Ger Lyons

Ger Lyons trainee Babouche (GB) (Kodiac {GB}--Pavlosk, by Arch) was all the rage at the tills for Friday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Cork and justified odds-on favouritism with a 'TDN Rising Star' display in the six-furlong contest. She becomes the fifth Rising Star for Kodiac, whose others include last term's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas placegetter Hi Royal (Ire). Babouche, who holds entries for the June 29 G2 Airlie Stud S. and Aug. 19 G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., broke smartly and led the smaller far-side...

Bouncing back from a return sixth in the seven-furlong G3 Ballylinch Stud "Priory Belle" S. at Leopardstown last month, Juddmonte's illustriously-bred Wendla (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}--Intercontinental {GB}, by Danehill) benefitted from a masterclass from Colin Keane to cause a minor upset back at that venue in Sunday's G3 Al Shira'aa Racing "Mutamakina" S. Always at the fore with the pace modest, the Ger Lyons-trained daughter of the operation's high-class Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine led the sprint for home in the mile test and had enough in hand to...

There is toughness in racehorses and then there is Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) and Juddmonte's irrepressible front-runner played her usual trump card for a career-best success in Leopardstown's G2 Romanised Minstrel S. on Thursday. In front early and again passing two out, the G3 Brownstown S., G3 Cornelscourt S. and Listed Ingabelle S. winner kept pulling it out to justify 11-5 favouritism by 3/4 of a length from Honey Girl (GB) (Mayson {GB}). This was win number four from her last six starts, with her run interrupted by a fourth...

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...

8th-Gulfstream, $74,000, Alw (C), Opt. Clm ($75,000), 3-10, 4yo/up, 7 1/2fT, 1:27.25, fm, 2 1/2 lengths. DR ZEMPF (GB) (g, 4, Dark Angel {Ire}--Souvenir Delondres {Fr} {GSW-Fr, $138,754}, by Siyouni {Fr}), narrowly second in the 2021 G1 Phoenix S. while under the care of Ger Lyons, won the Listed Leopardstown 2000 Guineas Trial on seasonal debut last April before adding the G3 Ballycorus S. two starts later. Last seen finishing down the field behind subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Mile third Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 City of York...

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...

When you have a limited number of bullets to fire, you can't expect to hit the target too often, let alone on Irish Oaks day at the Curragh, but Ronan Fitzpatrick, racing manager to Mark Dobbin, sensed something special was in the offing on Saturday. So much so, Fitzpatrick, full sure that either Cairde Go Deo (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) or Ladies Church (GB) (Churchill {Ire}) were going to do something special this weekend, had worked himself into a tizzy about doing a post-race interview with RTE's Brian Gleeson. He needn't...

Disappointing when only fifth trying a mile in The Curragh's Listed Tetrarch S. May 2, Peter Brant's TDN Rising Star Dr Zempf (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was back in his comfort zone in Thursday's G3 Ballycorus S. as he successfully returned to the seven-furlong trip and Leopardstown venue of his Apr. 2 Listed 2000 Guineas Trial S. win. In front initially before handed a lead by the eventual third Pretreville (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}), the 13-8 favourite who was also runner-up in the G1 Phoenix S. in August blew by that...