Last week it was announced that Kicking King has been retired after persistent injury problems. Kicking King is currently ten years of age but was plagued by a tendon injury, which kept the Irish chaser out of the racing scene for over 750 days.

Although he managed to make some sort of comeback from this injury, he was sadly unable to recover to full fitness and it was decided that the chaser should be retired. Kicking King failed to show the form he was previously famous for during his following four races and it may have been cruel to prolong the career of the horse, who has had a truly distinguished career.

Kicking King won on his debut in racing, with a victory at Leopardstown. He was also victorious in the Cheltenham Gold Cup back in 2005 and overall, he managed to win twelve out of the twenty-eight races he competed in.

The horse’s owner, Conor Clarkson, revealed his disappointment at the fact that Kicking King will race no more but also spoke of his pride at the horse’s magnificent career. Clarkson believes that the horse was a “wonderful chaser to have had” and Kicking King can now look forward to a very relaxing and “happy retirement”.

Clarkson was quick to name the Cheltenham Gold Cup victory as a highlight in the career of Kicking King but he remembers the horse’s debut win fondly as well.

As a young horse, the owners felt he was generally very good but his debut performance showed that he was “well above average”. The glowing words from Conor Clarkson were echoed by the horse’s trainer, Tom Taaffe.

He believes that Kicking King was a “great ambassador” for the world of horse racing and he will remain so despite his retirement. Taaffe believes that the decision to retire the horse is a good one and has spoken about the potential for him to “enjoy some ridden show classes” over the coming year.

The unbeaten filly, Zarkava, has been handed the accolade of Horse of the Year at the Cartier Racing Awards. In winning the award, she managed to beat Raven’s Pass (who won the Breeders’ Cup), New Approach, Duke of Marmalade (who managed to win the older horse award), and Henrythenavigator.

Zarkava, who is three years of age, won all the races she started this year and also two races as a juvenile. The recipients of the awards were chosen by readers of the Daily Telegraph and the Racing Post, as well as by racing journalists. The points won in certain important races were also taken into account when the individuals made the decisions.

Zarkava, who was victorious in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, has been described by her owner, the Aga Khan, as a “supreme athlete”. Her owner made the decision to retire her to stud during October and the young filly was also victorious in the three-year-old filly award. Her victory in this category left Goldikova, Halfway To Heaven, Natagora, and Lush Lashes disappointed.

New Approach, who was beaten by Zarkava in the Horse of the Year award, was provided with some consolation in the form of the three-year-old colt award. Last year, New Approach, who has been trained by Jim Bolger, was awarded the two-year-old colt award.

Some of the other winners at the awards included Mastercraftsman, who won the award given to New Approach last year, and Rainbow View who won the equivalent prize for the fillies. Marchand d’Or was named the top sprinter, whilst Yeats was awarded the stayer award for the third year running.

The Melbourne Cup has been won by Viewed, who was ridden by Blake Shinn at Flemington. A tight finish saw Viewed up against Luca Cumani’s Bauer and C’est La Guerre, who is being trained by John Sadler. Bauer eventually finished just behind Viewed, whilst C’est La Guerre claimed third place.

Master O’Reilly finished behind C’est La Guerre, Dermot Weld’s Profound Beauty finished fifth and British-trained Mad Rush, who started as favourite to triumph in the event, could only manage to finish in seventh place.

The exciting finish looked unlikely for the majority of the race. Blake Shinn gradually guided Viewed to the front just two furlongs from the end and victory looked certain. However, Corey Brown managed to guide Bauer through on the outside and the race ended in a dramatic photo-finish.

Blake Shinn was modest at the end of the race and stated that he was not entirely happy with his overall performance. Shinn revealed that he reached the front "way too early” but added that he was “delighted” at the end result. Worryingly for his competitors, he added that “the best is yet to come” and he remains ambitious for future success.

Shinn’s good performance handed Bart Cummings, who began training in 1953, his twelfth Melbourne Cup victory. His first came in 1965 with a victory from Light Fingers. Cummings, who will celebrate his eighty-first birthday later this month, was ecstatic after the race and was particularly happy at seeing the Aussies succeed "not only in racing but in cricket”.

A hearing in London last week judged that jockeys, Colm O’Donoghue and Johnny Murtagh, and trainer Aidan O’Brien, breached the rules of racing at Newmarket on the 23rd of August. During the Group One event, O’Donoghue, who was riding Red Rock Canyon, made a manoeuvre that benefitted another horse in common ownership.

