John O'Donoghue

"A victory for small breeders!" That was the emphatic verdict from an emotional Muriel Knox after her family had topped Tuesday's opening session of the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale with their homebred Havana Grey (GB) filly for £240,000. Mark McStay's Avenue Bloodstock struck the winning bid on behalf of Skara Glen Stables. Lot 157 might have been consigned by Sarah Fanning Sales, but it's fair to say that this was a Knox filly through and through with Miss Mercy (Ire) (Law Society) as her fourth dam, a mare...

The spotlight was cast on the burgeoning breeze-up operation of jockeys Gary Halpin and Sean Davis, best known for riding winners rather than producing them, when their graduate Song For Whoever (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) ran out an impressive winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Dundalk on Friday evening.  Song For Whoever, who Halpin and Davis bought for €28,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale last year before selling to Howson & Holdsworth Bloodstock for £42,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, was getting off the mark at the third...

Royal Ascot 2022 had everything and from Ryan Moore playing with his rivals like a cat does with a mouse, to Charlie Appleby revealing he is eyeing a tilt at the A$10-million Golden Eagle with Noble Truth (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) after the gelding won the G3 Jersey S., the fifth and final day generated many more talking points. Brian Sheerin has been digesting the action for the week and is back once again to flesh out the major takeaways from Saturday's action.   Appleby Bidding To Snare The Eagle With...

By Alayna Cullen and Emma Berry The start of the Irish Flat turf season is now only a matter of weeks away and one man who will be itching to make an impression this year is John O'Donoghue, the new trainer at one of Ireland's most revered stables, Currabeg.  Training at the yard from which John Oxx sent out so many top horses, not least Sea The Stars (Ire), Sinndar (Ire) and Ridgewood Pearl (GB), could bring with it a degree of pressure, but Oxx's successor prefers to view it...