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Handicap, Southwell, February 4, 2021

admin July 13, 2025

The Ladbrokes Watch Racing Online For Free Handicap, run over six furlongs on Fibresand at Southwell on February 4, 2021, was a modest, if competitive, Class 6 affair, restricted to three-year-olds rated 0-65, but nonetheless produced a remarkable result. The winner was Desert Boots, trained by Mark Johnston and ridden by apprentice Andrew Breslin, who was claiming 5lb. The Belardo gelding was easy to back beforehand, drifting to 5/1 third-favourite at the ‘off’ from an opening price of 7/2, and easier still in running, for reasons that will become obvious.

Drawn in stall five of 12, Desert Boots was bumped at the start by the eventual second, Silver Nemo, leaving him, as commentator Stuart Machin put it, “firmly on the back foot”. Ridden immediately, he was outpaced and left well behind in the first half of the race but, to his credit, Breslin kept pushing away. Passing the three-furlong marker, Desert Boots started to make some headway, latching onto the back of the field, and continued his progress, seemingly unnoticed by Machin, who called him “in rear” approaching the two-furlong marker, when he was, in fact, anything but.

Indeed, it was not until well inside the final furlong that Machin noticed Desert Boots “running on strongly from off the pace on the far side”, by which time he was already a length in front. Machin did describe the action accurately when he said, “It’s Desert Boots, from last to first, who’s come storming through to take this; Desert Boots, in the end a shady cosily.” Once in front, Desert Boots never looked like being beaten, keeping on strongly in the closing stages to win, going away, by 1¼ lengths.

Reflecting on his first, seemingly unlikely, winner at Southwell – Desert Boots had been matched at 460/1 on Betfair in running – Breslin said, “Desert Boots didn’t travel great, but just about kept tabs on them early. The trip was on the short side for him, but it opened up nicely on the far rail and he was always going to do his best in the closing stages.”

Gordon Carter Handicap, September 28, 1996

admin July 13, 2025

On September 23, 1995, Fujiyama Crest, trained by Michael (later Sir Michael) Stoute and ridden by Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, made all the running to win the Gordon Carter Handicap by three lengths, at odds of 8/1, off a handicap mark of 79. The following year, on September 28, 1996, he lined up again, off a handicap mark of 86 but, despite not having won in five starts in the interim – and, in fact, having finished tailed off in the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle on his most recent outing – was sent off 2/1 favourite. He justified favouritism, too, having been available at 20/1 in the morning, thereby allowing Dettori to complete what became known as his ‘Magnificent Seven’.

The Gordon Carter Handicap was, of course, the seventh and final race at the Festival of British Racing – a forerunner of British Champions’ Day – at Ascot. On that fateful day, Dettori rode all seven winners, Wall Street, Diffident, Mark Of Esteem, Decorated Hero, Lochangel, Fatefully and the aforementioned Fujiyama Crest at cumulative odds of 25,051-1, even at starting price (SP), and nearly ten times those odds at the prices available in the morning. The ‘Magnificent Seven’ reportedly cost high-street bookmakers in excess of £40 million and Dettori said later, “…wherever I went, in every part of the country, I had so many people coming up to me who’d won so much money on that day, and it changed people’s lives, so it’s a very amazing thing.” Joiner Darren Yates, for example, won an eyewatering £550,823 for his £62 stake.

Dettori later confessed that he did not give Fujiyama Crest much of a chance but, with the weight of expectation on his shoulders, set out to make all, as he had the year before. He did just that, but only just; Northern Fleet, trained by Guy Harwood and ridden by Pat Eddery, closed to within a neck at the line, but Fujiyama Crest had done enough to win, albeit all out.

Gold Cup, June 20, 2013

admin July 13, 2025

A prestigious Group 1 contest, run over the marathon distance of two and a half miles on the third day of Royal Ascot, a.k.a. ‘Ladies Day’, the Gold Cup is the oldest race run at the Royal Meeting. The Gold Cup was first run in 1807, with King George III and Queen Charlotte in attendance, and in its long, illustrious history has been won by some of the finest specialist stayers ever to grace the turf. The roll of honour includes the likes of Sagaro, who won back-to-back renewals in 1975, 1976 and 1977, Stradivarius, who did likewise in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and Yeats, described by jockey Johnny Murtagh as the “ultimate heavyweight champion” after winning the Gold Cup four years running, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The 2013 renewal of the Gold Cup was memorable for the fact that, for the first time in over two centuries, it was won by a horse owned by the reigning monarch. That horse was, of course, Estimate, a four-year-old mare owned by Queen Elizabeth II and trained by Sir Michael Stoute. Already a Royal Ascot winner, having easily justified favouritism in the Group 3 Queen’s Vase in 2012, Estimate did so again in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes, also at Ascot, on the first start of her four-year-old campaign and was consequently sent off favourite for the Gold Cup.

