Darryl Long

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@racingoncourse @BHAStewards Much prefer the under starter’s orders system, issues can arise after that but that’s racing. Horses are trained to go in to the stalls or to line up properly. Jockeys are expected to manage the start. If a horse kicks out trapping a leg just before the stalls open it’s bad luck.

[Owners Group @ownersgroupuk]

Many congratulations to owners of Mister Ursus who won his 1st handicap on day 2 of the Perth Festival. Steered home on the bridle by the champ Sean Bowen to complete a double for him & Olly Murphy. Both have handled him brilliantly this season. Thanks to Roxy for leading him up.

[Owners Group @ownersgroupuk]

After jumping the last flight well, Kevin Brogan looked around for dangers on easy winner Mister Ursus at Fakenham today. Well done to trainer Olly Murphy & thanks to Marie & Paddy for taking him on the long journey to the East! We received a very warm welcome there as always.

[Jeremiah Knight @iamrjknight]

Question from a follower - I don’t really know where I fall with eschatology anymore. But right now my Facebook feed is full of people saying the Iran conflict is the beginning of the tribulation, or will lead to it in the next few weeks. Meaning Jesus is coming within a month. Is the current Iran conflict actually part of Bible prophecy?

My Answer - Every generation has faced wars that felt apocalyptic. Empires have risen and fallen. Nations have burned. Borders have shifted. Yet Christ has not returned in any of those moments. That alone should make us slow, careful, and biblically grounded before declaring that any present conflict is the beginning of the tribulation.

Jesus prepared His disciples for this very pattern. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end” (Matthew 24:6). Notice His emphasis. Wars will happen. They must happen in a fallen world. But they are not in themselves proof that the end has arrived.

Scripture teaches that conflict flows from the sinful condition of humanity. “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?” (James 4:1). War is not first a prophetic code. It is evidence of human rebellion against God. As long as sin remains, nations will rage (Psalm 2:1–3). That is a theological reality, not merely a political one.

The New Testament consistently restrains speculation. When the disciples asked about timing, Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). Even more plainly, “But of that day and hour no one knows” (Matthew 24:36). To attach certainty to modern headlines is to step beyond what God has revealed.

Repeated attempts throughout history to identify specific wars as the final trigger have consistently failed because they rested on speculation rather than on the clear teaching of Scripture.

We are also told that the return of Christ will not be a secret geopolitical development unfolding gradually over weeks. It will be unmistakable and universal. “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:27). Scripture presents His coming as sudden and visible, not something deciphered by analysing daily news.

This does not mean we ignore world events. It means we interpret them through the full counsel of Scripture. Wars remind us that the world is broken. They expose the fragility of human peace treaties and the need for the true Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). But they are not divine countdown clocks.

The biblical response is not panic, nor prediction but perseverance. “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11). Watchfulness is not speculation. It is faithful obedience in every season, not social media forecasts.

Christ will return. That is certain. The timing is not ours to declare. Until then, the mission remains unchanged: preach the gospel, live soberly, pray for rulers (1 Timothy 2:1–2), and rest in the sovereignty of God who “removes kings and establishes kings” (Daniel 2:21).

Headlines shift daily. The Word of God does not.

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@ownersgroupuk Six for me the maximum possible having given up with flat horses, no winners since May but good luck to Bond Broker tomorrow.

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@ownersgroupuk Yes I was in the stand opposite the last fence, the way Stage Star picked up again after such a serious mistake really showed what a star he was. His best ever performance.

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Are you a Newcastle fan finding it hard to deal with the gap to Sunderland?

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[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@Hot_Pepper76 Don’t forget Pilot’s bigger hit January

[Owners Group @ownersgroupuk]

Stage Star has been the most remarkable horse for Owners Group, flying the flag ever since his winning debut during lockdown at Chepstow in October 2020. Since then, he has won the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle, the Grade 1 Turners’ Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, and the Paddy Power Gold Cup. Last season, he was narrowly beaten in the Cotswold Chase and finished third in the Grade 1 Bowl at Aintree’s Grand National Meeting.

He was an outstanding jumper who never fell or unseated his rider. Only Lorcan Williams, Harry Skelton and Harry Cobden rode him in a race, and all three considered him top class. Stage Star has now been retired after sustaining a tendon strain in training with master trainer @PFNicholls and will move on to a new career in time. Thank you, Stage Star, for taking so many owners into fabled winners’ enclosures that seemed out of bounds for most people.

[Harry Sisson @harryjsisson]

This video from Senator Bernie Sanders on the murder of Charlie Kirk is fantastic. Certainly worth a watch.

