From the DoubleHandful News Desk
Latest Racing News & Views
News, views and stories from inside racing, by former racehorse trainer Ian Wood.
A Racing Life Remembered29 October 2026
Explore all news and views Williams Way remembered: a gentleman on and off the racecourse
Read the tribute Football & Racing · Opinion26 October 2026What does a football manager have in common with a racehorse trainer? The case for Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United
Read the article Championships · Opinion14 October 2026British Champions Day: racing’s champions deserve a wider audience
Read the article Broadcasting · Opinion4 October 2026The Arc deserved better than ITV’s remote presentation
Read the article Racing Industry · Opinion29 September 2026Diesel costs: owners need help getting horses to the races
Read the article A Racing Life Remembered23 September 2026John Lowe — A ‘Cock O’ The North’ Champion Remembered
Read the articleLearn about:
- A day at the races - from entry and dress code to how to read and understand a racecard
- Owning a racehorse - ownership, partnerships and syndicates, how owners can reclaim VAT, buying at the sales, claiming a horse from a race and how prize money is distributed
- Understanding a race - how the going is determined and its effect on horses, stalls and numbering, the draw, handicapping, race conditions, winning and in-running comments
Read more about what’s inside
- Betting and racing terminology - the different types of bets, racing language and slang
- Stewards' enquiries, objections, appeals and whip rules - what happens and why
- The racehorse itself - conformation, height, behaviour, common injuries, equipment and headgear, vision and whether horses are colour blind
- What horses are telling us - what neighing, flicking ears and tail swishing can tell you about their behaviour and emotions
- Questions you may never have thought to ask - Do horses know when they have won? How fast can they run? How far can a week-old foal run? Can horses vomit - or swallow their tongue? How are horses named, and how are an owner's racing colours chosen and registered? And just how safe is horseracing?
- Life inside racing - how young horses are educated, careers and how to become a jockey or trainer, autism in racing, racing charities, rehoming racehorses and life after racing
- Racecourses, television coverage and much more.
More than a book to read once, DoubleHandful is designed to be a racing companion you can return to again and again.
Horseracing explained - stride by stride.
From inside the sport
Horse Racing
Questions Explained
Clear answers from former racehorse trainer Ian Wood.
Explore more questionsThe complete guide
Take racing knowledge
in your stride.
