Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – Richard Phillips Racing

We declared Dora Vita in the seven furlong novice fillies in Wolverhampton on Friday evening. She is progressing with experience and will have a handicap score after this run, which will increase our options. She is related to several winners and will undoubtedly continue to strengthen in the long term and seems the type to give her owners plenty of fun this summer.

We have entries submitted for both Tech That and Smile Back next week, also in Carlisle where they both performed well last season. I look forward to receiving a few more entries next week and the outlook would be helped by less rain.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all at Newbury Racecourse on Monday evening thanks to the annual West Berkshire Racing Club Quiz. We have had a team at the event for many years and former members of the team include the legendary John Hanmer. With John’s passing, we are proud to sponsor a trophy in his memory, which will go to the runners-up winners.

We are pleased to report that this year, after regularly finishing second in the past, our team emerged victorious with an impressive seven-point victory over many illustrious teams including the Racing Post and Raceform.

The room was full of many ‘anoraks’ and our team of bloodstock agent Richard Venn, his son William and team debutant Ralph Beckett pulled out all the stops that evening.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s competition and a big thank you to everyone at West Berkshire Racing Club for organizing such an enjoyable event.