Vicky's Blog

  • Sep
  • 30
  • 2011

The next generation of champions

As winter closes in, so ends the summer racing season. Horses and jockeys can enjoy a well deserved rest. Unfortunately most of the jockeys will spend this time in the classroom. I am, of course, talking about pony racing; Britain&#...

  • Sep
  • 29
  • 2011

Whip Review

The results of the much anticipated BHA inquiry into the use of the whip in racing have been published. Dreaded by some and welcomed by others, a new set of guidelines, including several major changes, will come into effect on...

  • Sep
  • 26
  • 2011

Hanagan a worthy champion

The races for the flat championships are into the final month. The trainers' contest could well be won or lost on Champions Day between the four leading contenders, while the jockeys' championship, bar extreme bad luck, looks to be won...

  • Sep
  • 24
  • 2011

Gambling the sport away

There has been talk recently, as there often is, about horseracing's reliance on gambling, and the effect that that has on this sport. In the USA, while there are no private on-course bookmakers of the type you see here (a...

  • Sep
  • 20
  • 2011

Following McCain's footsteps in the sand

At this time of year, high winds and heavy rainfall remind us of what the winter has in store. Just as the periods of near-drought over the summer caused problems for trainers who only have access to grass gallops, frost...

  • Sep
  • 17
  • 2011

Champions Day

October has always been a busy month for flat racing, the last hurrah in the Northern Hemisphere before winter sets in and the names of the good horses fade from the headlines. Marked at either end by high value racing...

  • Sep
  • 08
  • 2011

Racing to the Olympics

Next summer, along with several other mainstream sports, horse racing is likely to take a back seat in the sportingcalendar as Britain prepares to host its first Olympic Games for 64 years. While the Olympic torch is expected to...

  • Sep
  • 08
  • 2011

Open Days

As summer draws to a close the cylinders of National Hunt yards begin to fire once more. Horses come in from the fields and the long process of making them race-fit begins.  For many trainers, what really marks the end...

  • Aug
  • 23
  • 2011

Grand National balancing act

Nothing that is neither tried nor tested can ever be certain to produce the desired result, but nevertheless the Aintree management should be praised for the decision to change some of the fences on the Grand National course. The announcement...

  • Aug
  • 14
  • 2011

Johnson's suspension highlights worldwide evolution of racing

Inglis Drever, Arcalis, Tidal Bay, the impressive roll call of champions goes on and on. For several years now, Howard Johnson and owner Graham Wylie have produced a host of highly talented National Hunt horses, scooping some of the most...

  • Aug
  • 12
  • 2011

Better prize money should help prevent top horses from heading overseas

Every year, a certain number of high-achieving flat horses are sold out of British and Irish yards to race abroad. On the whole these horses seem to be just shy of top class and are often the stable star of...

  • Jul
  • 28
  • 2011

Hoping the Oak Tree Stakes will be a memorable occasion

Memory, the Richard Hannon trained filly, famous for her talent at 2, and notorious in her reluctance to display it at 3, is to be given one last chance to salvage the remnants of her once lofty reputation on the...

  • Jul
  • 28
  • 2011

Frankel's success should give racing a well-needed lift

In these turbulent times racing need a superstar, as much for its own morale as to remind the general public what this great sport is really all about. Thus it must have gladdened the heart of any true racing fan...

  • Jul
  • 25
  • 2011

Success is fragile

Few could have revelled in the triumph of Nathaniel in the King George on Saturday while, further down the racecourse, the brave and brilliant colt Rewilding riderlessly cantered his last uneven strides over the very ground on which he galloped...

  • Jul
  • 16
  • 2011

Turner leads from the front

Last weekend, in riding Dream Ahead to win a Group 1 race, Hayley Turner achieved something that only one other woman in the history of the sport had done before her. Indeed, she actually became the first woman to ride...

About Vicky

I am 19 and currently on a gap year, during which I have been working for a National Hunt trainer in Devon. I decided to enter the competition because I would like to be a sports journalist and I have a particular interest in racing. I won the U19 category of the Martin Wills Writing Awards in 2010 so thought I'd give this a try too.

I first got into the sport through pony racing having loved it for as long as I can remember. I have ridden out for for several years and have had a few rides in point-to-points.

While I most enjoy being involved in the riding side, I find it very interesting to blog about any of the issues or news stories concerning racing, particularly if they affect the public perception of the sport or those who are involved in it. It seems that quite often people have a misinformed or prejudiced opinion of racing, and the growth of internet discussion forums and opinion articles in the tabloid press has probably made this more noticeable and more common. Therefore, by blogging I am able to express my own views on these subjects.