It was on improving his form that he managed to land the Grand Annual Chase, and consequently, the Red Rum Handicap Chase.

Though he gained a total of eighteen pounds following those wins, I’ve heard that his trainer Alan King expects further improvement by next summer.

He states that though it would be tougher on Oh Crick this season, he has no complaints on the handicapper putting him up in weight. Moreover, he states that though Oh Crick is still small, and that he has confidence in him coping with the additional weight.

In other racing news, it seems that Kauto Star is waiting for the Betfair Chase at Haydock on November 21 for a reappearance.

While Paul Nicholls actually planned on returning to Northern Ireland, it was the owner Clive Smith who won Nicholls over by getting him to wait for Haydock. He claims that as the horse is fine and in great shape, Haydock is definitely on the agenda.

And I have it on good authority that whenever Kauto Star returns, whether it is at Haydock or not,  he will definitely be heading to Kempton on Boxing Day to try for a fourth straight King George VI Chase. I aim to be there to join him, all being well.

Oxx feels that his former star (that had won each of his six starts in Group One company), is now ready to move on to new pastures where he will stand for a fee of 85,000 pounds.

He adds that in Ireland, Sea the Stars will have many great mares to support him.

In the meanwhile, I heard on the grapevine that Rip Van Winkle’s preparation has gone well and he is ready to race the unbeaten Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in Santa Anita on Saturday. He looks to be possibly the right sort of contender that could bring an end to Zenyatta’s unbeaten 13 race stint.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien feels that his colt, which at present is on a hat-trick after the Sussex Stakes and QEII wins, is a great horse, full of strength and determination. He went on to say that ‘Rip’ is definitely a horse that gives 110 per cent and does not wilt at the end.

The Country Cork trainer states that he is a lovely but large horse who had taken all his time to fill his frame in six runs. He intends to pick up a Graded race as he feels that a three mile race would be no problem for Mr Warbucks.

While Mr Warbucks progresses in his racing spells, it looks like Pat Dobbs will be having a premature and injury induced rest, because of a fracture in two places of his forearm, caused by an incident at Doncaster on Saturday.

He was actually unseated when his mount Cyflymder got badly hampered during the Robinhoodairport.com Conditions Stakes.

Upon reaching the Doncaster Royal Infirmary, it was confirmed that he had fractured his forearm in two places. Dobbs, who is recuperating at home right now, doesn’t know how long he’ll be out of action for. He plans to see a specialist for their opinion on Monday when he hopes to know more about the extent of his injury.

This is a horse that I saw win at Newmarket on good to soft ground, and in addition to this Al Zir also triumphed in a conditions race at Doncaster, on faster ground. In fact, his trainer Saeed bin Suroor states that his running is so great, that even a cut in the ground will prove to be better for him.

He even stated that the horse continues to work well, even given a tough regime. In fact, he had worked as recently as four days ago, and worked well at it. Frankie had managed to ride him even before that, where the horse responded to the Italian in a very positive manner. It looks as if they are forming a special partnership.

Though it’s a tough race with some great horses, as he is improving all the time, there is a good chance of him winning the Racing Post Trophy.

Godolphin’s second threat comes in the form of Al Ghazal, who has won his last two races at Sandown and Leicester.

Bin Suroor claimed that Al Ghazal’s recent form has been great, and that he was steadily improving. With all the work he had put into his racing, he said that he was very happy with him indeed.

And to add to his excitement and profile, he was also called to be the mount for John Gosden’s High Twelve during the Jumeirah Dewhurst Stakes. Fallon says that riding in this race will be an interesting test for him, as the Dewhust is touted to be a challenging race. Fallon also confirmed that in High Twelve, he has a horse that he holds in high regard.

He actually received a phone call asking if he would ride him, and since it is not always the case that you get to ride rides like this, he responded positively to the call. He hopes that he will be able to make the most of the race, although the field looks an ominous one.

Thomas Barr, High Twelve’s owner is not new to changing jockeys. Barr says that it was a tough decision and one that he did not take lightly.

Barr also stated that the decision was in no way out of disrespect to Jimmy Fortune, however once they found out that Kieran was available for the race, they thought he would be a better choice.

This race spans two and a half miles, and is the highlight of Wetherby’s 2009/2010 curtain raiser. This sever race program constitutes the 19th annual charity meeting that is organized in aid of Spinal Research.

Since receiving her license from the British Horseracing Authority to train in February this year, Dobbin has turned out to be a highly successful amateur rider who has saddled quite a few runners from her South Hazelriggs base of North Northumberland.

