Scouting For Girls fans enjoyed their favourite band but failed to be on a winner at Epsom. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA Wire/PA PhotosAidan O'Brien's 18-year-old son Joseph enjoyed Classic success earlier this year aboard Roderic O'Connor in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and another family member takes to the saddle for the first time in public on Sunday afternoon. Joseph's sister Sarah is riding Nantucket Bay for her father in the Ladies' Derby at the Curragh.
We suggested last week that ex-trainer Charlie Brooks' racing column in the Daily Telegraph on Monday might attract more readers than usual. Although Brooks made no mention of the ongoing problems suffered by his beleaguered wife Rebekah, some eyebrows were raised at the column's subject matter, with Brooks arguing that the government should remove the Derby and Grand National from the list which ensures they must be shown on terrestial television. One reader commented underneath the online article: "It's a disgrace that the Telegraph prints this. Mr Brooks is the husband of the chief executive of News International, and here he attacks the BBC, urging a change in the law that will benefit no one except News International."
Scouting For Girls failed to deliver a popular result when running at Epsom on Thursday night, when the band which she is named after were performing after racing, but it was no more than they were expecting. The London-based pop-rock group mentioned the Jim Boyle-trained filly when interviewed on Radio One this week. "We haven't seen it yet but it'll probably be like us – come in last but be very friendly" remarked one of the band members. They were almost right. She finished eighth of the 12 runners in the seven-furlong maiden.
Expect an unusually high turnout of hacks at Sunday's free Arab racing day at Newbury. Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum and the Dubai ruling family continue to offer prizes totalling ?20,000 to journalists writing the best article about the weekend's racing, leading to the production of some remarkable copy over the past couple of years. "His Highness Sheikh Hamdan has been very encouraged by the increased interest in Arabian racing among the media," said a spokesman for the organising committee in a press release.
Jockeys riding in next Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot will all wear white armbands in support of the Prostate Cancer Charity. The move, which aims to raise awareness of the most common cancer in men, affecting over 250,000 of the male population and their families across the UK, comes at the request of the big-race sponsors Betfair.
Crisps are hardly the best thing to give to jockeys watching their weight, but following a new sponsorship and catering deal between Burts Potato Chips and Jockey Club Racecourses that is what happened on Saturday after a Newmarket race sponsored by the Devon-based company. A box of the snacks went to each runner's jockey, trainer, owner and groom – plus a year's supply to the groom of the best-turned-out horse.
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