Ken Condon

One of the youngest consignors in the business, Fearghal Hogan has enjoyed some brilliant pinhooking results under his own Churchland Stud banner and at just 33 years of age, he can boast something that the majority in this business can only ever aspire to achieve, through his joint-ownership of Group 1 winner Laws Of Indices.  The County Carlow native is refreshingly honest about the fact he found the going tough at the yearling sales in 2024, opens up about some of his biggest touches in the game and shares plans...

We all have our favourites, and this week members of TDN Europe's editorial team each select a horse who provided particular enjoyment in 2023. Kicking off the series, Brian Sheerin puts forward the case for the sprinter whose victory in the G1 Flying Five was made all the more special by his human connections. I don't know about you, but I love an underdog story. Perhaps that is why I fell in love with National Hunt racing at a young age. Danoli (Ire), Bobbyjo (Ire) and Papillon (Ire) developed something...

First there was the Live In The Dream (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) at 28-1 in the Nunthorpe, then Saturday's Haydock Sprint Cup turn-up courtesy of the 10-1 shot Regional (GB) (Territories {Ire}) and now Moss Tucker (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}--Rare Symphony {Ire}, by Pastoral Pursuits {GB}) to complete the shock treble at 16-1 in Sunday's G1 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five S. at the Curragh, a GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint qualifier. This looked a surefire renewal for the Brits on form, but one by one Highfield Princess (Fr)...

   One of the finest turf trainers in America, Phil D'Amato has done exceptionally well with his European imports in recent years, highlighted by Grade I winner Going Global and more recently American Oaks scorer Rhea Moon.     In this week's Q&A with Brian Sheerin, D'Amato explained how, with the help of Niall Dalton, Craig Rounsefell and BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe, he has built one of the most competitive stables in America.      Read about his approach to finding 'diamonds in the rough' on a budget, his training methods and...

More records were broken at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale on Thursday as David Ryan went to €300,000, the highest price ever paid for a yearling at this sale, to secure a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) filly (lot 713) on behalf of Rabbah Bloodstock from Abbeville Stud. Trade sky-rocketed at the Orby Sale on Tuesday and Wednesday and the opening session of the two-day Sportsman's Sale at Goffs was much the same. Of the 245 yearlings offered, 217 found new homes, representing a clearance rate of 89%. However, what was most impressive...

The GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 6 is on the long-term radar for Laws Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), who earned a first Group 1 win in last weekend's G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville. Trainer Ken Condon, however, has his sights set first on a return trip to Deauville for the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest next month and the G1 Prix de la Foret on Oct 3 for the €8,000 Goffs Autumn yearling graduate. "The Maurice de Gheest is on Aug. 8," said Condon....

One horse overshadowed all other news items of the past week as the bloodstock world came to terms with the death of Galileo (Ire) at the age of 23.  Fulsome tributes have been paid to him from across the globe with the overwhelming feeling being that we will never see his like again. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that many of us felt the same when his own extraordinary sire Sadler's Wells died 10 years ago. That colossus of the breeding world appeared in the third or fourth...

Unexposed at this seven-furlong trip and staying on in eye-catching fashion when fifth in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 18, Charlotte Holmes's G2 Railway S. winner Laws of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}) benefitted from a masterclass of front-running riding from Olivier Peslier to take Sunday's G1 Haras d'Etreham Prix Jean Prat at Deauville. Sent off at 29-1, the Ken Condon-trained bay quickly established a comfortable lead racing up the centre and saw off one by one the threats of the fillies Reina Madre (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) and...

Group 2 winner Laws of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), fourth in the G3 Goffs Lacken S. at Naas on May 16, will likely make a quick return in the G2 Sandy Lane S. at Haydock on May 22. Successful in the G2 Railway S. as a juvenile and third in the 2020 G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in October, the Ken Condon trainee was fifth in the Listed Ballylinch Stud "Red Rocks" 2000 Guineas Trial S. at Leopardstown in the wake of subsequent G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas victor Poetic Flare...

Doreen Tabor's Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) will take up a Classic assignment in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches on May 16, trainer Ken Condon reports. Miss Amulet won Naas's Listed Marwell S. last August before beating Wednesday's G3 Nell Gwyn S. scorer Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) by a length in the G2 Lowther S., after which she was purchased privately by Tabor. Miss Amulet rounded out her juvenile campaign with placed efforts in the G1 Cheveley Park S. and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf....

Classic winner Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}-Romantic Venture {Ire}, by Indian Ridge {Ire}) has been retired from racing and will enter stud in 2021 at Haras de Bouquetot in Normandy, France, for a fee of €7,000. Campaigned by Robert Ng and trained by Ken Condon, Romanised won at first asking in April of his 2-year-old campaign and was second to eventual G1 Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in the G3 Solario S. that fall. He sprang a 25-1 upset when beating US Navy Flag (War Front) in...

G1 Irish 2000 Guineas hero Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) is still a potential candidate for the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile at the Longines Hong Kong International Races in mid-December at Sha Tin. Although third when favoured after a slow beginning at Dundalk on Monday, the 5-year-old won the G2 Minstrel S. earlier this year and was sixth in the G1 Prix du Moulin in September. Also a winner of the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, the Ken Condon trainee's performance has not discouraged his connections. "I think...