Category Archives: News

Nowadays, George Duffield, who turned 76 on November 30, 2022, is assistant trainer to his second wife, Ann, at Sun Hill Farm, near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, but is best remembered for his prolific 40 plus year riding career, which yielded 2,547 winners, including two Classic winners. Born in Stanley, near Wakefield, Duffield became apprenticed to Jack Waugh at Heath House Stables in Newmarket in 1962, aged 15, and rode his first winner, Syllable, trained by Waugh at Yarmouth on June 15, 1967.

After a brief, unsatisfactory spell as stable jockey to John Oxley at Hurworth House Stables, also in Newmarket, in the early seventies, Duffield returned to Heath House Stables in 1974 to become stable jockey to Sir Mark Prescott Bt, who had taken over the licence following the retirement of Jack Waugh four years earlier. Indeed, he would remain with Prescott for the next 30 years, until he formally announced his retirement in March, 2005, aged 58, having failed to recover from a shoulder injury. All told, Duffield rode a total of 506 winners for Prescott on British soil alone, including back-to-back victories in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot on Alborada in 1998 amd 1999. Reflecting on their time together, Prescott said, ‘I still would not have any other jockey from the past 150 years ahead of him.’

Probably the best horse Duffield rode, though, was the filly User Friendly, bred and owned by Bill Gredley and trained by Clive Brittain, on whom he won six races in 1992. Those victories included the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St. Leger and the daughter of Slip Anchor came within a whisker of justifying favouritism the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe when beaten a neck by Subotica. Duffield later confessed, ‘I’m not into bold statements, I never have been, but I made one then and told Bill Gredley she’d win the Leger.’

I’m pretty sure Nick Mordin has always been a punctual kind of man.

When he phoned my brother he was both punctual and courteous. That was a long time ago back in 1994 when he called about using some data my brother had gathered about two-year-old horse racing, specifically group-entered juveniles. Mordin was fascinated by the five year study which was the largest in the world. They chatted about the research which concluded with him asking for permission to write an article or two. I think Mordin was excited but surprised that my brother allowed him to use the information as most people would keep it close to their chest.

A month later, an article appeared in the Sporting Life’s Weekender, which came out every Wednesday, a double-page spread titled: In A Class of their Own: How to Spot Top-Notch Two-year-olds. I am sure the article was well received, and Mordin followed up a week later with another article how to improve the use of this groundbreaking data. People still remember the article and I like to think it was one of the best articles he ever produced.

Nick Mordin was always a consummate professional. He wrote four publication full of wisdom.

My brother and I purchased three of the four.

The only one I haven’t purchased (which I intend to) is Winning Without Thinking: A Guide to Horse Racing Betting Systems, published by Aesculus Press Limited 2003.

At this time, I’m reading Mordin On Time was published by Aesculus Press Limited 1996.

The blurb says: ‘I have made thousands of pounds from betting on horses. And most of that money has come from using the speed ratings you’ll find explained in this book.’

The book has 18 chapters and 128 pages.

The basis of the book follows the maxim: ‘Why time is the best measure of a horse, and how to use it.’

I will be reading this book in the next few days and looking forward to it.

I noticed the book is something of a rarity for horse racing fans and I have seen it on sale for £80.

My brother had been writing notes all over the pages so I think any value has disappeared. But, thankfully, the words are still as insightful as ever.

Always a good read.

Raised in Killarney, Co. Kerry, Oisin Murphy is the nephew of Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey Jim Culloty. A graduate from the pony racing circuit, he became apprenticed to Andrew Balding in October, 2012, at the age of 17. In his first full season, Murphy rode 41 winners, including a four-timer on Ayr Gold Cup Day, which brought him to the attention of the wider racing public.

In 2014, Murphy rode 78 winners, including his first Group winner, Hot Streak, in the Temple Stakes at Haydock and won the apprentice jockeys’ championship. In his next four seasons, he rode 91, 115, 127 and 198 winners, having become number one jockey for Qatar Racing in 2016, before winning the Flat jockeys’ championship for the first time in 2019 with 168 winners, and riding 220 winners in the calendar year. He retained his title in 2020, riding 142 winners in a curtailed championship programme. Still only 25, Murphy already has 18 Group 1, or Grade 1, wins to his name, including the 2020 2,000 Guineas on Kameko.

For all his success, Murphy has fallen foul of the authorities more than once during his career. In June, 2019, he was barred from riding at a Salisbury fixture after failing a racecourse breathalyser and received a caution at a disciplinary hearing the following month. In November, 2020, Murphy received a riding ban – initially six months, but later reduced to three – from France Galop after testing positive for cocaine at Chantilly the previous July.