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

Why let the facts influence what you to say and who you chose to blame.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump: "I get along with Zelenskyy. But you know, I disagree with what he's done. Very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened ... I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelenskyy was saying, 'Well, I have to get constitutional approval.' I mean, he's got approval to go into war and kill everybody."

[Christian Concern @CConcern]

1/ BREAKING: Church of England says its own teaching on marriage is a ‘safeguarding risk’ as it continues to blacklist chaplain for sermon

Rev. Dr Bernard Randall, who is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was labelled a 'risk to children' after a sermon saying pupils didn’t have to accept LGBT ideology, and he remains blacklisted by the @churchofengland .

Despite no action from Prevent, who he was reported to as an potential 'extremist', or other secular bodies, he says he's been left “bewildered and broken” by his continued blacklisting.

The CofE has now started a new safeguarding process against Dr Randall, despite him being vindicated and no evidence provided that he has done anything wrong...

See more breaking in the Mail on Sunday, on our website and on this🧵

https://t.co/0RuytBG34u

https://t.co/Bc62UFtWlv

Read his sermon: https://t.co/VCQmRmjrb8

[Racing Post @RacingPost]

🗣️ "A flawless example of horseracing at its most irresistible"

How Grundy and Bustino delivered the greatest of all King Georges 👇
https://t.co/MKWUquvWo2

[SD Racing Services @racingoncourse]

Lower admission prices
Bookies and punters behave with more decorum
Serve decent food when you get to the races
Stop the needless tickle tackle on itv
Stop 6 race cards
Stop 9 race cards
35 min max between races
Reintroduce the 50 mile rule
Don’t charge for parking at all
Don’t charge for kids at all
Stop the stupid dress codes
Embrace our parlance; it is good
Talk to pubs for coaches
Nurture memberships
Fire half the jobsworths, most of whom wouldn’t know what won this years Grand National
Use pundits as pundits; they don’t need to be supine ex-jockeys
Lower the price of the Racing Post
Lower the price of race cards
Make people feel welcome; not stern security staff thinking the customer is the enemy
Lay traditional place terms on and off course and stop this nonsense around increasing the overround
Dismiss the haters; don’t cave to them as they will come after something else
Let people go to the last fence again
Cull fixtures by whatever means possible. Shut the newest 2 racecourses
Bring back towcester. It was great
Make the betting ring the beating heart of the racecourse again, include a sample in Sps
Make evening meetings start when the working person finishes work
Take cash
Market the horse, not some stupid fashion show
Have over 65s reduced entry
Have under 25 reduced entry
Make more seating on racecourses
Introduced centralised stewarding to stop a whiskey laden clown making decisions
Get John Francome on TV again
Ban any team related activity
Make the jockeys championship more at the forefront
Let race goers use unused hospitality boxes
Make horses enter pre parade rings 10 mins before
Stop bookmaker sponsorship of connections

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@DakdaR22

[Darryl Long @DarrylMarkLong]

@Ames2420 The rotor

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Trump on President Zelensky: “He's always looking to purchase missiles. Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know that you can win a war. You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles."

(Fact check: Russia started the war by invading Ukraine)

[Geoff Banks @geoffbanksbet]

ITV National ratings down to 6.1 million. Despite the argued improved 'reach' of the network. Exceptionally poor

It's all enveloping suntanned racing narcissim simply outlaws fans of the sport, and bores the pants off of the viewer. A diet of Alice Plunkett 'amazaballs' - little controversy, which in fact pervades the sport, and bizarrely outlaws most betting stories. A format Kevin Blake described as not intended for racing fans (!)

Add to that heady mix, the naive decision to rob the Grand National of the very essence of it's appeal. Notorious fences. It's become a glorified bumper now (no fallers in 2024) Arguably more dangerous as they've introduced 'speed' to a stayers event

This is what is termed 'managed decline'

[Stephen R Power @racingblogger]

🚨 ITV Racing Grand National viewing figures since 2017: 👇

• 2025 - 5.2m
• 2024 - 6.1m
• 2023 - 7.5m
• 2022 - 7.5m
• 2021 - 8.8m
• 2019 - 9.6m
• 2018 - 8.5m
• 2017 - 8.2m

A drop from 8.8m to 5.2m in five years.

What do you put the decline down to? 👀

[Owners Group @ownersgroupuk]

Courageous Strike ran an eye-catching first race over hurdles at Ffos Las this afternoon. He pulled himself to the front but kept jumping well. He then battled hard when challenged, showing a good attitude. He could be hard to peg back if dropped back to two miles next time. 👀 Thanks to Julia and George for taking him racing. #courageousstrike #ownersgroup