Colin Keane

Ger Lyons has been competing at the top table of Irish racing for well over a decade and recorded breakthrough Classic success in 2020 when Siskin (First Defence) stormed to G1 Irish 2000 Guineas glory under Colin Keane at the Curragh. The pair didn't have to wait long to record their second when, just five weeks later, Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) landed the Irish Oaks. Lyons has a typically-strong team of older horses to go to war with this season. Tough Talk and Hellsing appear to be the pick...

For the third time in the last four years and fourth time overall, Colin Keane will be named the Irish Champion Flat Jockey when the Irish Flat season ends at Naas on Sunday. Keane's title comes after battling with rival Billy Lee for the majority of the season. Keane sits on 90 winners, with Lee second, while the 2020/21 runner-up Shane Foley is third. Wayne Lordan, Ben Coen and Seamie Heffernan are next on the list heading into the weekend. Keane was aboard Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) when he won...

Amo Racing's £900,000 Goffs London graduate Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}--Luna Mare {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) bounced back from a first reversal, when seventh in Royal Ascot's June 18 Listed Chesham S., to loosen Aidan O'Brien's stranglehold on Saturday's G2 Alan Smurfit Memorial Beresford S. over one mile at the Curragh. He had earlier accounted for subsequent 'TDN Rising Star' and G2 Golden Fleece S. victor Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in his June 1 debut over seven furlongs here and employed patient tactics at the tail of...

Irish Champions Weekend got under way with Leopardstown's €100,000 Listed Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle S. over seven furlongs, for 2-year-old fillies, which went the way of Ger Lyons and Colin Keane for a second straight edition after Juddmonte's Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}--Pavlosk, by Arch) posted a 2 1/2-length success from Library (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Zarinsk, who backed up a May 22 debut success at the Curragh with a fourth in the G2 Airlie Stud S. back there the following month, was unable to feature at the business end of...

Eleanora Kennedy's 2-year-old filly Mauiewowie (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}--La Chapelle {Ire}, by Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) made it two wins from three starts, and a career high, when annexing Saturday's Listed Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club Curragh S. over five furlongs. In a strong renewal, the 7-4 favourite prevailed by a short head from familiar rival Treasure Trove (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), with Listed Prix La Fleche runner-up Funny Money Honey (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) a further 2 1/2 lengths adrift in third. Saturday, Curragh, Ireland QATAR RACING & EQUESTRIAN...

   There have been a lot of football analogies in racing this week. Most have centered around a hypothetical situation whereby the Kevin De Bruynes or the Erling Haalands of this world were leaving the Premier League for sunnier-and more lucrative pay packets-in foreign leagues.     For all the Manchester City fans out there, you can relax, as the analogy was simply fictional. However, there is nothing fictional about the mass exodus of talent facing British and Irish racing.    Ger Lyons is better qualified than most to speak about...

There's an old proverb that reads, 'All the flowers of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today,' which came to mind when Apricot Twist (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}) ran out a comfortable winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Naas on Wednesday.  In the case of Apricot Twist, who earned herself a TDN Rising Star in pulling over seven lengths clear of her rivals on debut, those seeds were set a long time ago by Rory Mathews at Barouche Stud Ireland.  Apricot Twist is named after the notoriously sweet-scented...

Sent off the 11-8 favourite for Wednesday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Naas, Juddmonte's Apricot Twist (Ire) (Expert Eye {GB}) more than justified that SP to join the TDN Rising Star ranks. The first by her first-season sire (by Acclamation {GB}), the Ger Lyons-trained homebred tracked the pace far side under Colin Keane in the near-six-furlong contest before being allowed to stride to the front over two furlongs from home. Clear soon after, the daughter of the Listed Ruby S. scorer Erysimum (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) was eased down late...

Colin Keane will maintain his partnership with G1 Irish Derby hero Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S. at Ascot next week. The news was confirmed by Barry Mahon, general manager for owners Juddmonte, at the Curragh on Saturday. Ralph Beckett's colt was ridden by Rob Hornby on his first two starts this year, winning the G3 Classic Trial S. at Sandown before finishing third in the Derby at Epsom, but Keane was aboard for the colt's greatest triumph in the Irish...

The Curragh, IRELAND--Saturday's G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby revolved around Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and he didn't disappoint. The fact that Colin Keane was handed the ride at the expense of Rob Hornby, who was aboard the colt at Epsom, provided a fascinating sub-plot to the race and both men emerged from the weekend with reputations not only intact but enhanced. Westover was the winner the Curragh needed and his victory tees up a fascinating rematch between himself and the Derby hero Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the...

Saturday's G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby had been teed up as a match between Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Mirabilis, by Lear Fan) and Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), but in the ultimate assessment it was really a matter of no contest as Ralph Beckett's powerhouse colt overwhelmed all assembled for the Curragh Classic. Always travelling in a beautiful rhythm for Colin Keane granted a perfect lead by French Claim (Fr) (French Fifteen {Fr}), the 11-8 joint-favourite took control at the top of the straight and had already stretched into an unassailable...

Following a quiet few days in the aftermath of Ascot and Chantilly, things get moving again on Saturday with The Curragh staging one of the most interesting renewals of the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for some time. A race that has from time to time in recent years been under the shadow of the European Pattern Committee's guillotine has pulled a trick out of the hat this year to ensure it keeps its exalted status for the immediate future at least. Aidan O'Brien has come to tick off...