Trainers
Stowaway revealed
Friday, February 11th, 2011Jumps sires are often dead or infirm by the time their merits become apparent. Stowaway has just turned 17 so given average luck he should be active for another 4 or 5 years (hopefully more). His merits are now becoming abundantly clear and National Hunt breeders should be placing him near the top of their lists when [...]
M J Kinane-worth remembering
Monday, December 28th, 2009Mick Kinane announced his retirement at the start of December. His decision to retire after his annus mirabilis with Sea the Stars is indicative of a jockey who had a perfect sense of timing. Many of the glowing tributes described him as the ‘best flat jockey that Ireland ever produced’. I’m not convinced he was demonstrably better than Pat [...]
Farewell M.V.O’Brien
Thursday, June 11th, 2009Vincent O’Brien was my hero. In the post war decades, he showed that Irish people didn’t have to emigrate to succeed on the world stage. In an Ireland that seemed to lack ambition, Vincent always strived for perfection- and usually attained it. He was more than just an incredible trainer he was the ultimate pedigree analyst. It [...]
Arc Weekend-winners and losers
Thursday, October 9th, 2008With 7 Group Ones and four Group 2′s spread over the Saturday and Sunday, Arc weekend is as good as it gets in Europe. All age groups, all distances all sexes are catered for with championship honours up for grabs. This years results threw up a lot of surprises with plenty of items to debate. [...]
Sires in Form- Mere Coincidence?
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008There is a popular thread on the betfair breeding forum regarding ‘sires in form’. Forumites diligently monitor and report upon those sires who are having the most winners in a particular month. Thus far in July Royal Applause has had 18 winners, ahead of Bahamian Bounty and Kheleyf. Every month seems to see different sires [...]
Royal Ascot Reflections
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Big Winners:
1.Coolmore/Ballydoyle. It couldn’t have gone any better for Ballydoyle/Coolmore. 6 Winners, 4 Group 1 winners, all colts, all eligible for a place on the stallion roster. Another 5 winners were by Coolmore stallions.The only surprise was their lack of two year old firepower . Maybe this a reflection of a tweaking of the training regime by Aidan O’Brien or maybe this years crop just aren’t precocious.
Hebridean- a Ballydoyle blueblood?
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008Aidan O’ Brien totally dominated the Guineas weekend at the Curragh. He won three Group 1′s, two Group 3′s and a Listed race. Many racing people would argue that such success is only to be expected given the quality of the horses stabled at Ballydoyle. The argument goes that good horses make good trainers and [...]
Jim Bolger’s favourite sires- 3 out 4 ain’t bad
Saturday, May 24th, 2008Jim Bolger is an opinionated man, often described as straight talking or as “not afraid of controversy”. As a trainer he has never found favour with Coolmore Inc, which is surprising as they owe him a great deal. Bolger deserves all the credit for moulding their greatest human asset in Aidan O’ Brien and their greatest [...]
