Dandy Khan brings up the hatrick in great style for Dark Blue Bloodstock @JamesFGun @nickgoff79, leaving her in the hunt for the @awchamps. Especially pleased to get the 200 winners up for @loughnane_billy 🍾

The Read Meg Nicholls' Blog At https://t.co/22uJjIRJPJ "Hands and Heels" Apprentice Handicap (Class 6) 🥇Dandy Khan 🥈Blue Empress 🥉Amarachi Winning Jockey: Donagh Murphy Winning Trainer: @jimboyle17 Winning Owner: Dark Blue Bloodstock

A great haul of awards at last nights Epsom Owners & Trainers awards, culminating in Into The Sky winning horse of the year. Huge well done to all my staff, and a massive thanks to all of our owners too.

🏆 Best National Hunt Horse sponsored by @bespokentailor Classic Anthem, trained by @JimBoyle17 & owned by The Minions, takes this award! Brilliant work🤩 #TheEpsomAwards @RacehorseOwners

🏆 Best 3-Year-Old sponsored by @ShotterandByers Many Men takes the prize! Another win for @JimBoyle17 and the team🍾 #TheEpsomAwards @RacehorseOwners

🏆 Best 2-Year-Old sponsored by @RacehorseOwners VAT And the winner is Into The Sky! Huge well done to @jimboyle17 & owners Mrs D Tabor, Dr P Wilson & R Stanbridge 👏 #TheEpsomAwards @racehorseowners

and now virtually non-existent, & this is replicated across so many of my owners & friends. This did more damage to racing than anything I can think of, so to read this from @MichaelDugher, whose GC have been complicit in much of the damage done, leaves a v bitter taste.

your eyes bleed, regarding affordability checks. They go way beyond what any regulation would have required, but still they insisted on the most ridiculously onerous information until the point when I threw my hands in the air & gave up. I was only ever a recreational punter (8)

more nuance to this discussion than some commentators on the bookies side are making out, and it’s entirely disingenuous to start blaming racing for the situation they find themselves in. I’ve a string of emails from 2022 between myself and a major bookmaker which would make (7)

leave these products alone has no legs. Racing came together for once to try to make sure that the absolute worst case scenario didn’t happen. If we hadn’t, and the tax on racing had ALSO been increased, we would all be in a far worse position than we are now. There’s far (6)

no issue with a tax increase on the casinos and games of chance. For far too long the bookies have relied on these low cost, high margin products to rake in profits. Whilst I recognise that as a result there may well be some short/medium term pain to racing, the argument to (5)

also preferred to see more exemptions on gaming duty rises for smaller operators, as it is these guys that will be hit hardest by this. But surely this is a failure by the gambling lobbies to prevent these scenarios from happening, rather than being the fault of racing? I’ve (4)

job soon enough if things don’t improve rapidly. I would much have preferred the tax rises to be confined solely to the online games of chance, as I recognise the arguments that the increase in general duty in 2027 will have, but that was not racings battle. I would have (3)

pro-actively worked to prevent itself from being lumped into a tax grab that government were always looking likely to implement. He harps on now, along with many others, about how racing has shot itself in the foot. Racings finances are in the gutter and we’ll all be out of a (2)

It would be quite nice if for once @MichaelDugher could come up with a little bit of introspective reflection on the damage he and the GC have caused the sport with their inept handling of the whole affordability checks scandal. Instead he bleats on about the fact that racing (1)

Wishing a happy retirement to the @jimboyle17 trained Otago who ran his last race today He’s been a frequent visitor to us over the years & a is a 5-time course winner We will miss seeing him but lovely to hear he has a forever home with his Owners! 📸 @dcoolimages

So racing is not a game of skill, but 7/1 was too big a price.

“We were pushed hard, but by the right people.” Epsom based trainer @jimboyle17 won the battle at €72k for @BallygallonStud’s Ghaiyyath filly out of a Stakes placed mare (Lot 554). #GoffsOrby| @Doyle_Racing

So concerned about the black market you demanded changes to affordability checks when it became apparent they were sending punters underground,did you? Or agreed to row back on ever increasing restrictions when it became clear they were also fuelling the black market? Not so much

Great that talented but ‘smaller’ trainer @jimboyle17 has a viable chance of G2 Mill Reef glory on Saturday with INTO THE SKY - hope it happens! 🤞 @NewburyRacing @DDFRacing