Racing Post

Whys Bruce so disliked? I don’t follow that side all that much, dont watch shows like Luck on Sunday.

I thought Davy came across as a right **** tbh. Must be more to it than an article about him punching a horse.
 
Double J said:
Whys Bruce so disliked? I don’t follow that side all that much, dont watch shows like Luck on Sunday.

I thought Davy came across as a right **** tbh. Must be more to it than an article about him punching a horse.
Click to expand...


Ran a paper into the ground, generally obnoxious, take out merchant
 
I note Patrick has joined the ranks of the RP in some capacity.

Obviously his remit doesn't extend to speaking candidly about the wellbeing of his father's runners.

Trainers and riders taking the sponsorship money but looking the other way when asked a direct question.

Shows where the RP is nowadays sadly.
 
And once again the RP is in carthorse mode when it comes to publishing the weights.

They're up at the Jockey Club site but not in a format that lends itself to my study mode. The guests on the RTV programme this morning obviously had the weights in their possession long before the official reveal so I presume the media would have had them early too. An hour after they've been on TV they're still not up at the RP site.
 
It's the middle of December, and the lead News item on the RP Online this morning is some utter wank about a William Haggas horse being targeted at a race called the Dubai Turf.

#SHITBOX
 
I very seldom read their articles on the web and I'll be fooked if I have to pay to read a story.

I don't know how many peop;e visit their site everday but it would be a damn sight more if all was free and sponsors could be asked to pay more.

#SHITBOX sums it up nicely
 
I use it a lot to look for entries and decs, and check progeny entries but they have recently done something to the search by stallion and all I can get is a stud page.
 
I've never subscribed before but they had some sort of black friday deal on where ultimate membership was half price for the year so I decided to give it a shot cos there's some of their members only stuff I want to make use of for a while and it included the digital version of the paper as well.
£175 seemed reasonable for the year for what I want out of it for now, doubt I'll subscribe again unless there's another deal like that.
 
Last edited:
Never listen to rp podcast but did for some reason this weekend

Millington is just an awful person. Obnoxious is a nice way to describe him

And then some goon said goshen is a horse that won't be seen till his best until he sees a fence

Sigh
 
Goshen is a big enough danger to himself and to others over hurdles.

Sent chasing with his antics he'd be an accident waiting to happen.

Whe a horse has a mind of his own and clearly won't obey his jockey he should IMO not be allowed to race if he continues to wander all over the track
 
Last edited:
G-G said:
Cheeky request: could someone post the interview with Warren Greatrex please if possible? Thank you.
Click to expand...

Warren Greatrex, whose fortunes have dipped in recent campaigns, insists he can get back to dining at the top table following his yard switch in the summer and will make his first move when running High Stakes in this month's MansionBet Challow Novices' Hurdle.

The trainer was based at Uplands – made famous by Fred Winter – from 2012 and sent out his first Cheltenham Festival winner from the yard when Cole Harden won the Stayers' Hurdle in 2015.

Greatrex celebrated more than 50 winners for four consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2018, and has won four Grade 1s, courtesy of Cole Harden, One Track Mind and La Bague Au Roi. He also scored at the festival with Missed Approach in 2018.

After recording 18 winners in each of the last two seasons, the trainer made the short move to Rhonehurst, the former home of Oliver Sherwood, after its purchase by owners Jim and Claire Bryce.

Their investment – which includes an outdoor arena and water treadmill – and their horses have been a boost for Greatrex, who spoke candidly about the challenges of the past few seasons.

"The base is there for it to be one of the best yards and I feel hugely fortunate they bought it, but sometimes you need a bit of luck," Greatrex said. "It's not just luck, but something like this rejuvenates you and gives you confidence because you've got someone who is willing, not so much to back you, but to say, 'You can do the job'.

"The season before last we had a couple of good winners, but then my lease was running out at Uplands and it wasn't that my mind wasn't on the job, but maybe all that was taking my eye off the ball a little.

"I can't blame small things like going to the wrong track for the wrong race. The horses were probably not as good as I wanted, but in 2020 we bought a lot of store horses and I'll be surprised if, by the end of the season, they're not competing in the better races.

"It's a case of rebuilding, but moving here and having Jim and Claire putting their faith in me has given me an injection of enthusiasm."

Greatrex added: "The yard's got a wow factor and the facilities mean I have no excuses not to be able to train a good horse.

"I had five horses when I moved to Uplands in 2012, and we've done a lot in a short space of time. The trainers who started around me may have the numbers in terms of winners, but I don't think many would have four Grade 1 winners, which includes two in Ireland, and two Cheltenham Festival winners.

"I've been able to compete at the top table and, have no doubts, if we can source the animal we can compete with the best. We've proved it and when you've had those days you want them back. We all want winners, but I've always wanted quality over quantity and there is nothing like those big days."


The 46-year-old, armed with a team of 63 horses, highlighted the unexposed trio of High Stakes, Bill Baxter and Line Of Descent as promising members of that squad.