Ridden by her regular jockey, Ryan Moore, but making her first foray beyond two miles, and into Group 1 company, Estimate was driven into the lead with a furlong to run. She was hard pressed by the eventual second and third, Simenon and Top Trip, but despite edging left under pressure, held on gamely in the closing stages to beat that pair by a neck and a length. The Gold Cup trophy is traditionally presented to the winning owner by the reigning monarch, but as, on this occasion, those two were one and the same, the Queen was instead presented with the trophy by Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Fillies’ Nursery Handicap, September 3, 2024

admin July 13, 2025

The William Hill Keep Your Raceday Positive Fillies’ Nursery Handicap, run over six furlongs at Goodwood on September 3, 2024, was won by Leyhaimur, owned by Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah and trained by David Simcock. The Pinatubo filly was pushed along to lead inside the final furlong and soon went clear for a ready, 2½-length victory. The race itself was not particularly dramatic, but was nonetheless described in commentary as creating “a slice of history” insofar as Leyhaimur brought up 1,000 winners for jockey Hollie Doyle.

Reflecting on the time she had taken to achieve her landmark success, Doyle said, “I was riding for six or so years before I got going, so it feels an age for me, but statistically it has all happened in a short period of time. It feels like two minutes ago since I had my first ride.”

Doyle rode her first winner, The Mongoose, trained by David Evans, in a lady amateur riders’ handicap at Salisbury on May 5, 2013, while still at school. However, since joining Richard Hannon, riding out her claim and becoming a fully-fledged professional jockey, she has never been far from the headlines. In 2019, she rode 116 winners, thereby setting a new record for winners in a calendar year by a British female jockey, and increased her seasonal tally to 150 in 2020 and 172 in 2021.

Nowadays, Doyle, 28, is stable jockey to Archie Watson in Upper Lambourn, Berkshire and, having ridden over 100 winners in each of the last six completed seasons, currently lies nineteenth in the 2025 Flat Jockeys’ Championship, having ridden 24 winners in the qualifying period, which began on May 3, but 61 in the calendar year as a whole. Of her latest achievement, she said, “”When I started my career, never did I imagine I’d ride this many winners. I’m really grateful for all the support I’ve had from trainers, owners and my agent[Guy Jewell], who has done a great job for me so far.”

Handicap Chase, Worcester, October 7, 2021

admin July 11, 2025

The maximum odds that can be traded on Betfair, the punter-to-punter betting exchange, are 999/1, or 1000.00 in decimal. Betfair matches bets at the best price available at the time they are requested, such that some, well-heeled punters lay 999/1 about horses that they believe have no chance, thereby accommodating backers who have requested shorter, often much shorter, odds. More often than not, betting odds reflect the probability of one outcome or another and odds of 999/1 speak for themselves.

However, every now and then – in fact, on hundreds of occasions since the advent of Betfair at the turn of the century – horses backed at 999/1 do win, leaving layers with huge liabilities. A case in point was the victory of Wigglesworth, trained locally by Dr. Richard Newland and ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, in the Lewis Rally Sport Another Kind Of Horsepower Handicap Chase at Worcester on October 7, 2021.

Sent off 7/1 fifth choice of the six runners at the ‘off’, Wigglesworth led over the first three fences and, although headed before the fourth, remained prominent until hard ridden and outpaced approaching the turn for home. A less-than-fluent jump at the fourth-last fence did him no favours and between the final two fences was described by commentator Martin Harris as looking “held in fourth” as the 7/4 favourite, Starsky, trained by Dan Skelton and ridden by his brother, Harry, made the best of his way home.

Starsky jumped the final fence a length or so ahead and extended his lead to three lengths on the famously long run-in. It was not until the final 100 yards or so that Wigglesworth staged a late rally, making up a deficit of four lengths on the tiring leader from the final fence and keeping on strongly to wrest the spoils, by a nose, in the final stride. Winning jockey Twiston-Davies said afterwards, “It’s a thrill to win like that. It doesn’t happen every day, so you’ve got to enjoy it, but I get paid to push and kick and that’s what I did.”