm mostly interested in and enjoy blogging about jump racing. I keep a close eye on horses from the Nigel Twiston Davies, Donald McCain and Nicky Henderson yards in particular. I like a bet, so I enjoy studying form and trying to seek out value in a market - only then to usually watch a race and painfully realise I was miles out...