Duffield's Diary

Triumph and disasters go hand in hand when it comes to horse racing – it’s just ‘how it is’ and there are more disasters than triumphs for sure. Always have been and always will be. We are used to strange happenings and uncontrollable events affecting our lives in racings very own bubble. But even racing people and their wild dreams and occasional wild imaginations couldn&r...

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ARNOLD; Big, strong, a tad tricky to train and very tricky to ride in a race. That much is easy to see if you are a racing fan who knows how to read form and one who can actually read a race (a surprising amount can’t and it would surprise you who this includes) . “Arnie” is very clearly a ‘hold up horse’ , he loves to come through horses, he needs to be produced jus...

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One of the headline stories in the Racing Post features jockey “Saleem Golam” a super lad who rose to prominence via the support initially of trainer Mark Thompkins but who has exchanged his boots, gloves, hat and whip for a comb, a razor, scissors and bucket loads of shampoo. Saleem rode for us a great deal back in the day, booting home plenty of winners including the effervescent and...

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A precocious colt, a scopy looking gelding and a filly with a lovely pedigree - three two year olds with one thing in common, they've all just been added to the For Sale page, with photographs added that were taken just this morning, some of which can be viewed below.  We had just the one runner earlier this afternoon, 'Favourite Niece' headed to Pontefract to make her debut and didn't disap...

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Not a bad week at the office with the horses seemingly running into a bit of form, the highlight of which came courtesy of Lady Nectar winning at Catterick, giving the team a much longed for winner for Mr Ingham, who has been a loyal supporter of the yard. We have a couple of nice new additions from the breeze up sales, which were relocated from Ireland to Newmarket, one of which is looking f...

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Cruelly denied the sweet taste of success this afternoon, the equally sweet 'Lady Nectar' ran a stormer at Beverley to be second beaten a short-head. Despite being drawn 'in the car park' in stall 15 at a track at which low draws are notoriously favourable, her jockey - the excellent Hollie Doyle - tucked her in towards the inside in a bid to 'get her home and obtain the best possible po...

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We've got two exciting new additions to the yard, sourced from the breeze up sales earlier in the week. First up, a lovely filly by Showcasing. See her breezing below. Out of 'Granola' this filly is half-sister to 'Brunch', a three year old filly who won recently for Michael Dodds and is currently rated 85 after only 4 starts.  Next up, a smashing colt by Awtaad purchased for Mr Jimmy Kay. J...

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A glorious couple of days in North Yorkshire, with the sun splitting the rocks today especially. Our recent runners enjoyed a relaxing morning in the paddocks while the lads had those to be ridden out in good time to beat the heat. Horses set for the water treadmill were especially lucky as the water temperature is kept very cool and must be extremely refreshing when the weather is so ho...

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A productive morning at Sun Hill with Andy Elliott back in to put some unraced horses through the stalls ahead of their racecourse debuts. Pictured below is Gainsboro Grey, owned by Ian and Nancy Farrington, headed back towards the stalls for round two. By Archipenko, the now three-year-old Gainsboro was allowed time by his owners to fill out his frame, grow and mature, and we seriously hope ...

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