O’Donoghue moved Red Rock Canyon off the rail in the last 1200 metres of the race, which encouraged Johnny Murtagh to take the gap. Murtagh and his horse, Duke of Marmalade, went on to win the event. As a result of this, Murtagh was punished for breaking Rule 220 (iii), since he displayed behaviour that went against the proper conduct of horse racing.

O’Donoghue freely admitted during the inquiry that he made the manoeuvre to benefit Murtagh but claimed that he had no idea that this was against racing regulations. Trainer, Aidan O’Brien, was found guilty of giving inadequate instructions concerning the official racing rules.

The two jockeys were punished with seven-day riding bans by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), whilst O’Brien was handed a £5,000 fine. The length of the riding bans will leave both O’Donoghue and Murtagh free to compete in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in early October.

Following the inquiry, the British Horseracing Authority appeared surprisingly keen to play down the severity of the incident. Paul Struthers, spokesman for the BHA, stated that “the panel made clear that there was no attempt to cheat, simply that the breaches occurred due to ignorance of the details of the rule in question”. O’Donoghue, Murtagh, and O’Brien, declined to comment after the inquiry.

Written by Charlotte Cook

The Professional Jockeys’ Association has been heavily criticised recently following accusations of neglect. Mark Coumbe, an apprentice rider, broke his back after a horrendous fall at Kempton on the 30th of July. The 25 year old jockey was treated for over an hour by ten paramedics after a shocking five-horse pile-up which fatally wounded his mount, Towy Girl.

Last week, he spoke of his shock and disappointment at how the PJA have treated him since this incident. According to Coumbe, nobody from the PJA has contacted him since the day after his fall. The young jockey had to spend two weeks in hospital before being allowed home in a body brace and was lucky not to have been paralysed for life.

The PJA have arranged for Coumbe to see a consultant in order to assess when the body brace can be removed but the impression remains that this is too little, too late. Coumbe has expressed his sadness at the situation, saying that he was "shocked and disappointed" by the fact that the PJA had not got in touch to see how he was. Knowing that they cared would have been particularly welcome when he was flat on his back in hospital "unable to move or eat”.

The chief executive of the PJA, Josh Apiafi, has responded by saying that they “were in touch with Mark on the day after the incident and arranged for his car to be taken home”. However, this is unlikely to have provided much consolation for a jockey whose life and career was hanging in the balance.

Coumbe’s accusations bring to mind those made by Seb Sanders following his horrific injury at Chester earlier this year. The champion jockey was thrown from Luca Cumani’s Speed Gifted after Sir Duke clipped the horse’s heels. He suffered a badly broken leg and later complained about the neglectful standard of care he received from the PJA. Apiafi admitted that the PJA had not been “up to scratch” with regards to Sanders but obviously the association did not learn from their mistake.

Written by Charlotte Cook

This article is about Hogmaneigh, a talented sprinter who looked to be bang in form after his recent win at Doncaster.

Recently opened Great Leighs racecourse has received a mixed reaction from spectators after a test run of the facility attended by 3,500 spectators.

Track owner John Holmes said: "The enthusiastic thanks I have had back from owners and trainers show they are delighted with what we have done,"

However the £30 million pound track has had many problems and was due to open back in October 2006.

Recent rainfall and a lack of facilities have caused some criticism, and a last minute inspection by the British Horse Racing Authority due to "exceptional weather and the installation of additional infrastructure" hasn't helped.

Ruby Walsh was banned for taking the wrong course during a race on Friday.

He is the second of trainer Paul Nicholls jockeys to face such such a ban.

The jockey steered Gallik Dawn towards the water jump instead of the finishing line.

The ban will last for 17 days.

Welcome to the TalkHorseRacing Blog

Here you’ll be able to submit articles to us that you’ve found interesting and think that fellow enthusiasts will enjoy. Just click on the ‘Submit a blog post to us’ link in the top right hand corner and fill out the form and we’ll review it here at TalkOn.it Network.

Also on the TalkHorseRacing blog you’ll be able to read blog posts from fans around the world. Here you’ll be able to read and form opinions on what is going on in the world of Horse Racing and enjoy a bit of banter.

You’ll also be able to Sign Up to the forums where you’ll be able to chat about the sport with fellow fans.

We hope you enjoy TalkHorseRacing.