Article Category: Sport of Kings

BIN SUROOR’S BAD BATCH

June 13, 2018

THIS YEAR’S Epsom Derby was a much needed triumph for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s global racing entity Godolphin. While morale within the camp... 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 »

HARTERY IN AND HARMAN OUT

May 31, 2018

THE IRISH and British racing industries are closely linked and as the latter says goodbye to a chairman, we welome a new one... Read more »

WILL WILLIE NEED A NEW VET?

May 31, 2018

THE FUTURE of Tim Brennan as a racehorse vet now lies in the hands of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). This follows news... Read more »

SHEIKH FAHAD FLEXES HIS MUSCLES

May 31, 2018

GER LYONS has never been shy about airing his opinions but a failure to bite his tongue may have cost him dearly after... Read more »

DID HRI JUMP TOO EARLY?

May 17, 2018

THE CONTROVERSIAL media rights deal that saw Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) hand over the keys to Irish racing to Satellite Information Services (SIS)... Read more »

HERE COME THE GIRLS

May 17, 2018

THE PAST 10 years have been a golden era for female jockeys. Having proved their worth against the boys and earned the right... Read more »

ALAN FLEMING’S LOADED NEW OWNERS

May 17, 2018

CURRAGH TRAINER Alan Fleming is generally more associated with his national hunt string, being more or less a private trainer for Barry Connell.... Read more »

JOHN MAGNIER’S TRIPLE CROWN TARGET

May 17, 2018

WHILE OUT of luck in Churchill Downs when a quagmire of a track played its part in Mendelssohn finishing dead last in the... Read more »

WINNERS AND LOSERS AT PUNCHESTOWN

May 3, 2018

THE PUNCHESTOWN festival was always going to be exciting this year with the Willie Mullins/Gordon Elliott head-to-head dominating the build-up but Paul Townend... Read more »

CON MARNANE’S BREEZE DOWN

May 3, 2018

FANS OF Goldhawk know of the trials and tribulations of the breeze up sales season and the perils of this sector were evident... Read more »

INGE D’HAESE’S ROUGH RIDE

May 3, 2018

VETERINARY officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) Inge D’Haese has ruffled feathers among the training ranks, in particular with a couple... Read more »

PAUL HENSEY’S NEW GIG

May 3, 2018

FORMER CURRAGH Racecourse manager Paul Hensey has bounced back with a new gig after being squeezed out of his previous role when current... Read more »

PHILIP FENTON’S RETURN?

April 19, 2018

COULD Philip Fenton be planning a return to the training ranks? The former champion amateur jockey and multiple Grade 1 winning trainer was... Read more »

BREEZE UPS AND DOWNS

April 19, 2018

BRYAN COOPER’S new venture as a seller of breeze up horses has gotten off to a stuttering start. Cooper – in partnership with... Read more »

MARK FLOOD’S FITZWILLIAM FANS

April 19, 2018

FITZWILLIAM RACING was a name that cropped up a few times in the winner’s enclosure last year and the investment syndicate, set up... Read more »

JOHN MAGNIER’S KENTUCKY CHANCES

April 19, 2018

DESPITE HIS glut of accolades and achievements on the turf, Saturday, May 5 in Churchill Downs could see Aidan O’Brien and John Magnier... Read more »

KEN CONDON SEEKS WINX CHINKS

April 5, 2018

WITH ALL that ‘will she or won’t she’ speculation surrounding Australian superstar Winx’s potential Royal Ascot challenge now over and done, it’s good... Read more »

PAUL NOLAN’S COMEBACK

April 5, 2018

TWO FORMER leading lights of the Irish jumps scene – Bryan Cooper and Paul Nolan – have joined forces and are beginning to... Read more »

Handicapping tyro trainers

April 5, 2018

AT A time when the number of active Irish trainers is reducing, it is ironic that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has... Read more »

DÉJA VU FOR MULLINS AND ELLIOTT

April 5, 2018

THIS TIME last year Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins were locked in a duel for the champion Irish jumps trainer’s title and this... Read more »

KERRI RADCLIFFE’S SUDDEN EXIT

March 22, 2018

READERS WILL recall (see The Phoenix 9/3/18) that Goldhawk was impressed by the size of the wedge chucked about by bloodstock agent Kerri... Read more »

GER LYONS LETS LOOSE

March 22, 2018

DUNDALK RACECOURSE hosted the most valuable race held at the track recently but the €75,000 Patton Stakes – part of a new European... Read more »

CHELTENHAM’S MELON FLAVOUR

March 22, 2018

WHILE TRAINER Gordon Elliott will always be the golden boy as far as Mick O’Leary is concerned, Davy Russell and Henry De Bromhead... Read more »

PETER BRANT JOINS THE COOLMORE BOYS

March 22, 2018

THE FALL from grace of South African tycoon Marcus Jooste left a gap in the market for an investor to join the Coolmore... Read more »

PASSPORT PROBLEMS

March 8, 2018

THE IRISH Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) released its 2017 integrity statistics recently, some of which made for interesting if concerning reading. Goldhawk has... Read more »

DORAN SWITCHES STABLES

March 8, 2018

IT’S NOT often that Gordon Elliott has horses removed from his yard to be sent to another trainer but London-based builder Tom Doran... Read more »

PHOENIX RISING SLOWLY

March 8, 2018

PHOENIX THOROUGHBREDS has been a name on a lot of bloodstock players’ lips this past year and the emerging force in world bloodstock... Read more »

CHELTENHAM’S GREEN GLOSS

March 8, 2018

IRISH PUNTERS will flock to Cheltenham this year high on confidence following last year’s phenomenal results. Irish trainers were responsible for more winners... Read more »

AFTER AT THE RACES

February 22, 2018

THE FALLOUT following the recent shock news that At The Races will cease to broadcast Irish racing on its channel is continuing to... Read more »

BRYAN COOPER’S RARE RIDES

February 22, 2018

BRYAN COOPER’S latest retainer looks to have come to an end after a very brief association. In November last year, Cooper got drafted... Read more »

DENIS EGAN’S LATE LATE SHOW

February 22, 2018

THE ACTING stewards at the Dublin Racing Festival came in for quite a bit of flak over their failure to investigate the poor... Read more »

JOSEPH O’BRIEN’S MOOLAH

February 8, 2018

SPARE A thought for the hard-up Joseph O’Brien who got fined “half a week’s wages” for speeding offences recently. The Melbourne Cup winning... Read more »

HARD GOING AT GOWRAN

February 8, 2018

UK-BASED teenage prodigy James Bowen didn’t cover himself in glory on his first trip to Ireland as a fully fledged jockey at Gowran... Read more »

KAVANAGH’S PR EXERCISE

February 8, 2018

THE CHIEF executive of Horse Racing Ireland, Brian Kavanagh, took the opportunity to build some bridges recently when he made mollifying comments on... Read more »