The Team

Nicholas Godfrey

Nicholas GodfreyEditor-in-chief

International racing expert Nicholas Godfrey has been described (largely by himself, admittedly) as the sport’s answer to Bill Bryson. He has been racing in 50 different countries across six continents, details of which have been collected in two books: On The Racing Road (2007) and Postcards From The World Of Horse Racing (2017).

He spent 28 years and 51 weeks at the Racing Post in a number of different roles – front-line reporter, columnist, news editor, features writer, features editor, deputy editor and international editor. After leaving the Racing Post, he founded the Horse Racing Planet website before assuming his role as editor at Thoroughbred Racing Commentary in February 2022. Godfrey is a former winner of the Breeders’ Cup Joe Hirsch Award for Outstanding Writing.

Sarah Sands

Sarah SandsSales and Marketing Executive

Sarah Sands is responsible for marketing strategy and promotional advertising campaigns alongside handling client relationships. A former long-term Racing Post employee, she has since consulted on marketing within the Bloodstock world for clients including Irish National Stud, Godolphin and Juddmonte Farms. A lifelong Thoroughbred breeder, she also co-founded the Treo Eile Retraining Racehorses project in Ireland, and is an active advocate of aftercare.

Contributors

EUROPE

Graham Dench

Graham Dench’s impressive career as a racing journalist in the UK includes lengthy spells at Timeform and the Racing Post, where he has been a lead tipster, chief race analyst and senior racecourse reporter. He is also a former editor of The Form Book and was Britain’s Racing Reporter of the Year in 2015. He has been a freelance since 2018, writing regularly for a range of outlets besides TRC, including Owner Breeder magazine, British Champions Series and Weatherbys. He also edits the Horses In Training annual.

Steve Dennis

Steve Dennis has been writing about horse racing since he left school, having traded the prospect of academic qualifications for afternoons spent in the local betting shop. He has worked for and contributed to a wide variety of publications, including spending 16 years as a writer at the Racing Post, where he covered big racedays in Europe, Australia, the US, Hong Kong and Inner Mongolia. His byline has also been recently seen at The Irish Field and the websites Past The Wire and Horse Racing Nation, and he has written two racing books: Sergeant Cecil – The Official Story (2007) and The History of Horse Racing in 100 Objects (2021).

Jon Lees

A familiar face on the world's major racetracks with notepad and tape recorder, newshound Jon Lees is an award-winning reporter who has spent more than 30 years on horse racing’s frontline, firstly for Britain’s national news agency, the Press Association, and then 20 years with the Racing Post as senior news reporter. A founder member of the Horse Racing Planet team, he is now responsible for Mirror Online’s digital racing content; he also provides content for the Breeders' Cup and Hong Kong Jockey Club.

JA McGrath

Australian JA McGrath, the BBC’s chief race commentator for 15 years until the Corporation stopped covering the sport in 2012, was also Hotspur, chief racing correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, for over 25 years. He previously spent more than a decade as a racing broadcaster and journalist in Hong Kong.

Tony Morris

Tony Morris has been arguably the world's leading bloodstock writer since the 1970s, when he wrote for the Sporting Life. He switched to the Racing Post in the mid-80s and worked there until 2014. He was Britain's Racing Journalist of the Year in 1990, and in 2010 he received the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's highest award for his outstanding contribution to the British bloodstock industry.

Nancy Sexton

Based in Newmarket, England, Nancy Sexton is also bloodstock editor of Owner Breeder magazine having previously served a lengthy stint as a bloodstock correspondent at the Racing Post. She also acts as a consultant in a private capacity to various leading international breeders and as European representative to Schumer Bloodstock.


UAE

Laura King

Formerly presenter/producer on Dubai Racing Channel, Laura King lived in the Middle East for 16 years. Now based in the UK, she keeps a keen eye on racing jurisdictions all over the world and is also managing editor for World Horse Racing.


NORTH AMERICA

Amanda Duckworth

Amanda Duckworth, who spent her college days taking care of the likes of John Henry, Cigar, and Da Hoss, got her start in turf writing when she became the first recipient of the Joe Hirsch Scholarship. She is a communications consultant for the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. She also contributes to a number of other publications, including The Blood-Horse, TDN, and New York Times, and was previously a columnist for ESPN.com. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Jay Hovdey

Jay Hovdey, author of the series Favorite Racehorses and Horse Racing Goes to the Movies for Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, is a five-time Eclipse Award winner for turf writing, winner of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence, and a member of the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Patricia McQueen

Patricia McQueen is an award-winning equine photographer and gaming industry journalist. Along with her photography work, she is currently the editor of a lottery trade publication and also runs her own gaming industry website. Her passion for horse racing began in 1973 with Secretariat’s exploits, and in recent years she has been researching his stud career and his descendants. She has photographed many of these horses since the early 1980s, traveling as far as Australia to see them.

Daniel Ross

Daniel Ross is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, who covers horse racing for the Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, the Thoroughbred Daily News and the Guardian. Before making the dubious decision of turning to writing to pay the bills, he worked for a number of jump and Flat trainers in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US, including Alan King, Gai Waterhouse, and Neil Drysdale. His fleeting career as an amateur jump jockey was an exercise in studied ineptitude. Follow him @1danross.