Jim Bolger weighs up Champions Day options with Banimpire

Jim Bolger reminded the racing world that he remains a man never to be underestimated when he brought Parish Hall across the Irish Sea to win the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.

Now, Bolger is lining up a raid on Britain’s richest card, the QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot, on Saturday.

He confirmed yesterday that Banimpire is to make the trip, but as yet he has not decided in which race she will run. She holds entries in the mile-and-a-half British Champions Fillies’ And Mares’ Stakes and the day’s feature, the QIPCO Champion Stakes, over a mile and a quarter.

“It really doesn’t make much difference as she is a course and distance winner [Royal Ascot’s Ribblesdale Stakes] as far as the fillies’ race is concerned and has won over a mile and a quarter. She’s very well in herself,” he said.

Whichever target is chosen she could be having her final start for Bolger as she is due to be sold and has a date at Goffs Sales in December. Bolger had no hesitation in declaring Banimpire one of the toughest he has trained. She has raced 15 times, for seven wins, one second and three thirds, and at Ascot she will be having her 12th start of the year.

Meanwhile, Parish Hall will be rested before being trained for next year’s Derby. Bolger said he felt the colt had plenty of potential. “He’s 16.1 [hands] and weighs 485 kilos. He’s out of a mare by Montjeu, so by the time he is three he should be stronger and heavier. I think he has great scope,” he said. 

Tony McCoy exclusive: He reveals how he had his 'miracle' baby, Eve

It was in the summer of 2010 that Chanelle suggested that we go for a fertility check. You don’t think about your fertility when you are sitting in a piping hot bath for an hour every morning.

All you are thinking about is losing a couple of pounds, keeping your weight in check. You are not thinking that you are boiling your balls and that it might be having a detrimental effect on your ability to procreate.

It was a bit weird going in to see the doctor. No we’re not married, we’re not engaged, we’re hardly going out together a wet week, but we still want to get this checked out. The doctor immediately put us at ease.

He knew who I was, he was into racing, so he didn’t think I was mad. 'I know the regime you guys go through, it can affect your fertility, there’s no harm having a check’.

We went back the following week to get the results. They took out our file, Chanelle Burke and AP McCoy, and there, written on the front of the file in yellow highlighter pen, just in case anybody in the world missed it, were two words: “Severe Case.” Not good.

“Basically, you are probably never going to have kids yourself,” the doc told me. Break it to me gently, doc. “Your sperm count is very, very low.” 

Nine jockeys banned after void race at Wetherby

In a week when jockeys have been under intense scrutiny for their use of the whip, there was further bad publicity for their profession on Wednesday when nine riders, including 16-times champion AP McCoy, were given 10-day suspensions at Wetherby.

During the first circuit of the 12-runner, two-mile Betfair Supports Spinal Research Handicap Hurdle, Ashburton Lad unfortunately broke a leg and was pulled up by Campbell Gillies after the first flight in the home straight.

When the field approached the home straight on their second circuit, confusion reigned. A course official could be seen on the track waving a yellow flag, which denotes the race should be stopped and all riders must pull up their mounts.

However, nine jockeys carried on, jumped the first flight in the home straight and passed the medical team that were attending Ashburton Lad behind screens, before continuing with the race. Cunning Clarets, ­ridden by Brian Hughes, was first past the post ahead of Kings Counsel and Red Skipper.

Punters and bookmakers, both on track and around the country, were left in the dark as to what was ­happening after it took the Wetherby stewards 35 minutes to declare the race void.

The offending riders – Hughes, McCoy, Graham Lee, Danny Cook, Denis O’Regan, Alex Voy, Jonathon Bewley, Paddy Brennan and Brian Toomey – will be sidelined between Oct 26 and Nov 4. The major events they will miss are the Charlie Hall Chase meeting back at Wetherby and the Tote Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter. 

Henry Cecil the perfect man to handle wonderhorse Frankel

“In life, people go through times when it’s not a bed of roses,” muses Sir Henry Cecil. “And I have too. I felt quite down, depressed, for quite a long time but had no intention of retiring as a has-been. It would have been pathetic. I like a challenge and you’ve got to ride the bad times, be positive. Overcome it.” 

And what do you know? Here is the greatest racehorse trainer of his generation having overcome his challenge and now sitting amid beds upon glorious beds of roses in his Warren Place utopia.

“That’s good scent, yeah?” he says, plucking a pink flower and offering me a sniff. “Look at them, still flowering and lots of buds to come.”

He could be talking about his own sweet life, blossoming once more at, what age is it, Sir Henry? Sixty eight? “Oh, something like that,” he says with that inimitable mix of diffidence and insouciance. “At my stage of life, you’re as old as you feel.”

And he feels “juvenile”, he swears. “Not ready to retire yet.” You can try to drag him back six years to when the once unstoppable supply of winners had dried to a trickle, to when his alcoholic twin brother died of cancer, to when his private life was in turmoil, dragged through the public mud way beyond Newmarket.

Yet he will bring you resolutely back to his newly knighted good life, to a battle for an 11th champion trainer’s title and, of course, to his prize bloom, Frankel the wonder horse. 

Race horse breeds,Race - description

One of the principal forms of horse racing, which is popular in many parts of the world, is Thoroughbred racing. Harness racing for Standardbred horses is also popular in Australia, New Zealand, the eastern United States and more popular than Thoroughbred racing in Canada and parts of Europe.
Thoroughbred racing is done on the flat or over jumps, as steeplechasing or hurdles races. Quarter horse racing is also popular in the western United States and Florida. Racing with purebred Arabian horses exists in several states in the United States, as well as in most of Europe and the Middle East. This form of racing is known as endurance racing.
The different types of racing all concern different breeds of horses. The Thoroughbred races moderate distances at very fast paces. The Standardbred horses use their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop. The Quarter Horse is involved in short distance sprinting while the Arabian is involved in endurance racing. These four different breeds of horses possess different muscle structures that make them suitable for their type of racing. These horses race on various track surfaces ranging from dirt to synthetic polytrack.
The breeding, training and racing of horses in many countries is now a significant economic activity as, to a greater extent, is the gambling industry which is largely supported by it. The time invested in training these horses is extensive and varies according to the type of race the horse is involved in. Exceptional horses can win millions of dollars and might make millions more by providing stud services, such as horse breeding.

Race horse breeds list

American Warmblood

Arabian

Oldenburg

Thoroughbred

2011 FallStars Saturday at Keeneland

Winning jockey Robby Albarado said, "He left a little tardy. We anticipated being right behind the pace – not that far back. Having said that, they went quick enough, which was conducive to his running style. (At the top of the stretch) I didn't think I could get there (to the lead) as quick as I did. He's a nice horse, tremendous turn of foot. I swung him to the outside, and he ran by them."

Havelock wins the 2011 Woodford Stakes

The $150,000 Woodford Stakes (G3) featured a field of 12 older horses sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf, but is not a Breeders' Cup Challenge race for the Turf Sprint. Varsity battled for the lead wth 7-2 favorite Great Mills and Magoo through a fast pace of 21.15 and 43.88, but the battle up front set the race up for the closers. 11-2 Havelock, 9th early, ralled and outfinished Perfect Officer by a length in 1:01.96 over the firm course. It was another 3/4 length to Country Day third, while favorite Great Mills faded to 10th.