Weekender

Latest documents

• Ambitious Tuer set on breaking his own records

  FEW trainers have seen their fortunes improve as much as North Yorkshire-based Grant Tuer this season. After a short but unsuccessful foray into training from 2006 to 2008, Tuer and his partner Cath decided to give it another go when his father Edwin retired in 2016, but with very limited resources.

• King to spring Cup surprise and take crown off Strad

  Doncaster Cup 2.40 Doncaster, 2m2f Group 2 What price will Stradivarius go off for Friday's feature? He's currently around the evenmoney mark, but there doesn't look to be that much rain about at the moment and the superstar stayer's rivals will probably need plenty to fall before post time.

• ED'S WEEK

  HIGHLIGHT ... Winning with Great Ambassador, who's going places fast.

• Elliott facing a mixed reception

  DISGRACED trainer Gordon Elliott returns to racing on Thursday and he can expect a mixed welcome. There has been support from his peers and sections of the media, maintaining that the infamous picture of him straddling a dead horse on his gallops was unbecoming of his character. Others are less willing to forgive and forget, in the belief he got off scot-free with a six-month suspension for dragging his sport through the dirt.

• Live the dream and back Capote's for Portland glory

  IT IS rare that you want to be too far behind the leaders in a sprint handicap, although Jamie Spencer's record on hold-up performers at Ascot tells a different story. To win big-field contests over short distances you need speed, and quick horses often showcase their main asset from the outset.

• "I didn't say very much [...]

  "I didn't say very much at all to the press - that wasn't through ignorance, I was just so emotional"

• Mogul stripped of his power MW

  H we Arc do rec won the wa Paris showpie the ground an Group 3 last m

• Attagirl ready for battle

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• Stone Of Destiny looks primed for a Portland repeat over ideal distance

  Portland Handicap 1.45 Doncaster, 5½f handicap This unconventional test doesn't suit every horse so I'm sticking with last year's winner STONE OF DESTINY. Andrew Balding's six-year-old scored a convincing victory in this race 12 months ago, coming from off the pace to beat Danzeno by more than a length. He hasn't won since but has produced some fair efforts in defeat, including last time when he stayed on for fifth in a 5f handicap at Haydock, and this extra 143 yards can help him pull out more.

• Favourite has top-notch credentials

  Derby form gold dust Last year's winner Galileo Chrome was a trends-buster on several counts, on only his sixth career start and his first in Group company. It's not the norm.

Featured documents

• Sapphire on cards for Nunthorpe hope Came From The Dark

  After winning my first Group 1 race last weekend, I have a Group 2 target in mind this Saturday at the Curragh where Came From The Dark (right) could run in the Paddy Power Sapphire Stakes....

• Classic star who lit up path out of darkness

  AGONY and ecstasy in sport often go hand in hand. Many times, the moments of sheer despair and loss are overridden by the unbridled joy of happiness and victory. In an unforgettable, topsyturvy ten-month period that began a little under two years ago, it was the turn of Sheikh Fahad Al Thani and...

• Sprinter for the ages who provided perfect tonic after tragic loss

  I...

• Exciting season ahead with team packed full of stars

  WHEN your first runner is a Listed winner, you are clearly destined for big things and the Racing Post Weekender's new columnist has not disappointed....

• First-year report reads well after good set of results

  STEPPING into the shoes of a successful parent is not an easy task, but there has been a seamless transition of power after Ed Bethell took over the reins at Thorngill House from his father James, who had held a trainer's licence for 46 years....

• Underdog who got it right on big day

  THESE days jump racing is largely dominated by a small group of big yards. Opportunities for the smaller stable to make an imprint at the top table are about as scarce as the sumatran rhino but, joyfully, sometimes it does happen and the game is much more appealing because of it....

• Exciting weeks in store as juveniles look promising

  "A VERY nice team sheet" is how Hugo Palmer describes his string of two-year-olds for this season....

• Mr consistent eyes Group 1 glory with stellar team

  NO TOP yard is currently in better form than Roger Varian's Carlburg Stables as the season heads towards its most important and prestigious months. Varian is on course for a best-ever tally of winners, with 93 on the board and the promise of many more to come....

• Youngsters excite as yard bids to build on an excellent 2020

  THE healthy progress of Tom Clover's career continued on an upward curve last season with a best-ever tally of 26 winners in only his fourth complete season. Things appear to be continuing at a healthy rate with 11 on the board to date and the promise of much more to come....

• Flying start bodes well as optimism for season is high

  THERE is nothing better than a flying start and Eve Johnson Houghton did just that, winning the first race of the Flat turf season, the Brocklesby Stakes, with Chipotle. The trainer says: "I never have two-year-olds ready this early but he just kept doing all we asked and I thought why not?...