Article Category: Sport of Kings

JOHN MAGNIER’S TACTICS

July 13, 2017

MUCH HAS been written of the Curragh this year and the hullaballoo over the board’s decision to run the Irish Derby and day... Read more »

COLIN KEANE’S CHANCES

July 13, 2017

LOOKING AHEAD from the flat season’s mid-point, it looks as if there could be a surprise in store at the end of the... Read more »

Lambe’s Loss

July 13, 2017

DUNGANNON trainer James Lambe is back in the courts. The handler found himself in a spot of financial bother back in 2015, having... Read more »

LUKE COMER’S TRAINER

July 13, 2017

IT WILL be interesting to follow the latest instalment in the Luke Comer training saga, the story that just keeps on giving. Comer... Read more »

JUMPING THE QUEUE

June 29, 2017

THE RACE planning division of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has been under fire from some of Ireland’s leading flat trainers. Ger Lyons, Jim... Read more »

FRAN BERRY’S TOUGH TASK

June 29, 2017

IRISH JOCKEY Fran Berry faces an uphill challenge to reinvigorate his riding career with news that his brief tenure as stable jockey to... Read more »

Philip Reynolds’s Roster

June 29, 2017

CHELTENHAM Festival winning owner Philip Reynolds has consolidated his roster of trainers with Curragh trainer Eddie Harty the major victim of the streamlining... Read more »

VICHAI’S DEEP POCKETS

June 29, 2017

GOFFS hosted international racing’s plutocrats at The Orangery in Kensington Palace on the eve of Royal Ascot last week, when the firm offered... Read more »

ELLIOTT’S NEW GAME

June 15, 2017

NOT CONTENT with equalling the record for the number of jumps winners trained in a season, Gordon Elliott has set his sights on... Read more »

AL THANI’S HYDROGEN PROBLEM

June 15, 2017

WHEN SHEIKH Fahad Al Thani forked out the sale-topping sum of 2.5m guineas for a Galileo yearling half-brother to Epsom Derby winner Authorized... Read more »

BOLGER’S BARK

June 15, 2017

JIM BOLGER has never been a man to mince his words and he didn’t hold back recently when describing Pat Smullen’s performance in... Read more »

HEAVY GOING AT GODOLPHIN

June 15, 2017

THE GODOLPHIN racing and breeding operation of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum has been playing second fiddle to John Magnier’s Coolmore and Ballydoyle enterprises... Read more »

Tatts v Goffs

June 2, 2017

With two strong Irish companies operating in the small market of Irish bloodstock sales there is always going to be attempts to get... Read more »

COMER CASE CLOSED?

June 2, 2017

THE TURF CLUB certainly finds itself in an awkward position with moneybags Luke Comer these days. After handing out another €2,500 fine plus... Read more »

ENGLISH LESSON

June 2, 2017

UP AND COMING young Dublin trainer, Damien English, has carved out a well-earned reputation for buying cheap cast-offs from other trainers and developing... Read more »

MOOLAH FOR McCARTAN

June 2, 2017

JIM McCARTAN has been having a stellar season at the breeze up sales (see The Phoenix 5/5/17) and he landed another almighty touch... Read more »

CATHAL BEALE’S BIG JOB

May 17, 2017

CATHAL BEALE would not have been a name at the top of many people’s lists when it came to the chief executive vacancy... Read more »

DAVID WACHMAN’S ‘WINNERS’

May 17, 2017

WHEN TRAINER David Wachman announced his plan to retire from training last year, a lot of eyebrows were raised among the horsey set... Read more »

GOFFS GETs its MAN

May 17, 2017

THERE HAS always been a healthy rivalry between the two Irish sales companies, Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland, but Henry Beeby and his team... Read more »

JESSICA’s SYNDICATE

May 17, 2017

THERE WERE celebrations in Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) when the Jessica Harrington-trained Tilly’s Chilli toughed out a game success at Roscommon recently, the... Read more »

WHAT BREXIT?

May 3, 2017

THE IMPENDING Brexit hasn’t had much negative impact on bloodstock trade in Britain thus far, if prices at recent auctions are anything to... Read more »

JUMPING FOR JOY

May 3, 2017

WHILE THE flat breeze up market is no doubt underpinned to a certain extent by Arab money, there are no such resources fuelling... Read more »

JOHN OSBORNE’s STEPPING STONE

May 3, 2017

HRI HAS strengthened its management team with the recent appointment of both Jonathan Mullin and John Osborne. The latter looks to have bigger... Read more »

TAKING ON WILLIE MULLINS

May 3, 2017

THE Punchestown Festival coincided with the culmination of the epic battle for the champion jumps trainer award between young pretender (and eventual runner-up)... Read more »

LUKE COMER’S PROBATION

April 19, 2017

LUKE COMER SNR’S plan to develop a state-of-the-art training centre at his property in Kilternan had a setback recently and the jury is... Read more »

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR JAMIE CODD

April 19, 2017

AS TRAINERS Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott continue their high profile battle for the Irish trainers championship, there is another contest going on... Read more »

BIG YEAR FOR JOHN OXX

April 19, 2017

IT WAS good to see John Oxx start off the flat season with a nice winner but he is facing a tough season... Read more »

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S PRIORITIES

April 19, 2017

IT HAS been a less than impressive start to the flat season for Aidan O’Brien but he is getting ready for the first... Read more »

Wayne Jordan’s Rough Ride

April 5, 2017

ON JUST his second ride for Aidan O’Brien since joining the Ballydoyle squad of jockeys, Wayne Lordon found himself in hot water with... Read more »

KIERAN FALLON’S FUTURE

April 5, 2017

FORMER MULTIPLE champion jockey and all round troubled soul, Kieran Fallon, is seriously considering a training career. Fallon has spent the winter in... Read more »

MAGNIER AND SHEIKH MOHAMMED

April 5, 2017

THE LONG-RUNNING and entertaining coolness between the Coolmore and Godolphin powerhouses looks to be finally fizzling out. For many years there has been... Read more »

PAT DOYLE’S LATE CALL

April 5, 2017

AN INTERESTING scenario was revealed at Cork races recently after the Pat Doyle-trained Kaiser Black won a five-runner maiden hurdle in effortless fashion.... Read more »

BLUEBLOODS AT NAAS

April 5, 2017

NAAS RACECOURSE manager Tom Ryan was no doubt excited to have hosted the opening day of the flat season recently, after the curtain-raiser... Read more »

CHASING THE IRISH NATIONAL

March 23, 2017

WITH AN increased prize-fund of a cool €1/2m, the Boylesports Irish Grand National is now Ireland’s most valuable jumps race – one that... Read more »

THE JAPANESE ARE COMING

March 23, 2017

LEOPARDSTOWN boss Pat Keogh has long made known his desire to see a Japanese-trained horse compete at the track and he has come... Read more »

CHELTENHAM TALES

March 23, 2017

CHELTENHAM delivered the usual array of stories but it is a festival one jockey will rather forget. Barry Geraghty’s injury two weeks before... Read more »