Stuck in self isolation? Here's our guide to the best of bloodstock on YouTube

These are trying times, as much of the world goes into self-isolation to try to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

With people being encouraged to stay at home, we have more time on our hands and need to keep ourselves occupied to fend off boredom.

And with much less racing being held worldwide, we are all looking for mental stimulation. To that end, we have put together our ten favourite bloodstock-related videos available to watch on YouTube.

Here's our guide to some of the most informative and entertaining content available to view...

1. Small horse, enormous influence

This 2001 documentary on the influential sire Northern Dancer, part-funded by the Canadian government, contains priceless footage of the great horse and eyewitness testimony from those who were closest to him as a youngster, as a racehorse and as a stallion.

Find out how the "runtish" yearling was overlooked by buyers due to his diminutive size and how his colourful trainer Horatio Luro wanted to geld him due to his coltish behaviour.

2. How Japan made it to the top

Australia's Sky Racing produced a slick documentary in 2017 that tells the story of Japan's emergence as one of the most powerful forces in international racing.

Since the video was made, Japan has of course gone on to land more important races beyond its borders, with the likes of Almond Eye, Deirdre and Lys Gracieux.

3. Learn the tricks of the trade

There's a good chance you may have already seen this video as, with more than 180,000 views, it is the second-most popular upload on the Racing Post YouTube channel.

It's worth a revisit, though, to keep your eye in, as renowned judge John Warren talked us through his approach to inspecting yearlings in 2010.

4. Indulge in some baby love

Godolphin's YouTube account is a treasure trove of well produced videos offering an insight into the life of a racehorse before they make it to the track and after they retire.

This video, entitled A Foal's First Steps, provides a rare glimpse of a mare giving birth and the young offspring making some very wobbly attempts to stand up for the first time. It also showcases the dedication of the staff who do their utmost to make sure everything goes smoothly.

5. Short-lived racing career, long-lasting legacy

You have to excuse a loud hiss and some kitsch 80s production values, but this short video featuring the fragile but immensely talented Danzig's few racecourse outings is worth a watch.

It helps put into perspective the lasting legacy he left on European pedigrees, chiefly through his prolific sons Danehill and Green Desert.

6. History brought to life

Learn all about Tattersalls in this video commissioned by the Newmarket auction house to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2016, featuring interesting archive pictures and footage.

What could be a dry history lesson is livened up by Olivier award-winning actor Nathaniel Parker dressing up as Richard Tattersall and riding a horse through Park Paddocks.

7. Stranger than fiction tale of Lomitas

Lomitas may be best known outside of Germany as the sire of brilliant Arc heroine Danedream, but long before then the champion racehorse had lived a quite extraordinary life - one that included Monty Roberts having to cure him of an extreme aversion to stalls and a blackmail campaign that led to him being poisoned and having to be smuggled to Britain and trained under an assumed name.

This video, which won the award for best international documentary at the Equus Film Festival in New York in 2017, tells that stranger than fiction tale.

8. A guided tour of Ecurie des Monceaux

A more recent treasure in the Racing Post's archive of bloodstock videos is a guided tour of the renowned Normandy nursery Ecurie des Monceaux, breeders of numerous celebrities including Charm Spirit, Chicquita, Ectot, Intellogent, Magic Wand, Most Improved, National Defense, Sistercharlie and Sottsass.

Stud manager Henri Bozo shares some of the secrets of his success and we get a glimpse of influential foundation mare Platonic.

9-12. Travel through time with Pathe newsreel

Step back in time with Pathe newsreel footage of the sales in the mid 20th century. The video below reports from Tattersalls in 1965 as jockeys Lester Piggott, Gordon Richards and Doug Smith are among those inspecting the stock on offer, along with a young Aga Khan.

It is remarkable how little inside the then newly built Tattersalls pavilion has changed in over half a century. There is more awareness of health and safety in the yards, though, by the look of it.

While in the Pathe newsreel archive, don't miss the Queen visiting stallions Never Say Die and Tudor Melody and inspecting the young stock at the National Stud in Newmarket in 1967.

If you want more nostalgia, how about the Pathe newsreel's visit to the Irish National Stud in 1957? Try to forgive the British narrator's impersonation of an Irish accent early in the video to see some amazing shots of the stud - in glorious technicolor to boot.

And here's Winston Churchill's stud farm being auctioned in 1965.

Have you found an interesting bloodstock-related video on YouTube you would like to share? Email the details to bloodstocknews@racingpost.com and we'll publish links to the best.