Article Category: Sport of Kings

BRIAN KAVANAGH: WINNER ALRIGHT?

July 28, 2016
AS PREDICTED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 17/6/16), Brian Kavanagh has been reappointed chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland for third time, without any... Read more »

OXX NOT DONE WITH YET

July 15, 2016
NOT SURPRISINGLY, there has been much lauding of Irish Derby winner, Harzand, its owner the Aga Khan and trainer Dermot Weld. Spare a thought,... Read more »

WELD’S WOES

July 15, 2016
TRAINER Dermot Weld reached a landmark last month when he trained his 4,000th winner, with Sea Swift winning at Naas on June 22. The... Read more »

LAMBE SEEKING RETURN

July 15, 2016
ARMAGH-BASED Jimmy Lambe has had a turbulent few years but the trainer is hoping to bounce back, having reapplied for his trainer’s licence. Lambe... Read more »

REDUCED FIELD AT THE CURRAGH

July 15, 2016
WITH NEWS that planning permission for the huge Curragh racecourse redevelopment project has being granted. it is a tad disconcerting that 7,000 less people... Read more »

SWEENEY TAKES ACTION

July 2, 2016
LOUTH MAN Harry Sweeney – a vet by trade and highly successful thoroughbred breeder – who is suing the University of Limerick (UL) and... Read more »

POTTS ‘SIZING’ UP TRAINERS

July 2, 2016
IT LOOKS like the relationship between trainer Henry De Bromhead and his former major backer, Alan Potts, is nearing breaking point. Maybe a win... Read more »

STRADBROOK CASHING IN

July 2, 2016
THE NEWS that Stradbrook Acquisitions – owner of Ireland’s racing bible, the Racing Post – is cashing in its chips is good news for... Read more »

SCAHILL WINDING DOWN

July 2, 2016
THE FAMILIAR tones of racing commentator Dessie Scahill are set to become less frequent as the summer progresses. The 68 year old’s contract with... Read more »

TALLY-HO’S BAD LUCK

June 28, 2016
IT HAS been a tough breeding season for the O’Callaghan family of Tally-Ho Stud. The Westmeath farm, owned and run by Tony and Anne... Read more »

TURF CLUB’S DRUGS CZAR

June 17, 2016
THE TURF Club is getting serious about weeding out drug cheats, with the appointment of Lynn Hillyer as chief veterinary officer and head of... Read more »

NEW WORLD ORDER?

June 17, 2016
IT WILL not come as a surprise to fans of Goldhawk that Joseph O’Brien, son of Aidan, has officially been granted his trainer’s licence... Read more »

THIRD TIME LUCKY?

June 17, 2016
IT’S LOOKING like Brian Kavanagh could have his position as chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) extended – for a second time –... Read more »

O’LEARY WIELDS HIS AXE

June 1, 2016
MICHAEL O’LEARY isn’t known for applying sentiment to his business decisions and this is also true of his approach to horse trainers. The Squire... Read more »

CALLANAN VS KAVANAGH

June 1, 2016
THOROUGHBRED breeder Gerry Callanan has been a thorn in the side of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, for quite a while... Read more »

MONTROSE CALLING

June 1, 2016
WILL THE lure of Montrose be too strong for Racing Post editor Jonathan Mullin? The Mayoman is a former Gaelic Games correspondent for RTÉ... Read more »

CULLOTY’S COMPETITION

May 18, 2016
ROBBIE McNAMARA has launched his training career, just over a year after the racing fall that ended his riding career and left him paralysed... Read more »

KIEREN FALLON’S RENAISSANCE

May 18, 2016
KIEREN FALLON is enjoying something of a renaissance since his move back to his native Ireland a few months ago. Not for the first... Read more »

DANDY NICHOLLS’ COURT DATE

May 18, 2016
WELL-KNOWN trainer David ‘Dandy’ Nicholls currently finds himself in serious trouble with a looming court case in which he is accused of sexual assault.... Read more »

HYDE AND SEEKING

May 18, 2016
THERE WERE quite a few Irish connections to the recent Kentucky Derby winner, Nyquist. The superstar colt, unbeaten in eight runs, was bred by... Read more »

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

May 5, 2016
SOME PEOPLE clearly love their job. Take, for example, bookmaker David Power, one of the founders of Paddy Power and father of the company’s... Read more »

LYONS ROAR

May 5, 2016
DUNDALK Racecourse is largely viewed as a well run, progressive enterprise that has become a useful cog in the racing wheel, especially to middle-tier... Read more »

PROFITS UP, STALLIONS DOWN

May 5, 2016
IT’S BEEN a rather mixed month at the Irish National Stud. Barely a week after announcing significant revenue and profit increases for its 2015... Read more »

DECLARED RUNNERS?

May 5, 2016
A COUPLE of names of ‘runners’ were on the lips of members of the board of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) for similar reasons this... Read more »

AL NAEMI’S ASSETS

April 21, 2016
THE ARRIVAL of Qatari moneybags Mubarak Al Naemi to these shores continues to bring dividends to Horse Racing Ireland who have been eager to... Read more »

KEVIN BLAKE’S CRITICISM

April 21, 2016
THE DECISION by the Turf Club’s Appeals and Referrals Committee to reverse the hefty 30-day ban imposed on Barry Geraghty for the ‘running-and-riding’ of... Read more »

CONNELL’S ITCHY BRITCHES

April 21, 2016
ONE TIME hedge fund supremo Barry Connell is obviously a hard man to please when it comes to jockeys. He recently announced his split... Read more »

DISCIPLINING THE HRI SUITS

April 7, 2016
ELSEWHERE in Simon Coveney’s new Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016, the Bowler Hats have been handed the power to sanction employees of Brian Kavanagh’s... Read more »

BOOKIE’S BUG BLUES

April 7, 2016
BETFAIR, the online betting exchange that merged with Paddy Power in a €10bn deal earlier this year, continues to experience problems with its online... Read more »

SEAN POWER’S SEANAD RACE

April 7, 2016
FIANNA FÁIL councillor for the constituency of Kildare South (Horse Racing Ireland territory), Sean Power – who is also president of the Irish Stablestaff... Read more »

TURF CLUB TRIBULATIONS

April 7, 2016
AN INTERESTING addition to Simon Coveney’s Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016 is a clause which allows Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) to dictate to the... Read more »

Petroceltic shareholders caught in the crossfire

March 24, 2016
THE PURCHASE of 69% of Petroceltic’s $230m borrowings two weeks ago, combined with the appointment of Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton as examiner to... Read more »

IRISH BOOKIES UNDER THE WHIP

March 24, 2016
THE HEAT is being turned up on the betting sector in Ireland. Big time gambling has found itself under the spotlight in recent weeks,... Read more »

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S NEW JOB

March 24, 2016
AS WAS widely reported in the racing press, after months of speculation, Twitter statements and course changes, heir to the O’Brien fiefdom, Joseph O’Brien,... Read more »

KIEREN FALLON’S RETURN

March 24, 2016
THE ERRANT Kieren Fallon, who has not been sighted on a British or Irish racetrack for over six months, has resurfaced in County Kildare,... Read more »

WAITING ON CURRAGH’S NEW BOSS

March 24, 2016
THE SEARCH for a new chief executive at the Curragh racecourse continues and there is still no sign of white smoke emanating from Joe... Read more »