Sarah Lynam has been forced to press pause on her training career after a number of serious falls and concussions has left her with no other option but to take time out from the profession in order to recuperate fully.  Daughter of Eddie Lynam, who earned the nickname of 'Fast Eddie' through his handling of [...]

The Tattersalls December Mares Sale marked the end of an era with Paul and Sara Thorman bringing the curtain down on their Trickledown Stud.  Trickledown made its first public offering back in 1990 and has seen a kaleidoscope of change in the industry ever since.  The Thormans will forever be associated for having back-to-back 2,000 [...]

The much-loved Robert Hall, who fronted Ireland's terrestrial television coverage of racing on RTE for 37 years before retiring in 2020, says he is optimistic of “a forward showing” but more importantly “something to build on” with his first horse, Frogman (Ire) (Ol' Man River {Ire}), who makes his eagerly-anticipated debut in the closing bumper [...]

There is a new name over the door at Copper Beech Stables, one of the finest training establishments in Ireland, with trainer Cormac Farrell confirming that he has taken over the yard from Michael Halford. It was last February when Halford, who had sent out almost 500 winners from Copper Beech Stables in 16 full [...]

Anyone who bets on racing will know too well the perils that come with predicting the outcome of a sporting event. But what if we take it a couple of steps further and, for a bit of fun, try and gaze into the crystal ball and see what could be in store for 2024? From [...]

Freddie McKibbin has established himself as one of the most recognisable auctioneers at Tattersalls in a short space of time. The achievement is impressive enough given McKibbin is just 25 years of age. But the fact that he didn't set out to be an auctioneer in the first place is all the more creditable.  McKibbin [...]

There will be a lot of I-told-you-sos when looking back on the first-season sires' championship with Blue Point (Ire) living up to his lofty billing by amassing 50 individual winners in Europe including two Group 1 scorers in what can only be described as a dream debut season.  The pledge of support behind Blue Point [...]

It has been a big year for Whitsbury Manor Stud. From a landmark result with homebred Chaldean going on to win the 2,000 Guineas for Juddmonte, his half-sister Get Ahead selling for 2.5m gns at public auction and the continued rise of superstar stallion Havana Grey, 2023 has been the gift that keeps on giving [...]

The breeding stock sales are, by definition, where many of the best broodmares and foals are offered under the hammer, but many fine racing prospects have emerged from these sessions in recent years.  Some farm the sales better than others, notably trainers Joseph O'Brien and Paddy Twomey, who have made a habit of replenishing their [...]

Caoimhe Doherty, co-founder of Treo Eile, described the third running of the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic–won by Charlie Swan and Kikki Curran–as a huge success.  Treo Eile was established in 2020 with the aim of increasing the retraining of ex-racehorses. Many stars, both equine and human, showcased their talents at the Christmas Show at [...]

There were emotional scenes in the early parts of the Saturday session at Arqana when Without Words (Mendelssohn), who Mick Murphy and Sarah O'Connell of Longways Stables failed to sell at the breeze-up here in May, was knocked down to Justin Casse on behalf of Joseph O'Brien for €450,000.  Without Words carried O'Connell's colours to [...]

Arqana boss Freddy Powell says he is optimistic the sales company can end the year on a high as leading vendors Gwen Monneraye of la Motteraye and Charles Brière of the Fairway Consignment reported strong footfall on the eve of the breeding stock sale.  The sales figures for the breeding stock sale in Britain and [...]