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1 week ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Dermot Weld is set to target next month’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby with Purview and described as “unlikely” any tilt at Epsom next week with his promising colt. Winner of a Dundalk maiden on his debut in November, Purview reappeared in Leopardstown’s Derby Trial over a fortnight ago and ran a very promising second to Delacroix. The colt now heads betting for Saturday week’s Derby but Weld is lukewarm on the idea of taking Delacroix on again at Epsom.
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1 week ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Kyprios, arguably the best stayer seen in Europe for decades, was retired on Tuesday after aggravating an old injury. Aidan O’Brien’s seven-year-old stalwart had been on course to win a third Ascot Gold Cup next month but took a couple of false steps after his latest success at Leopardstown.
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1 week ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Trainer and former RTÉ racing pundit Ted Walsh has successfully appealed a €3,000 fine imposed on him under “Non-Trier” rules at Wexford earlier this month. However, the horse at the centre of the case, Ta Na La, owned by Walsh’s wife, Helen, is still suspended from racing following an appeal hearing at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Monday.
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1 week ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
If a week is a long time in politics then three weeks in the life of a thoroughbred can be transformational as Lake Victoria proved with her Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas success at the Curragh on Sunday. Rarely can an outstanding champion juvenile have finished only sixth in a classic and left connections so pleased as Lake Victoria did after her effort behind Desert Flower in the Newmarket Guineas earlier this month.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Field Of Gold secured impressive classic consolation at the Curragh on Saturday when landing the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas. An unlucky runner up under an overconfident ride in the Newmarket Guineas earlier this month, Field Of Gold won Ireland’s first classic of 2025 under replacement jockey Colin Keane. The evens favourite beat another Juddmonte owned horse Cosmic Year by almost four lengths with Hotazhell first of the home team in third.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Statistical trends point to success for Field Of Gold in Saturday’s Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh, and for many, so will the evidence of their own eyes. The Juddmonte-owned son of Kingman started a hot favourite for the Newmarket Guineas earlier this month, only to emerge an unlucky loser. His jockey Kieran Shoemark admitted to over-confidence, such was the ease with which Field Of Gold travelled into the dip at Newmarket.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
It’s not often one classic serves as a “prep” for another but it can pay off for Lake Victoria in Sunday’s Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh. Aidan O’Brien’s filly is the clear top-rated on official figures among the dozen lining up for the €500,000 highlight on the back of her superb two-year-old career. A triple-Group One winner in three different countries, Lake Victoria was Europe’s champion juvenile filly in advance of Godolphin’s star Desert Flower.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
It is 25 years since the late Aga Khan told an audience he was tired of parking his keister in unsatisfactory surroundings at the Curragh racecourse. He put it rather more eloquently than that, declaring himself “an articulate sufferer at racecourses that do not meet acceptable standards of efficiency, convenience, practicality and comfort”. Instead of just moaning, he did something about it. It can be argued that a vastly wealthy royal could afford to put his money where his mouth was.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Donnacha O’Brien is set to be double-handed in his attempts to win a first Irish classic as a trainer at the Curragh this weekend. The 26-year-old former champion jockey saddled a classic winner in his first season with a training license after Fancy Blue landed the 2020 French Oaks at Chantilly. During a short but stellar riding career that twice saw him crowned champion jockey, Aidan O’Brien’s youngest son memorably landed the 2018 Irish Derby for his brother Joseph on Latrobe.
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2 weeks ago | 
irishtimes.com | Brian O'Connor
Colin Keane will hope classic trends continue in Saturday’s Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas as Ireland’s champion jockey has been snapped up for the ante-post favourite Field Of Gold. Runner up to Ruling Court in the Newmarket Guineas earlier this month, Field Of Gold will bid for classic consolation in the Curragh’s €500,000 highlight. Field Of Gold’s sire Kingman managed that feat in 2014 after an unlucky defeat at Newmarket.
