Article Category: Sport of Kings

JOHN EGAN’S APOLOGY

October 19, 2022
VETERAN IRISH jockey John Egan has enjoyed something of a renaissance in his riding career over the past few seasons in Britain, where he... Read more »

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O’CALLAGHAN’S CRYPTO LOSS

October 19, 2022
TRAINING FOR Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing delivers access to some top-class horses but it also brings plenty of headaches when it comes to dealing... Read more »

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PHOTO FINISH FOR TITLE

October 19, 2022
JOCKEY COLIN Keane started the flat season back in March as the heavy favourite to land his third champion title in a row but... Read more »

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MAGNANIMOUS MAGNIER

October 19, 2022
GIVEN THE focus on high inflation figures and the impact on the cost of living, it is unclear to some observers whether the amount... Read more »

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O’LOUGHLIN’S ROUGH RIDE

October 6, 2022
THE NEW chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Darragh O’Loughlin, had his first experience of sitting in the Oireachtas hot seat... Read more »

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EADE IN THE SADDLE

October 6, 2022
HORSE RACING Ireland (HRI) chief executive Suzanne Eade also felt the heat of the public accounts committee chinwag last month, with questions about a... Read more »

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MAHON’S SETBACKS

October 6, 2022
STEPHEN MAHON – the star witness in Paul Kimmage’s Sunday Indo series of allegations of widespread doping in horse-racing circles published earlier this year... Read more »

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BIG BOYS’ BIG POT

October 6, 2022
THE CURRAGH’S revamped weekend of racing, which included the Goffs Million and the €600,000 Friends of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch handicap, was hailed as... Read more »

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JP’S ROUGH RIDE

September 22, 2022
JP MCMANUS may well be the self-appointed patron saint of Irish racing courtesy of the millions he spends every year on training fees and... Read more »

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HUSBANDS’S HANDICAP

September 22, 2022
IRISH CHAMPIONS Weekend may have been a success from a racing point of view, with top-quality action over the two days at Leopardstown and... Read more »

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EMPTY SADDLE AT AIR

September 22, 2022
ANOTHER SENIOR racing administrator has announced that he is to dismount. Paddy Walsh, chief executive of the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR), has signalled... Read more »

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O’LEARY SHAKING UP OWNERS’ CONTEST

September 22, 2022
AS HE does every year, Michael O’Leary offloaded a good few of his lesser-performing horses at a Goffs UK sale recently. The Ryanair supremo... Read more »

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RYAN McELLIGOTT’S NEW JOB?

September 8, 2022
AFTER 10 years as head of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA), Michael Grassick is set to dismount. Although there has been no official... Read more »

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COAKLEY COMES A CROPPER

September 8, 2022
YOUNG IRISH jockey Ross Coakley’s career has been on an upward curve since he relocated to England last year but the rider’s momentum has... Read more »

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MURPHY’S LAW

September 8, 2022
IT HAS been reported that Cork trainer John Joseph Murphy was recently fined €4,000 by the referrals committee of Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (chaired... Read more »

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RYAN OUT OF AMO

September 8, 2022
IT HAS been an eventful week for Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing. The increasingly familiar ownership group, run by the UK-based football investor, has suffered... Read more »

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SHEIKH MOHAMMED’S IRISH EXIT

August 25, 2022
THE DECISION by Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum’s Godolphin racing operation to cease having horses trained in Ireland from the end of this year represents... Read more »

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O’GORMAN’S GOOD CALL

August 25, 2022
TRAINERS ARE often quick to criticise the handicapper when they feel their horses are unfairly penalised by the ratings. More often than not, however,... Read more »

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GOING GOOD FOR HUSBANDS

August 25, 2022
A MONTH ago, the Irish Champion Stakes was in poor enough shape, without a sponsor and potentially lacking a marquee horse, either domestic or... Read more »

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MCNALLY’S FINE RESULT

August 25, 2022
WHEN TRAINER Ronan McNally and jockey Kevin Sexton got into trouble with the stewards at Limerick over the running and riding of Ithaka last... Read more »

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CALDWELL’S HEAVY GOING

August 11, 2022
WITH THE Irish Stable Staff Association (ISSA) having generated headlines last month by delaying racing at Kilbeggan racecourse due to a protest over the... Read more »

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TOM KELLY’S SECOND CHANCE

August 11, 2022
HERE WAS good news for jockey Tom Joseph Kelly last month when his appeal against a further three years of suspension proved successful. Kelly... Read more »

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DANIEL DUNNE’S ROUGH RIDING

July 28, 2022
DANIEL DUNNE, who was representing Katy Brown at Dundalk earlier this summer, may not be a household name when it comes to racing, but... Read more »

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O’BRIENS QUALIFY FOR PRIZE POT

July 28, 2022
READERS OF ‘Sport of Kings’ will recall questions being raised here about the use of auctions essentially to qualify horses for restricted races, with... Read more »

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DUNICAN VERSUS CALDWELL

July 28, 2022
THE HEAT wave took its toll at Kilbeggan recently, as tempers flared among stable staff with track manager Paddy Dunican and his failure to... Read more »

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GOING GOOD IN GALWAY

July 28, 2022
THE BUZZ will be back for the Ballybrit 2022 races as punters are allowed to attend the festival for the first time in three... Read more »

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O’BRIEN’S AMERICAN DREAM

July 14, 2022
HAVING PLUNDERED some major international Group 1 prizes in Australia and America last year, Joseph O’Brien‘s horses are on the up. Now the trainer... Read more »

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MICK BAILEY BACK ON TRACK

July 14, 2022
AN INTERESTING recent returnee to racehorse ownership in Ireland is one Mick Bailey of Bovale Developments. A prominent owner during the Celtic Tiger days... Read more »

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RONAN MCNALLY’S FORM

July 14, 2022
THE TRAINER Ronan McNally has had his fair share of setbacks when he trains a winner. Some wins have coincided with either a major... Read more »

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A HEADACHE FOR TIM HUSBANDS

July 14, 2022
IT APPEARS that for the third year in a row the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown – arguably Ireland’s premier flat race – will... Read more »

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O’CALLAGHAN’S MIXED WEEK

June 30, 2022
CURRAGH TRAINER Michael O’Callaghan certainly endured the highs and lows of Royal Ascot week and despite the majority of his horses running below expectations,... Read more »

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FAMILY FORTUNES

June 30, 2022
COULD THIS be the year when Aidan O’Brien loses his grip on the Irish trainers’ championship? For the past 15 years, O’Brien has monopolised... Read more »

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KAVANAGH’S CURRAGH COVER PRICE

June 30, 2022
BRIAN KAVANAGH’S decision to charge €50 for a ticket into the Curragh on Derby Day last weekend was predictably not well received in the... Read more »

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JOHN HALLEY’S DOG

June 30, 2022
COOLMORE VET John Halley’s embarrassing doping case involving the family dog – understandably raised plenty of eyebrows. While cynics may find the excuse surprising,... Read more »

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KEVIN DOYLE’S OWN GOAL

June 16, 2022
THERE WAS a twist in the tale of ex-footie star Kevin Doyle’s ballsy bloodstock investment when it transpired that Doyle’s half-brother to Altior was... Read more »

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JOE KEELING’S CRITICS

June 16, 2022
NO MATTER the apparent PR value of any gesture especially one of real scale, there will always be a critic or two waiting in... Read more »

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