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Sport of Kings

SHARK ATTACKS JOCKEY

October 22, 2020

JOHN HANLON’S good season hit a hurdle last month at Listowel when one of his horses, Comporta, was deemed by the race day... Read more »

CHAMPERS ALL ROUND

October 8, 2020

LUCK PLAYS a big part in the success or otherwise of horse racing, but one group of owners who must be pinching themselves... Read more »

TOUGH GOING AT GOFFS

October 8, 2020

FEARS THAT the value of bloodstock would plunge due to the effects of Covid-19 (see The Phoenix 25/9/20) were justified when Goffs staged... Read more »

OISIN MURPHY’S DRUG WAR

October 8, 2020

THE NEWS that racing’s latest poster boy, Oisin Murphy, tested positive for metabolites of cocaine at Chantilly in July could prove a major... Read more »

NO GAIN FOR AIDAN O’BRIEN

October 8, 2020

WITH HEAVY rain in Paris scuppering the participation of Aidan O’Brien’s main challenger, Love, in the Arc de Triomphe, a last minute scare... Read more »

STICKY JAM

September 24, 2020

NORTHERN IRISH-trainer Ronan McNally trains only a handful of horses, but his runners have attracted their share of attention from authorities over the... Read more »

HEFFERNAN MAKES HIS MOVE

September 24, 2020

THE NEWS that Irish Champions Weekend took an U8m hit when held behind closed doors was sobering but, in racing terms, there were... Read more »

NOEL MEADE’S CLAIMS

September 10, 2020

SINCE RACING resumed in June, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has been viewed as having done a decent job in rescheduling important races that... Read more »

KEVIN BLAKE’S INTERFERENCE

September 10, 2020

RACING HACK and broadcaster Kevin Blake is not shy about airing his opinions and he has been on a campaign over the summer... Read more »

DAVID KEOGHAN ROLLS THE DICE

August 27, 2020

WHEN THE Fozzy Stack-trained Aloha Star was demoted from second to third for causing interference to the favourite, The Lir Jet, in the... Read more »

GALLOPING ODDS AT TRAMORE

August 27, 2020

TRAINED BY Gordon Elliott, Enzani will be the subject of Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) interest when he runs next, after a peculiar... Read more »

McMANUS DOUBLES DOWN

August 13, 2020

DESPITE THE absence of spectators, the allure of ‘setting one up’ for Galway remains strong and one man experienced in pulling off a... Read more »

EMMETT MULLINS’S ID ISSUE

August 13, 2020

EMMETT MULLINS will be glad to see the back of this summer. The talented young trainer recently found himself in the headmaster’s office... Read more »

SHARK PICKS UP THE SCENT

July 30, 2020

CARLOW TRAINER John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has enjoyed some great days with the likes of Luska Lad and Hidden Cyclone but, like many of... Read more »

BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR ABDULAZIZ

July 30, 2020

MANY MIGHT have assumed that, six months after being accused in court of stealing $400m via an international Ponzi scheme with Russian links,... Read more »

HEFFO’S ZEROES

July 16, 2020

WITH HOTSHOT Ryan Moore confined to British barracks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ballydoyle stalwart Seamie Heffernan was being talked of as a... Read more »

FINE TIME AT THE IHRB

July 16, 2020

DENIS HOGAN’S appeal of a €3,000 fine incurred at the Curragh a few weeks ago over the running and riding of 50/1 shot... Read more »

LUKE COMER’S FORM BOOK

July 2, 2020

LUKE COMER doesn’t appeal as a candidate for champion trainer this season if the exploits of his early season runners are anything to... Read more »

FAMILIAR SOUNDTRACK AT THE CURRAGH

July 2, 2020

THE IRISH Derby weekend at the Curragh took place alongside a now familiar soundtrack, akin to Heuston Station, as the wind whistled through... Read more »

CHELTENHAM DID HAVE RACING

March 26, 2020

GIVEN THE mainstream media uproar over Cheltenham taking place, it is no surprise that the actual racing action took second place. As usual,... Read more »

COOLMORE’S US SETBACKS

March 26, 2020

WHILE 2020 is still in its infancy, American racing has been rocked by another scandal after a two-year long FBI investigation. This revealed... Read more »

BANKING ON BLACKMORE

March 12, 2020

THIS TIME last year, Rachael Blackmore was being tipped to make her Cheltenham Festival breakthrough. She duly delivered in style, booting home two... Read more »

DOUG TAYLOR’S JET SET

March 12, 2020

DUBLIN SUIT Douglas Taylor enjoyed five minutes of fame 10 years ago when he orchestrated a well-executed gamble on his horse, D Four... Read more »

CROSSED WIRES FOR DENIS HOGAN

March 12, 2020

THE ACTIONS of senior management at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) – where chief executive Denis Egan calls the shots – are... Read more »

HRI FOLLOWS THE MONEY

March 12, 2020

THE five-year strategic plan up to 2024 was recently launched by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and it contained no real surprises. The development... Read more »

AMERICAN PHAROAH’S FOALS

February 27, 2020

A HIGH-profile lawsuit in the US, in which Ahmed Zayat – former owner of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah – is being sued... Read more »

LUKE MCMAHON’S PUNT

February 27, 2020

PROFESSIONAL PUNTER and lucky owner Luke McMahon is readying himself for a major gamble at Cheltenham next month, without actually betting on a... Read more »

MARK BROSNAN’S BETTING PROBLEM

February 27, 2020

THE NEWS that betting-exchange company Matchbook has had its UK licence temporarily suspended by the Gambling Commission may not attract much attention. The... Read more »

THISTLE BLOODSTOCK FEELS STING

February 27, 2020

NOT MANY people would be willing to have a light shone on the fact that they gave away an injured racehorse to a... Read more »

FENTON’S FALSE START

February 13, 2020

PHILIP FENTON has been working hard to rebuild his training career after spending three years on the sidelines serving a ban for possessing... Read more »

BYRNES GETS BURNED

February 13, 2020

AS SOMEONE partial to pulling off the odd monster gamble, Charles Byrnes’s horses are often the subject of extra scrutiny by race-day stewards.... Read more »

NOT QUITE A DUNNE DEAL

February 13, 2020

WHEN TRAINER David Dunne received a €3,000 fine (including €1,000 towards Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s costs) after his 2019 Ballinrobe winner Druim Samhraidh... Read more »

CHRIS GORDON’S HIGH-PROFILE CASE

February 13, 2020

AFTER THE Association Of Irish Racehorse Owners saw it doing battle with a lawsuit brought about by Jimmy Gough (see The Phoenix, 6/9/19),... Read more »

BRIAN HUGHES’S OPPORTUNITY

January 30, 2020

THE SAYING ‘one man’s loss is another man’s gain’ can often ring true in jump racing and the recent injury suffered by reigning... Read more »

MICK O’LEARY’S RATING PROBLEM

January 30, 2020

WITH THE Cheltenham Festival looming, the thorny issue of Irish-trained horses being allotted higher handicap marks in Britain compared to Ireland has again... Read more »

PHOENIX RISES

January 30, 2020

DESPITE EXPLOSIVE allegations late last year of money laundering and using the proceeds of a crypto-currency Ponzi scheme to fund the investment of... Read more »