Tag Archives: Cheltenham Racing Festival

Quin will be hopping if Galvin wins steeplechasing’s blue riband, writes Michael Duggan who speaks to the breeders of the horse WHEN close friends Sean O’Brien and Gay O’Gara, decided to breed from their Galway Festival-winning mare, Burren Moonshine, neither in their wildest dreams would have predicted that, one day, one of her offspring, Galvin, would be a leading contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Both now living in Quin – O’Brien is a Tyrone native, while O’Gara’s roots are from rural County Roscommon – the pair are fiercely proud that a horse they jointly bred is fancied in such an historic and iconic race. Chatting to the Clare Champion ahead of Friday week’s showpiece, O’Gara said: “Obviously, we weren’t thinking in terms of the Gold Cup, but I knew Galvin was special right from the word go. “I lunged him at home before he went to the sales and, even then, there was something about him that stood out. …

Michael Duggan catches up with one of the top amateurs in the game ahead of his return to Cheltenham this week DEREK O’Connor missed out on last year’s Cheltenham Festival due to amateur riders not being allowed to compete at the behind-closed-doors meeting. That surely will make the Tubber man’s return to Cheltenham next week all the sweeter, where he will have a few very fancied rides. O’Connor has enjoyed a terrific career, making him a household name in racing circles on both sides of the Irish Sea. Over 1,200 point-to-point winners makes him the winning-most rider of all time between the flags. A memorable success aboard Joseph O’Brien’s Edwulf in the 2019 Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, meanwhile, is another standout moment on his glittering CV. In recent times, the 39-year-old has set up base at Fiddaun on the Clare/Galway border where his busy life sees him combine his role as an agent for leading sales company Goffs UK, …

A KILLALOE horse trainer received a late Christmas present when Poetic Rhythm helped him to land his first Grade 1 winner. Fergal O’Brien was thrilled when his horse crowned what has been a terrific year for him by winning the Betfred Challow Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday. O’Brien, who used to be head lad to Nigel Twiston-Davies and now rents his old second yard, has sent out 46 winners this season, the vast majority ridden by Paddy Brennan from Ardrahan. Having broken his seasonal-best tally back in April, along with claiming a maiden Grade 2 winner at Sandown in February, the Naunton handler celebrated another landmark achievement as the six-year-old came out on top in a thrilling renewal. After chasing down long-time leader Mulcahys Hill, the 15/8 favourite forged on over the last in the hands of Paddy Brennan, before repelling the late fightback from the Warren Greatrex-trained runner by a short head. It was a close-run thing at the …

WILLIE Mullins is the man to follow at the four-day Cheltenham Racing Festival, where the champion trainer holds a huge hand. Dominant on both sides of the Irish Sea all season, Mullins knows what it takes to win at the festival, having saddled a total of 41 winners since breaking his duck at Prestbury Park, when Tourist Attraction landed the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle back in 1995. With a battalion of top-class horses at his disposal, the Closutton maestro will have fancied runners in most of the 28 races and could well equal or surpass last year’s record-breaking tally of eight winners. Tuesday’s opening afternoon could well be dominated by the Mullins/Ruby Walsh alliance, with Min (Supreme Novices), Douvan in the Arkle, the supplemented Annie Power in the Champion Hurdle and Vroom Vroom Mag in the mares’ hurdle all short prices for respective races. Bookmakers were spared a huge pay-out 12 months ago when Annie Power fell at the final flight …