Article Category: Sport of Kings

ABDULAZIZ UPS THE ANTE

October 18, 2018

IT WILL be recalled (see The Phoenix, 29/6/18) that Phoenix Thoroughbreds supremo Amer Abdulaziz pledged this year at Royal Ascot to develop his... Read more »

BABY JOSEPH IS IN THE PINK

October 4, 2018

THE SUCCESS of the Joseph O’Brien-trained Baby Pink in a valuable listed race in Galway recently was an interesting one when one delves... Read more »

GODOLPHIN SPLASHES OUT

October 4, 2018

THE REBUILDING of relations between the behemoths of global racing Coolmore and Godolphin continues apace with mutual support of each entity’s top stallions... Read more »

PAT KELLY’S COBALT CASE

October 4, 2018

IT HAS been a tough couple of weeks at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), with a number of referral cases heard covering... Read more »

GER LYONS’S GRIPE

October 4, 2018

IRISH CHAMPIONS weekend was again deemed a success, with some thrilling finishes, good weather and a few breakthrough Group 1 wins for some... Read more »

NO LUCK FOR THE WAGGS

September 20, 2018

WHEN THE lowly rated Eight And Bob was declared to run at Navan recently, he was bound to attract interest as the five... Read more »

JAMIE OSBORNE’S DEADLINE

September 20, 2018

ENGLISH TRAINER Jamie Osborne’s annual pilgrimage to Laytown Races with his enthusiastic owners, The Melbourne 10, bore fruit again when the team bagged... Read more »

TOM QUEALLY UNSADDLED

September 20, 2018

SPARE A thought for jockey Tom Queally, who lost the ride on The Tin Man a few days before the James Fanshawe-trained gelding... Read more »

PETER FAHEY’S GOOD GAMBLE

September 6, 2018

A TIP of the hat to Monasterevin trainer Peter Fahey, who recently executed a significant gamble with military precision. Fahey’s newcomer, Gypsy Island,... Read more »

MICK O’LEARY OFFLOADS TO YANKS

September 6, 2018

MICK O’LEARY certainly isn’t getting soft about his horses as he gets older; two old Gigginstown stalwarts who won’t be retiring to a... Read more »

BARRY CONNELL’S NEW STRATEGY

September 6, 2018

BARRY CONNELL has shuffled his pack again and has dispensed with the services of his former retained jockey, Denis O’Regan. The pair enjoyed... Read more »

COOLMORE’S ONE THAT GOT AWAY

August 23, 2018

It’s not often the Coolmore team get it spectacularly wrong about a horse, but even the best of us are prone to the... Read more »

MARTIN’S BASE ON THE MARKET

August 23, 2018

Tony Martin’s trying season could take a turn for the worse next month if Arodstown Stables, his current training base, sells at auction.... Read more »

TESTING TIMES AT THE TOTE

August 23, 2018

When Horse Racing Ireland announced its half-year statistics last month, it did so before the Galway festival – a week that serves as... Read more »

ANYONE FOR KOREA?

August 23, 2018

Willie Mullins has never been afraid to push the boundaries. He famously sent Blackstairmountain to Japan to plunder over €½m by winning the... Read more »

NICK BRADLEY’S BAD BATCH

August 9, 2018

GORDON ELLIOTT’S first venture into training two year olds last year was a successful one, especially when the bunch assembled by syndicate specialist... Read more »

CHARLES BYRNES’S GALWAY GLOOM

August 9, 2018

CHARLES BYRNES is a trainer the bookies fear when the money is down, but the shrewd Limerick man found the going tough at... Read more »

WILLIE MULLINS’S STRATEGY

August 9, 2018

IT WAS a beano of a week for Willie Mullins in Galway, winning the feature race on three of the first four days,... Read more »

TARGETING SEAMIE HEFFERNAN

July 26, 2018

A RIDER who felt the venom of keyboard warriors recently was Seamie Heffernan when Coral Beach, trained by his boss Aidan O’Brien, was... Read more »

CAN WELD BOUNCE BACK AT GALWAY?

July 26, 2018

WITH GALWAY on the horizon and the economy on the up, the skies around Ballybrit are likely to resemble Vietnam with the constant... Read more »

MATT MiTCHELL’S LONG RACE

July 26, 2018

INCOMING Tattersalls Ireland chief executive Matt Mitchell knows all about the ups and downs of mergers and acquisitions. Having been the casualty of... Read more »

WILLIE MULLINS’S BELLE DU JOUR

July 12, 2018

THE IRISH Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) senior flat handicapper Garry O’Gorman has come in for criticism after a minor race at Leopardstown where... Read more »

KEVIN MANNING’S MISTAKE

July 12, 2018

NORMALLY when a rider appears to ease up prematurely in a race and loses a placing (possibly as a result of those actions),... Read more »

AFTER DESSIE SCAHILL

July 12, 2018

AFTER NEARLY half a century as Ireland’s chief race commentator, Dessie Scahill will call his last race at the end of this month.... Read more »

LUKE COMER JNR SHOWS THE WAY

July 12, 2018

AS HIS father’s lengthy quest to train a winner continues, Luke Comer Jnr got his own training career off to a decent start... Read more »

KEN BOLGER’S TAX BILL

June 28, 2018

KEN BOLGER, a nephew of trainer Jim Bolger, found himself on the receiving end of some unwanted attention from the dreaded taxman. As... Read more »

GOOD AND BAD AT GOFFS

June 28, 2018

HUGE SUMS of money were again being splashed around for national hunt ‘playthings’ at the Goffs Land Rover Sale earlier this month and... Read more »

AMER ABDULAZIZ CHALLENGES JOHN MAGNIER

June 28, 2018

THE LUXEMBOURG registered thoroughbred investment fund Phoenix Thoroughbreds and its associated personnel have been generous in providing newsworthy snippets this year – and... Read more »

LUKE COMER GETTING CLOSER

June 13, 2018

THE QUEST by Luke Comer to train a winner continues, though it seems he is getting closer to his Holy Grail and it... Read more »

MAGNIER’S MERCHANT BANKER

June 13, 2018

JOHN MAGNIER and his investors have never been shy to take a major punt on a horse and it will be interesting to... Read more »