Article Category: Sport of Kings

BEEBY ROLLS THE DICE

May 20, 2021

THE NEWS that Goffs is wheeling out its tried and tested ‘Million’ formula this year came as something of a bolt from the... Read more »

JIM BOLGER’S DAWN RAID

May 20, 2021

JIM BOLGER has pulled off one of his finest coups in his 80th year with the repatriation of the stallion Dawn Approach. A... Read more »

COVID CASH BOOST

May 20, 2021

SINCE RACING resumed after the Covid enforced break in June last year, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has been coming down hard... Read more »

ABDULAZIZ’S IRISH FRIENDS

May 6, 2021

THE CONTROVERSIAL Phoenix Thoroughbreds CEO Amer Abdulaziz has quite the neck and the Bahraini came out fighting again after the group saw all... Read more »

MAHON’S HEAVY GOING

May 6, 2021

IT LOOKS like Stephen Mahon’s often turbulent career as a trainer may be coming to the final fence. Now based in Galway, it... Read more »

OWNERS ON THE OUTSIDE

May 6, 2021

WITH THE country gradually opening up, there seems to be only radio silence when it comes to the matter of getting racehorse owners... Read more »

PLACE YOUR BETS

May 6, 2021

WHEN THE pandemic recovery gets going, it is clear that some things may never return to the old ways. The betting landscape has... Read more »

O’LEARY PROVES POINT

April 22, 2021

AS IF Michael and Eddie O’Leary needed another opportunity to annoy the wider racing community, then their recent handling of Tiger Roll served... Read more »

GAME ON FOR BLACKMORE

April 22, 2021

AS THE jumps season draws to a close, there is one final task to be achieved by wonder jockey Rachael Blackmore – to... Read more »

DOUG’S ROLL OF THE DICE

April 22, 2021

A SURPRISE name among the entries for Punchestown this year is the grade 1 winning mare Laurina, who was retired from racing by... Read more »

MICHAEL O’CALLAGHAN FLIES THE FLAG

April 22, 2021

A SIZEABLE cohort of Irish horse traders drew a collective sigh of relief after the first Breeze Up sale of the season took... Read more »

COOLMORE’S JAPANESE BACKER

April 8, 2021

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S team is not normally quick off the blocks at the start of the flat season, with his horses often improving markedly... Read more »

THE FUTURE OF SHADWELL

April 8, 2021

FOLLOWING THE death of Prince Khalid Abdullah a few months ago, racing lost another major benefactor recently when Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum died... Read more »

DAVID DUNNE’S DARK HORSE

April 8, 2021

JOCKEY TURNED Racing TV presenter Fran Berry has made a seamless transition to his current career after being forced to retire from the... Read more »

BACKING DAVID MULLINS

March 25, 2021

DAVID MULLINS, who surprised many in racing by announcing his retirement from the saddle at the tender age of 24, has embarked on... Read more »

MURPHY’S FALSE START

March 25, 2021

AFTER SERVING a three-month ban for testing positive for metabolites of cocaine, champion jockey Oisin Murphy was chomping at the bit to get... Read more »

CHELTENHAM GREENWASH

March 25, 2021

THOSE GRIM days in the late 1980s and 1990s, when Ireland might only muster up one or two winners at the Cheltenham festival... Read more »

KAVANAGH’S COUNTDOWN

March 11, 2021

FIVE YEARS ago, when Brian Kavanagh entered into his controversial third term as chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), he insisted this... Read more »

BRITS POUT

March 11, 2021

The furore surrounding the Gordon Elliott controversy shone a light on the lack of faith the British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) has in... Read more »

CHARLES BYRNES’S NEIGHBOUR

March 11, 2021

RECENTLY BANNED trainer Charles Byrnes has teamed up with a neighbour of his to enable him to run some horses. Byrnes signed off... Read more »

RUSSELL’S REVENGE

February 25, 2021

DAVY RUSSELL’S opinions tend towards the forthright but, nevertheless, he caught unsuspecting viewers by surprise live on Racing TV recently. The jockey was... Read more »

POINT-LESS

February 25, 2021

RECENTLY, Horse Racing Ireland came under fire over the lack of opportunities for lower grade flat horses at Dundalk and the backlog of... Read more »

AMERICAN SIGH

February 25, 2021

THE EXPERIMENT of American trainer Keri Brion in basing a handful of horses in Ireland this year, while the US jumps season continues... Read more »

KIDNAP CONUNDRUM

February 25, 2021

BBC’S LATEST Panorama investigation into the current wellbeing and whereabouts of Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s daughter, Sheikha Latifa, made for uncomfortable viewing, and... Read more »

DENIS EGAN’S HEADACHE

February 11, 2021

THERE HAS been a full agenda for the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) in recent times. In addition to dealing with a high-profile... Read more »

ABDULAZIZ UNSADDLED IN DUBAI

February 11, 2021

THE BELEAGUERED Phoenix Thoroughbreds were dealt another blow recently when the racing authorities in Dubai began refusing entries for Phoenix-owned horses. This effectively... Read more »

HANDICAPPING PATRICK MULLINS

February 11, 2021

IRELAND’S TOP amateur jockeys face an anxious time as they await to hear if a ban on amateurs riding in England will be... Read more »

CLAIM GAME

February 11, 2021

THE ANTIQUATED nature of the system put in place by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) for owners and trainers to lodge claims when seeking... Read more »

COOLMORE’S GERMAN PAL

January 28, 2021

THE COOLMORE gang seems to have cemented a strong relationship with a German billionaire named Georg von Opel. This looks to have resulted... Read more »

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S JUMPING

January 28, 2021

JOSEPH O’BRIEN must be looking forward to the resumption of flat racing this spring after enduring a challenging time with his jumps string... Read more »

MULLINS BOWS OUT

January 28, 2021

IT IS very rare when a 24-year-old multiple Grade 1 and Grand National-winning jockey decides to hang up his boots without the excuse... Read more »

DRONE MOAN

January 28, 2021

THE LENGTHS some dodgy overseas punters will go to in order to get an edge in their betting has been highlighted by the... Read more »