Just over 12 months ago a forum was held in Newmarket to consider the opportunities and challenges facing the racing industry across the world in the areas of education and community engagement and development. In attendance were prominent industry figures from Britain, Ireland, France, America, Japan and Australia and the momentum created by this event, [...]

KILDARE, Ireland–The opening day of the rescheduled Goffs November Sale got off to a lukewarm start on Friday, with present circumstances understandably impacting trade. Last year's opening day was highlighted by a €100,000 session topper with seven foals selling for €50,000 or more, while 69.5% of the offered foals changed hands at an average of [...]

KILDARE, Ireland–Those among us who leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute have the perfect opportunity to give the gift of a foal or a mare this festive period given the timing of this year's rescheduled Goffs November Foal and Breeding Stock Sale. With current events requiring the sale to be pushed back almost [...]

The Kavanagh family of Kildaragh Stud have been esteemed breeders and vendors for many years, so when an offshoot of the Kildaragh brand begins a new venture one should definitely sit up and take notice. Step forward AK Thoroughbreds, the fledgling consigning business launched by Alice Kavanagh, daughter of the farm's owners Peter and Antoinette. [...]

A different venue is not the only deviation from the norm as the Goffs Orby Sale takes centre stage in the European yearling sales calendar at Doncaster this week. On the last three occasions she has been represented in this sale Galileo (Ire) has been the sire of the star offering out of stellar producer [...]

The Morrin family's Pier House Stud has been doing business at Goffs for decades and the Curragh-based farm's current custodian Brendan Morrin is continuing the family tradition by sending a strong draft of seven yearlings, a mixture of homebreds and pinhooks, to the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Buyers can be [...]

There may have been relative silence at The Curragh in July when the Ger Lyons-trained Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) won the G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks, but in the Boland household at Piercetown Stud in Meath the decibels were likely to have hit the high notes. Eight months previously the stud's owner Ronnie Boland and [...]

The symbiotic relationship between the Irish and British racing and bloodstock industries has never been so evident as it is on Monday as the Irish yearling sale season gets underway at Park Paddocks in Newmarket with the relocated Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale. As has been the case so far this year with other bloodstock [...]

For the third time in as many years, Friday's Goresbridge Breeze Up will have a different home. Originally developed and hosted by Martin Donohoe's Kilkenny-based auction house, the sale merged with Tattersalls Ireland last year with proceedings transferring successfully to County Meath. Another switch, this one not of the strategic kind rather more out of [...]

The 2020 season had all the ingredients to be a potentially ground-breaking one for trainer Denis Hogan before a COVID spanner was thrown in the works in the spring. With a semblance of normality back in day-to-day lives, Hogan's season is now starting to deliver what it originally promised it might with the trainer basking [...]

While Ireland's flat turf season is still scheduled to get underway at Naas on Sunday, an announcement is expected by Wednesday afternoon regarding the nation. Britain became the latest European country-following France, Germany, Italy and Spain-to call off racing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is conceivable that the Emerald Isle could [...]

The unusual trend of ex-British-trained turf horses upping their game when encountering dirt continued on Saturday when Matterhorn (Ire) (Raven's Pass) proved a dominant winner of the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge R3. The former Mark Johnston- trained 5-year-old had previously shown adaptability on different synthetic surfaces in Britain and he put that adaptability to good [...]