The wife of Grand National winner jockey Tony Dobbin, Rose is all excited about racing with Role On, who she had raced to three successful amateur chases last term. According to the trainer, they are looking forward to the race on Role On. So if the gorund is right, then they say that he will really be there.

Graham Lee said that they had done a great job on the Wetherby ground where a little rain would be great, as they weren’t keen on risking him on good to firm ground. I think that this would be a great start to Role On, being the classy horse he is, and the potential he has.

Mike Smith was the jockey for Zenyatta, while her trainer is John Sherriffs – and he states that Zenyatta was a one in a lifetime horse possessing strong running capabilities. It was a smiling Smith who guided Zenyatta to the winner’s enclosure, amidst loud cheering from the crowd.

It was a day after the owner of Rachel Alexandra stated that Zenyatta, who had managed to beat the boys in Preakness, was done racing for the year that Zenyatta recorded this victory. This ensured that there was no chance of Rachel and Zenyatta meeting in a Breeders’ Cup showdown.

While Zenyatta pawed the ground with her right hoof at the winner’s circle, Smith jumped down to plant a kiss to her flank while actress Bo Derek presented the trophy. With this marking her fourth win for the year, ‘Queen Zenyatta’ was one of the signs that greeted her in the winner’s enclosure.

However the day didn’t turn out to be that good to the Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird as he missed a trip to the winner’s enclosure and ended up sixth, behind upset winner Gitano Hernando in the Goodwood Stakes.

The piece of gossip that was doing the rounds was that the rising popularity and value of the Arc winner lead to no one willing to underwrite the risk of it traveling to Santa Anita and back.

However according to John Clarke, who is the racing manager to its owners, the Tsui family, states that it will be (as expected) John Oxx who will be making the final decision of whether Sea the Stars will be running in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or not.

He has also stated that insurance costs were in no way a factor that will change or make the outcome of his decision, and that he was in no hurry to make a final decision. John Oxx has thus far managed Sea The Stars very well in my opinion, so who are we to argue with whatever he decides.

In the meantime, it is interesting to learn that Cheltenham has announced prize money of 5.77 million pounds for the 2009/2010 season, a quite astonishing pool of prize money, however it is still lower than last season!

This means that as well as what will be available in races between now and the new year, an incredible 130,000 pounds per race will be up for grabs during the four days of the March 2010 Festival.

According to the Director of Racing and clerk of Cheltenham course, Simon Claisse, this year’s total prize money is slightly lower than the record level of last season. He also announced that there would be no additional races during the 2010 festival.

As I suspected, See The Stars won (albeit not as comfortably as some predicted) and with this victory the superstar horse notched up his sixth consecutive Group One triumph.

Under the able reins of veteran jockey Mick Kinane, who has ridden the three year old in all of his nine appearances, Sea The Stars managed to pull off a stunning victory. For the third consecutive year, the Mick Channon trained (and Kieren Fallon ridden) Youmzain ended up second in the race, much to the frustration of the ex-footballer.

With this victory, Sea The Stars has managed the astonishing feat of winning a Group One race every month since May, where he won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Subsequent victories at the Epsom Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International, as well as today’s victory at Longchamp have made Sea The Stars the first horse to win the Guineas, Derby and Arc treble.

The only disappointment of the race for Aidan O’Brien was that his Irish Derby winner Fame and Glory failed to finish in the frame, as he eventually ended up sixth.

And in brief, in other news from across the Channel, Total Gallery, under the helm of Johnny Murtagh was the winner of the Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp. Murtagh was over the moon with the victory and said that Total Gallery ran an almost faultless race from his point of view.

Stall 10 goes to O’Brien’s Fame and Glory, who had come in second to Sea The Stars during the Derby and Irish Champion Stakes. Sir Michael Stoute’s Conduit has however been allotted stall 12.

Mick Channon’s Youmzain, who came in second in 2007 will be running from stall one while Prince of Wale’s Stakes winner, Vision D’Etat will run from stall nine. The German challenger Getaway will be running from stall three. Stall two goes to John Gosden’s Dar Re Mi while the nineteenth stall of the 19 stalls goes to Andre Fabre’s Cavalryman.

Ironically, I’m hearing that Kieren Fallon, who had won the 2007 on Dylan Thomas, will be racing Mick Channon’s Youmzain this time around, while wearing blinkers for the first time.

As Youmzain had once worked with blinkers on the gallops, and worked great with them, it was decided to once again try out racing with blinkers. Fallon says that he will be running the race sensibly, and will of course in true Fallon style try to win the race again.

For me, I cannot see past Sea The Stars however. I expect the great horse to be short priced however and so probably will not be having a punt.