Tony Stafford

A star is born. That’s right, another from that dastardly Aidan O’Brien nursery, especially if your name is Gosden anyway, writes Tony Stafford. I noticed John, the elder of that father-son combine, bravely smiling straight after his hotpot Ombudsman had been mugged close to home by Ryan Moore and Delacroix in the 50th edition of

There was a race at Thirsk on Friday which has given me at least a double pause for thought, although the first of them was barely a pause, just a momentary operational stalls malfunction which brought a ridiculous decision from the course stewards, writes Tony Stafford. Indeed the worst in the history of racing in

When I was in my early days in Fleet Street, the term “dizzy blonde” used to be a regular description in the Red Top newspapers of young, outgoing females, the blondeness used to express silliness, whether deserved or not, writes Tony Stafford. I have never been blonde, if answering to “bald” nowadays, and now I

Amid all the excitement of the longer-distance Group 1 races set to be staged at next week’s Ebor Festival at York, one that normally commands less attention is the Nunthorpe Stakes, an all-aged 5f sprint, writes Tony Stafford. In this case, all truly does mean all, as we’ve 27 horses still entered for Friday week’s

This is the time of year when we like to see Derby form franked as we move into the lucrative end-of-season international racing action around the world, writes Tony Stafford. Initially, we didn’t and then gloriously at Saratoga on Saturday night, we did. There were suggestions that Lambourn’s Derby win had been in some ways

One of the enduring funniest moments in all of racing to my mind was the time when jockey Adam Beschizza was called into a stewards’ inquiry at Newmarket, writes Tony Stafford. Not one of the “faces” among the jockeys at the time, the lead in the stewarding panel asked him his name. “Beschizza”, he replied,

I recently wrote about the sad decline in the attraction to trainers of Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire Handicap, run two weeks ago with a first prize of £90k, writes Tony Stafford. On a track where they could easily accommodate 35 horses and room for five or six London buses in between up the straight it looked a

In this game it’s never too late, writes Tony Stafford. As the rain poured down rendering Saturday’s Cheltenham card in jeopardy after an awful drowning Friday, one Irish trainer was firmly keeping his fingers crossed that the much-vaunted drainage system of Prestbury Park would pass muster. It did, enabling both the Saturday and Sunday cards

When you happen to be 78 years of age and own a racehorse that not only is the best you’ve ever had but also could be a future steeplechase champion, it’s hard not to be impatient, writes Tony Stafford. It must have been excruciating for Harry Redknapp to have to wait 331 days for his

Few UK trainers have been as consistent over recent years as the Crisfords, father Simon and son Ed, writes Tony Stafford. Between 2022 and last year they maintained a strike rate not far off 20%, consecutively earning £1.3million, then £1.7million, and then £1.4 million the last twice. Those four campaigns brought a total of 294