Article Category: Sport of Kings

VICHAI’S DEEP POCKETS

June 29, 2017

GOFFS hosted international racing’s plutocrats at The Orangery in Kensington Palace on the eve of Royal Ascot last week, when the firm offered... Read more »

ELLIOTT’S NEW GAME

June 15, 2017

NOT CONTENT with equalling the record for the number of jumps winners trained in a season, Gordon Elliott has set his sights on... Read more »

AL THANI’S HYDROGEN PROBLEM

June 15, 2017

WHEN SHEIKH Fahad Al Thani forked out the sale-topping sum of 2.5m guineas for a Galileo yearling half-brother to Epsom Derby winner Authorized... Read more »

BOLGER’S BARK

June 15, 2017

JIM BOLGER has never been a man to mince his words and he didn’t hold back recently when describing Pat Smullen’s performance in... Read more »

HEAVY GOING AT GODOLPHIN

June 15, 2017

THE GODOLPHIN racing and breeding operation of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum has been playing second fiddle to John Magnier’s Coolmore and Ballydoyle enterprises... Read more »

COMER CASE CLOSED?

June 2, 2017

THE TURF CLUB certainly finds itself in an awkward position with moneybags Luke Comer these days. After handing out another €2,500 fine plus... Read more »

ENGLISH LESSON

June 2, 2017

UP AND COMING young Dublin trainer, Damien English, has carved out a well-earned reputation for buying cheap cast-offs from other trainers and developing... Read more »

MOOLAH FOR McCARTAN

June 2, 2017

JIM McCARTAN has been having a stellar season at the breeze up sales (see The Phoenix 5/5/17) and he landed another almighty touch... Read more »

Tatts v Goffs

June 2, 2017

With two strong Irish companies operating in the small market of Irish bloodstock sales there is always going to be attempts to get... Read more »

CATHAL BEALE’S BIG JOB

May 17, 2017

CATHAL BEALE would not have been a name at the top of many people’s lists when it came to the chief executive vacancy... Read more »

DAVID WACHMAN’S ‘WINNERS’

May 17, 2017

WHEN TRAINER David Wachman announced his plan to retire from training last year, a lot of eyebrows were raised among the horsey set... Read more »

GOFFS GETs its MAN

May 17, 2017

THERE HAS always been a healthy rivalry between the two Irish sales companies, Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland, but Henry Beeby and his team... Read more »

JESSICA’s SYNDICATE

May 17, 2017

THERE WERE celebrations in Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) when the Jessica Harrington-trained Tilly’s Chilli toughed out a game success at Roscommon recently, the... Read more »

WHAT BREXIT?

May 3, 2017

THE IMPENDING Brexit hasn’t had much negative impact on bloodstock trade in Britain thus far, if prices at recent auctions are anything to... Read more »

JUMPING FOR JOY

May 3, 2017

WHILE THE flat breeze up market is no doubt underpinned to a certain extent by Arab money, there are no such resources fuelling... Read more »

JOHN OSBORNE’s STEPPING STONE

May 3, 2017

HRI HAS strengthened its management team with the recent appointment of both Jonathan Mullin and John Osborne. The latter looks to have bigger... Read more »

TAKING ON WILLIE MULLINS

May 3, 2017

THE Punchestown Festival coincided with the culmination of the epic battle for the champion jumps trainer award between young pretender (and eventual runner-up)... Read more »

LUKE COMER’S PROBATION

April 19, 2017

LUKE COMER SNR’S plan to develop a state-of-the-art training centre at his property in Kilternan had a setback recently and the jury is... Read more »

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR JAMIE CODD

April 19, 2017

AS TRAINERS Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott continue their high profile battle for the Irish trainers championship, there is another contest going on... Read more »

BIG YEAR FOR JOHN OXX

April 19, 2017

IT WAS good to see John Oxx start off the flat season with a nice winner but he is facing a tough season... Read more »

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S PRIORITIES

April 19, 2017

IT HAS been a less than impressive start to the flat season for Aidan O’Brien but he is getting ready for the first... Read more »

KIERAN FALLON’S FUTURE

April 5, 2017

FORMER MULTIPLE champion jockey and all round troubled soul, Kieran Fallon, is seriously considering a training career. Fallon has spent the winter in... Read more »

MAGNIER AND SHEIKH MOHAMMED

April 5, 2017

THE LONG-RUNNING and entertaining coolness between the Coolmore and Godolphin powerhouses looks to be finally fizzling out. For many years there has been... Read more »

PAT DOYLE’S LATE CALL

April 5, 2017

AN INTERESTING scenario was revealed at Cork races recently after the Pat Doyle-trained Kaiser Black won a five-runner maiden hurdle in effortless fashion.... Read more »

BLUEBLOODS AT NAAS

April 5, 2017

NAAS RACECOURSE manager Tom Ryan was no doubt excited to have hosted the opening day of the flat season recently, after the curtain-raiser... Read more »

Wayne Jordan’s Rough Ride

April 5, 2017

ON JUST his second ride for Aidan O’Brien since joining the Ballydoyle squad of jockeys, Wayne Lordon found himself in hot water with... Read more »

CHASING THE IRISH NATIONAL

March 23, 2017

WITH AN increased prize-fund of a cool €1/2m, the Boylesports Irish Grand National is now Ireland’s most valuable jumps race – one that... Read more »

THE JAPANESE ARE COMING

March 23, 2017

LEOPARDSTOWN boss Pat Keogh has long made known his desire to see a Japanese-trained horse compete at the track and he has come... Read more »

CHELTENHAM TALES

March 23, 2017

CHELTENHAM delivered the usual array of stories but it is a festival one jockey will rather forget. Barry Geraghty’s injury two weeks before... Read more »

SARAH FORAN’S TAX BILL

March 23, 2017

Sarah Foran (Left) RACEHORSE owner, Sarah Foran may have to scale back her racing interests after she made a €114,000 settlement with the... Read more »

PHILIP’S CHELTENHAM HOPES

March 9, 2017

PHILIP REYNOLDS, son of former Taoiseach Albert, had a day to remember in March last year when he saw his own silks in... Read more »

RACE ON FOR NEW STUD BOSS

March 9, 2017

OUTGOING Irish National Stud (INS) chief executive John Osborne certainly won’t be paying Brian Kavanagh a debt of gratitude any time soon. Meanwhile,... Read more »

Tough Turf Club Tactics

March 9, 2017

The Turf Club’s stewards are not shy about implementing the new rules for alleged “non-triers”, particularly so when it comes to the smaller... Read more »

SHEIKH FAHAD’S JUMPER

March 9, 2017

QATARI SHEIKH Fahad Al Thani has a good chance of adding a Cheltenham Festival win to his international haul of big race wins,... Read more »

MULLINS STILL The FAVOURITE

February 23, 2017

IN RECENT years, Willie Mullins has made the Cheltenham Festival his own and bookmakers seem to think this year will be no different... Read more »

TAMMY’S NEW ROLE

February 23, 2017

TAMMY O’BRIEN (Right) TAMMY O’BRIEN, for 20 years a star of the Coolmore and Ballydoyle operation, is moving on to take up a... Read more »