"These last few seasons have been tricky, but you have to dig deep and if you ask my wife she'll say I'm the most stubborn man you'll meet," he said. "I'm a fighter and if my back is against the wall, I'll keep digging in. I love this game. It's frustrating when you don't have the horses and aren't able to compete at the level you want, but there's no point feeling sorry for yourself because no-one else will.

"Last season's tally of 18 winners is something I don't foresee happening again. Whether it was my fault for taking my eye off the ball a little bit or not having the ammunition, but either way you don't want to be there."

Three to follow

High Stakes

He ran at Ayr a few weeks ago and will for the Challow at Newbury on December 29. He just got touched off last time, but was unlucky and was only just ready to go. He's big and strong, and a relentless galloper who will get three miles in time. I'd like more rain and if we got it, he'd be there or thereabouts – I'm sure of it. He's very tough and we nearly won the Challow a few years ago with Mulcahys Hill when the ground was very bad and he'd be a similar type of horse.

Bill Baxter

A bumper winner last season, he's due to go to Ayr on Tuesday and has had two runs over hurdles this term. He bumped into a very nice horse of Jonjo O'Neill's [Iron Bridge] at Ffos Las and then won at Ayr, and the form of that is working out well. We'll try to win another with a penalty and you'll see him at his best over three miles on soft ground, so something like the River Don could come after Ayr. I think he's a very good horse and he'll be even better over fences.

Line Of Descent

He was a typical Flat horse, a bit keen, so we spent time trying to settle him and he wasn't fully tuned up for Newbury the other day, but jumped and travelled really well. He'll come on a bundle for that and will run soon. I'd be surprised if he didn't win next time and then we'll be able to step him up in class.
 
Thank you so much for posting that.
From personal experience, Warren is a really lovely man. One of the most even in temperament I have ever met. One day when my Muppet was on the gallops in his group was a horse doing his last piece of work before a big race entry coming up. The work was totally ruined by a rider on another horse in the group who didn't stick to instructions. The rider of the big race entry horse was furious on the walk/trot back and told W so ( I was in the car with him) . W agreed with him it was a disaster...the rider of the horse who messed knew exactly what had happened shouldn't have and looked as if they were waiting for the telling off to come. Someone else in the car said if that had been a 'insert another trainer's name' horse, hats would be flying as well as expletives. W said no point shouting at them and telling them off; they know they mucked up and making a scene wouldn't solve anything, and just undermine riders' confidence and for what end? Said big entry horse ran a stinker but they had to go for it. With all the trials and tribulations of getting a horse to a racecourse anyway one might have expected 'an explosion', in what turned into a tough season as well, but was him being him in taking it as he did.
W also said 'Muppet dealt really well with that, not flustered at all..Good stuff. Every cloud'.
Really hope things pick up this year for all of them, lovely people there. He has a lot of nice young horses, which he will not rush.
 
To be fair, he openly sticks his neck on the line by selecting an ex French listed placed, Munir/Souede/Mullins, wide margin winning novice hurdler.

And Tiger Roll in a Ten to look out for list. Sheer comedy gold.
 
They supposedly have a lot of people working there so I do wonder wtf they all do considering much of the output

Imagine if one of them wrote an article on horses to watch that but instead based on a bit of say maybe linear regression and the charts are included with saying stuff like I think that point is/isn't valid cos of xyz.
 
To play devil’s advocate, the period between Christmas & The DRF is always going to be tricky to fill and DJ didn’t say too much wrong, despite me still laughing at Tiger Roll as one to watch out for.

But what they maybe don’t realise is that their stories are freely available all over social media (way before they’re in their paper) and the replays are available on either ATR or RTV at a lesser cost so for them to charge £35 per month they need to have an edge and analysts like David Jennings, as nice a guy as he is aren’t it.

The ‘paper’ reminds me of the TV series Succession, desperately striving to move with the times but just failing badly.
 
Lee, come on - it’s indefensible horse-sh*it.

They lead with ‘Don’t say you weren’t told’ and then produce a list that anyone with the remotest interest in the sport could have pulled out their rear-end.

This is the trade paper. It’s like the Economist advising everyone that Apple and Microsoft shares are maybe worth keeping an eye on. The editor should be embarrassed to have this garbage published, and Jennings should be embarassed to have written it. It is just the latest example of how far into the shitter this execrable rag has fallen.

I’m well past the anger stage, have moved out of the disbelief stage, and am now firmly in the pity stage. It must be excruciating to be publicly associated with this paper - unless one has a complete absence of shame.
 
Last edited:
I wish I could argue any of that Grass, well actually I don’t because other than rose tinted spectacles of a sunny, inevitably winner bound Saturday morning in my early twenties with GG, Big Mac, Jimbo, John & Leslie assisting me while I’m trying to combat my hangover and at the same time, freeing my crushed Racing Post & Sporting Life from my letterbox, I’ve zero allegiance.

But maybe I’m just trying to be nice and/or of an ilk where I don’t like to condemn or criticise unless I have recommendations for improvement and sadly, in the RP’s case, I don’t.

Other than to call it a day, which is sad.

Edit : Forgot GG and yes, I’ve been drinking.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top