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Sport of Kings

FARRELLY’S LIFETIME BAN

October 21, 2021

DUBLIN NATIVE Johnny Farrelly’s training career in the UK has come to a shuddering halt after the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) served him... Read more »

O’BRIEN’S RATING GAME

October 21, 2021

RACING FANS might imagine that Joseph O’Brien has a few more things to worry about than a 2lb differential in the rating of... Read more »

BALLYDOYLE RUES THE RULES

October 21, 2021

FOR SOMEBODY with a reputation for diplomacy, trainer Aidan O’Brien surprisingly used a recent Racing Post interview to get a few things off... Read more »

CALDWELL’S CLARION CALL

October 21, 2021

THE HEAD of the Irish Stable Staff Association, Bernard Caldwell, doesn’t pop his head over the parapet too often, but tends to make... Read more »

DONNACHA’S DIFFICULT SEASON

October 7, 2021

HAVING MADE an explosive start to his training career last year, the pace has slowed somewhat for Donnacha O’Brien this year. Group 1... Read more »

EDDIE SCALLY’S DRAW DEBATE

October 7, 2021

GOWRAN PARK is seen as one of the more progressive and well-run racetracks, with manager Eddie Scally highly regarded. There is, however, some... Read more »

MUST TRY HARDER

October 7, 2021

IT HAS long been whispered that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board is adept at clamping down on non-trier cases involving small-scale trainers but... Read more »

BYRNES BACK WITH A BANG

October 7, 2021

WHAT BETTER way to celebrate a return from a six-month suspension than to land an old-fashioned gamble in a competitive handicap in the... Read more »

John Magnier has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to a legal dispute over the 750-acre Barne Estate in Tipperary, while Moya Doherty had a problem with her neighbour.

MAGNIER DETHRONED

September 23, 2021

IN WHAT represents a momentous changing of the guard, 2021 looks like being the first year this century that a Coolmore stallion will... Read more »

O’BRIEN’S HEAVY GOING

September 23, 2021

ALTHOUGH VICTORY went his way in the feature event on Champions weekend, when St Mark’s Basilica survived a stewards’ enquiry to win the... Read more »

MICKO’S CLEAR-OUT CONTINUES

September 23, 2021

MICK O’LEARY’S annual clearance sale at Goffs UK in Doncaster takes on more significance nowadays, given that he is not restocking his squad... Read more »

KEEPING UP WITH CHRIS TIMMONS

September 23, 2021

THE PRACTICE of dual licences, whereby a jockey can also hold a trainer’s permit, is not uncommon. Denis Hogan has been successfully riding... Read more »

GORDON ELLIOT’S RETURN

September 9, 2021

THE NAME of Gordon Elliott will make a return to race cards this week after a six-month absence. While the Irish racing community... Read more »

GRASSICK’S TIMING ISSUE

September 9, 2021

IT WILL be interesting to see what stance Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) takes after the underwhelming lobbying efforts of the Irish Racehorse Trainers’... Read more »

ZEROING IN ON CATHAL BYRNES

September 9, 2021

RACECOURSE STEWARDS appear to be paying particular attention to horses trained by the Byrnes boys these days. Certainly, there was a fuss made... Read more »

WEIGHTY ISSUES

September 9, 2021

FLAT RACING is often decided by fine margins including the weight carried, with a couple of pounds differential often the difference between winning... Read more »

ROTHWELL’S HARD GOING

August 26, 2021

TRAINER PHILIP Rothwell has been on something of a crusade all summer to find the perfect ground conditions for his horses — but... Read more »

ABDULAZIZ AT EASE

August 26, 2021

THE ON-GOING involvement in Irish racing of alleged money launderer, Amer Abdulaziz of Phoenix Thoroughreds, came into focus again recently, due to the... Read more »

O’CALLAGHAN’S RISKY PUNT

August 26, 2021

MANY TRAINERS (Jim Bolger is a notable exception) operate on a business model based on investment into horses in training from third parties... Read more »

PAUL MURTAGH’S LAW

August 26, 2021

THE IRISH Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) introduced new starting procedures in July, following a meeting between the Irish Jockeys Association, the IHRB starters... Read more »

REAL MADRID’S BIG SPENDER

August 12, 2021

WHEN SWISS billionaire Georg Von Opel emerged from relative obscurity at Goffs two years ago and splashed a few million on some yearlings... Read more »

AFTER DENIS EGAN?

August 12, 2021

HAVING BEEN compared in recent oireachtas hearings to an old boys’ club, and coming under fire over transparency and corporate governance issues, it... Read more »

NEW RUNNER ENTERS THE FIELD

August 12, 2021

A NEW entry in the online auction business looks set to shake up the old guard of Tattersalls and Goffs. The British outfit... Read more »

ST LAWRENCE’S LAW

August 12, 2021

THE BUSINESS of bloodstock agents involves the pounding of the sales grounds hoping to earn an honest or, now and again, a dishonest... Read more »

ROTHWELL’S RANT

July 29, 2021

THE TRAINER Philip Rothwell has been moaning about ground conditions at some Irish tracks and it climaxed for him at Kilbeggan recently when... Read more »

PISS-TAKE

July 29, 2021

THE CONTROVERSIAL Stephen Mahon continues to attract the wrong kind of attention, while he awaits the outcocme of his appeal for a four-year... Read more »

MOLONEY’S CROWD CONTROL

July 29, 2021

WHILE IT is round two of an essentially spectator-free Galway Festival this week, at least the 2021 event won’t be quite as soulless... Read more »

JOHN OSBORNE’S HEADACHE

July 29, 2021

WITH HORSERACING keen to keep its nose clean after the PR mauling casued by the Gordon Elliott affair, there was some serious head... Read more »

DENIS EGAN’S HEADACHES

July 15, 2021

FOLLOWING THE announcement by Denis Egan that he is taking early retirement from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) in September, it is... Read more »

SUZANNE SADDLES UP

July 15, 2021

COMPETITORS FOR the well-salaried role of Brian Kavanagh’s replacement as the head honcho at Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) may be surprised to hear... Read more »

BEEBY’S UNCERTAIN RIDE

July 15, 2021

THE TEAM at Goffs is certainly confusing people with their ‘will they or won’t they’ approach to its premier yearling sale, the Orby... Read more »

RONAN MCNALLY’S ARRANGEMENT

July 15, 2021

TRAINER RONAN McNally, who has hit the headlines on numerous occasions over the past two years, is under investigation by the Irish Horseracing... Read more »

AND THE BANNED PLAYED ON

July 1, 2021

EARLIER THIS year the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) handed out two six-month bans to two high-profile trainers – Charles Byrnes and Gordon... Read more »

COMER’S RARE MARE

July 1, 2021

LUKE COMER seems as enthusiastic as ever about the racing game despite his usual lack of success on the track. The gelding, He... Read more »

MAGNIER’S CONUNDRUM

July 1, 2021

AFTER NEGATIVE press coverage at Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s treatment of his daughter, Sheika Latifa, the headlines were rather more positive following the... Read more »

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR SEAMUS HEFFERNAN

July 1, 2021

THIS TIME last year, the hapless Seamie Heffernan landed one of the longest whip bans received by any jockey. The French stewards banned... Read more »