He may hail from a family that will forever be associated with one of Ireland's most famous jumps horses but trainer Pat Foley has been making a name for himself on the Flat of late and sent out the well-named Special Wan (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) to record an emphatic debut success at Leopardstown last week.  [...]

Jim Kavanagh, the retired racehorse trainer who has showcased his vast collection of Irish racing memorabilia at the Courthouse in County Kildare for five years now, has made a passionate plea for support from the industry to keep his rare treasures alive by finding a permanent home for the museum.  At 80 years of age, [...]

Ado McGuinness has described the Galway Festival as a place for the ordinary man to make a name for himself and revealed that he will be aiming up to 20 horses at this year's seven-day bonanza, headed by the remarkable Current Option (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).  Bidding for a fourth successive triumph in the “Ahonoora” Handicap [...]

Tattersalls has been a happy hunting ground for Najd Stud in recent years and the powerful Saudi outfit struck for the 210,000gns top lot Tabaretta (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) on the final day of the July Sale. Tabaretta (lot 902) has good form under his belt and boasts a rating of 90 after eight starts for [...]

Royal Ascot-placed Balalaika (Ire) (No Nay Never) was the headline act at the July Sale on Thursday when selling to BBA Ireland's Eamonn Reilly for 330,000gns with the agent coming out best in an entertaining tussle for the Rebecca Menzies-trained filly.  Bred by the late Sir Robert Ogden, Balalaika is out of an unraced Frankel [...]

Hurricane Fly (Ire), Un De Sceaux (Fr), Vautour (Fr) and Faugheen (Ire). You name them, Harold Kirk has bought them. But did the leading bloodstock agent snap up the next jumps star to join Ireland's dominant champion National Hunt handler Willie Mullins? Ethical Diamond (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) was the only reason that Kirk travelled to [...]

Buoyed by one of his biggest results this summer with Royal Ascot winner Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) putting his name in lights, leading bloodstock agent Billy Jackson-Stops will be on the lookout for his next headline act at the Tattersalls July Sale this week. However, the man who sourced Tom Clover's brilliant G2 Duke [...]

One of the most exciting horses catalogued in next week's Tattersalls July Sale, Ethical Diamond (Ire) is likely to appeal to buyers for the Flat and some of the powerhouse National Hunt trainers, according to his breeder William Kennedy. Ethical Diamond confirmed himself a horse with a bright future when running out an easy winner [...]

Legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast has announced that his famous Friarstown Stables, from which Classic winners Nebbiolo, Pidget and more recently Awtaad have been trained from, will be offered up for sale.  Prendergast, who turned 91 this week and marked the occasion by sending out Profit Refused to win at Roscommon, quashed any talk of retirement [...]

Fozzy Stack says that Aspen Grove (Ire) is something of a forgotten horse heading into the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. and revealed that there were genuine excuses for her below-par effort in the Irish 1,000 Guineas when the Justify filly was found to be in season.  Aspen Grove carried Craig Bernick's distinctive silks to [...]

Aidan O'Brien says that he is looking forward to seeing what Paddington (GB), the brilliant Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace S. winner, can do over an extra two furlongs in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday and says the colt has made rare progress this season.  Paddington provided O'Brien with a record 83rd [...]

Craig Bennett of Merry Fox Stud, joint-breeder of arguably the most exciting juvenile filly in training Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}), recalls how a visit to Coolmore Stud a number of years back made a lasting impression.  Not for the sheer expanse of the operation, or the might of the stallions the world-renowned County Tipperary [...]