Article Category: Sport of Kings

SOVEREIGN’S COOLMORE SETBACK

July 11, 2019

THERE WAS some top notch racing over Derby weekend at the Curragh, but what to make of the Derby result? While observers might... Read more »

MORE HEAVY GOING FOR JOOSTE

July 11, 2019

FORMER COOLMORE bedfellow Markus Jooste is being pursued in the South African courts by his former employer, Steinhoff International, for almost £50m. Jooste... Read more »

GIGGINSTOWN WHO?

June 27, 2019

THE FIRST barometer of how the national hunt sales market is to cope with life after Gigginstown House Stud was measured at Henry... Read more »

KEEPING TABS ON BYRNES

June 27, 2019

CHARLES BYRNES showed recently that he hadn’t lost the Midas touch when it comes to pulling off a gamble, with his Mr Smith... Read more »

RONAN WHELAN’S WHIP

June 27, 2019

THE LATEST high-profile jockey to fall foul of the new whip rules is Ronan Whelan after three consecutive breaches led to a referral... Read more »

HANNON’S VACCINE PROBLEM

June 27, 2019

LEADING UK trainer Richard Hannon felt the full wrath of the stringent Irish passport and vaccination regulations recently. Hannon sent two runners over... Read more »

ALEXANDER’S ASSETS

June 12, 2019

IT’S LITTLE wonder that Kenny Alexander, the chief executive of GVC Holdings, has been happy to splash the cash over the last 18... Read more »

MICHAEL O’FLYNN’S COOLMORE CONNECTION

June 12, 2019

AN INTERESTING ownership alliance has emerged involving a little-known horse named Piece of Paradise. The two-year-old filly was bred by property developer Michael... Read more »

LYNN HILLYER’S CONCERNS

June 12, 2019

DESPITE INCREASED penalties, random stable inspections, educational seminars and more frequent out-of-competition testing, Irish racing still has a major issue on its hands... Read more »

OXX EXPERIMENT FAILS TO DELIVER

June 12, 2019

BIG THINGS were expected this season when John Oxx and Patrick Prendergast combined their racing strings, which gave a much-needed shot in the... Read more »

LUKE COMER CASHES IN

May 29, 2019

MONEYBAGS Luke Comer enjoyed probably his finest moment as a trainer when Raa Atoll pulled off a well-executed plan in winning a Group... Read more »

HEFFERNAN’S NOT SO ROUGH RIDE

May 29, 2019

BALLYDOYLE stalwart Seamie Heffernan is having quite a lean season by his standards, having yet to get to double-figure winners, but there was... Read more »

GOOD NEWS FOR HENRY BEEBY

May 29, 2019

NOEL HAYES must be one of the luckiest owners in the game and has struck gold again through his Sunday Racing Club with... Read more »

CURRAGH GOLD CUP LOSING ITS GLITTER

May 29, 2019

WITH THREE Group 1 races on the card, the Irish Guineas Festival is of the highest class, but the newly refurbished Curragh is... Read more »

NAAS’S LUCK OF THE DRAW

May 16, 2019

WITH CURRENT Naas Racecourse manager Tom Ryan about to head off to the Middle East to take up an advisory role within Saudi... Read more »

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 »

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 »

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 »