Latest Irish sports news headlines | The Phoenix Magazine

Sport of Kings

BARRY CONNELL’S NEW NAGS

May 16, 2019

ONE JUMPS owner whose enthusiasm has been tested in the latest season is Barry Connell. After a disastrous performance that yielded only seven... Read more »

HAYES OUT FOR THE COUNT

May 16, 2019

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) introduced more stringent whip rules recently and jockeys, especially those riding on the flat have been finding... Read more »

O’LEARY’S QUIET LANDING

May 16, 2019

DESPITE BEING crowned leading jumps owners for the fifth year in a row, Mick O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud had a rather poor Punchestown... Read more »

JAMIE MORRIS VS MICK O’LEARY

May 2, 2019

THE TRAINER Mouse Morris has had one of the longest serving relationships with Gigginstown and Mick O’Leary, but that relationship looks like it’s... Read more »

DUNDALK’S BIG TRACK SURFACE BILL

May 2, 2019

PERHAPS IT should not come as a surprise that the manager of Dundalk’s racing track is set to lash out circa €3m to... Read more »

NIALL CRONIN’S STRATEGY

May 2, 2019

THE IRISH Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has decided to up its communications strategy, announcing the Herald’s former racing corr, Niall Cronin, as its... Read more »

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

May 2, 2019

THIS SEASON has seen Scottish bookmaking supremo Kenny Alexander emerge as a growing force among the Irish jumps ownership ranks. While Alexander, the... Read more »

SEAMUS ROSS’S RETURN

April 18, 2019

WITH A rejuvenated Sean Mulryan enjoying such high-profile success this year after his long hiatus, the developer’s re-engagement with the sport is being... Read more »

WHEN ALL IS LEAD AND DUNNE

April 18, 2019

BRITAIN-BASED Irish jockey Robbie Dunne has received a 15-day ban by the British Horseracing Authority over a 2017 incident in which Dunne guided... Read more »

O’LEARY’S ANIMAL WELFARE FANS

April 18, 2019

MICHAEL O’LEARY’S surprising idea of offering Don Poli and Outlander for sale two days before the Aintree Grand National certainly bore fruit. The... Read more »

DECLAN MCDONOGH’S DEMOTION

April 18, 2019

THIS TIME of year, as the flat season gets into full swing, a few jockeys sometimes get promoted – or vice versa –... Read more »

BOLGER’S BLAST OFF

April 4, 2019

NAAS RACECOURSE welcomed the Irish flat season back recently and while there was the usual domination by the ‘establishment’, there were also examples... Read more »

HEAVY GOING AT AIRO AGM

April 4, 2019

THE ASSOCIATION of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO) held their AGM last week, and the going was far from good. There could be changes... Read more »

RICH RICCI’S PR COUP

April 4, 2019

RICH RICCI has pulled off something of a PR coup after personally teaming up with BetVictor to honour antepost bets that had been... Read more »

MICK O’LEARY’S CAST OFFS

April 4, 2019
MICK O’LEARY has never been one to miss a marketing opportunity in his professional life and it looks like his racing arm will exploit... Read more »

BOOM GETTING BOOMIER

March 21, 2019

FANS OF Goldhawk may not have been too surprised to see Sean Mulryan in the winners’ enclosure at Cheltenham last week (see The... Read more »

BLACKMORE’S BRACE

March 21, 2019

DESPITE HER ascension into the top tier of jump jockeys, Rachael Blackmore still had a point to prove as, before the Cheltenham festival,... Read more »

DECLAN LAVERY’S SURPRISE BAN

March 21, 2019

A GROUP of Irish amateur jockeys felt the full force of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) at Cheltenham when the trio of Declan... Read more »

RICCI FEELS THE HEAT

March 21, 2019
CHELTENHAM provided liberal helpings of thrills. There was also karma of sorts at play when the Rich Ricci-owned Benie Des Dieux, considered by many... Read more »

BLACKMORE’S CHELTENHAM CHALLENGE

March 7, 2019

OVER THE past couple of national hunt seasons, the big sporting story has been provided by the rivalry between Willie Mullins and Gordon... Read more »

JESSICA HARRINGTON’S FIRST CHOICE

March 7, 2019

AFTER SUCH a successful beginning to their association, it was a surprise when Jessica Harrington announced recently that she had appointed Shane Foley... Read more »

HUMBLE PIE FOR HAYES

March 7, 2019

FORMER BETTING industry executive Noel Hayes had to endure an awkward moment recently when offering his punditry insight as a guest in the... Read more »

TOM TAAFFE’S TRIBULATIONS

March 7, 2019

TOM TAAFFE’S form-filling skills – or lack thereof – have been put under the spotlight recently. The trainer brought one of his horses,... Read more »

COOPER CUT LOOSE

February 21, 2019

BRYAN COOPER’S stint as first jockey to Chris Jones was certainly short-lived, with the association coming to an end just before the Dublin... Read more »

MULRYAN TARGETS BALLYMORE

February 21, 2019

COMEBACK KID Sean Mulryan – once again a major player in the national hunt owners’ league – took another step forward recently when... Read more »

JIM BOLGER’S TWO YEAR OLDS

February 21, 2019
SOME EYEBROWS were raised a few years ago when Jim Bolger sent around 20 of his mares to be covered by little-known stallion Fracas,... Read more »

ANDREW HUGHES’S HICCUP

February 21, 2019

THE BRITISH Horseracing Authority (BHA) offered little room for manoeuvre to a nonplussed Andrew Hughes when he made the trip to Scotland recently.... Read more »

AUBREY McMAHON’S APPEALING BEHAVIOUR

February 7, 2019

AMATEUR JOCKEY Aubrey McMahon obviously felt aggrieved over a five-day ban handed down by the race-day stewards at Tramore following his ride aboard... Read more »

SHEIKH MOHAMMED’S WEIGHT WATCHERS

February 7, 2019

GOLDOLPHIN, the racing entity of Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum, has had a change of heart over its heavy-handed approach to work riders. Early... Read more »

TROUBLE AT THE TOTE

February 7, 2019

HORSE RACING Ireland (HRI) recently announced the industry statistics for 2018 and, as expected, the figures pertaining to the betting sector made for... Read more »

NICK RUST’S ROUGH RIDE

February 7, 2019

IS THE British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – where Nick Rust cracks the whip – actually managing to bring the sport it is charged... Read more »

McNAMARA DROPS THE BALL

January 24, 2019

FORMER JOCKEY Andrew McNamara, who combines training with his role on the RTÉ racing team, was recently a guest on Off The Ball’s... Read more »

UPS AND DOWNS FOR COMER

January 24, 2019

IT’S BEEN a mixed start to the year for Luke Comer. The trainer enjoyed an early New Year winner when Mystique Heights won... Read more »

RICHARD FITZGERALD’S PRIORITIES

January 24, 2019

THE SWITCH of live Irish racing from At The Races (ATR) to Racing TV has generated plenty of negative commentary since the beginning... Read more »

SOFTLY DOES IT AT LEOPARDSTOWN

January 24, 2019

WITH LITTLE rain forecast for February’s Dublin Racing Festival and with almost unprecedented firm ground conditions for jumps horses at this time of... Read more »

PHILIP FENTON’S RETURN

January 10, 2019

NEW YEAR’S Day at Tramore was a significant occasion for trainer Philip Fenton. It saw him register his first success since resuming his... Read more »