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Over 90 race days – Worth €2,500

PAUL TOWNEND Galopin to glory

Also featuring

DAVY RUSSELL RYAN MOORE HONEYSUCKLE FRANKEL and much more

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STALLIONS GR.1 WINNING MILER BY NEW BAY

FEE: €15,000

ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING SIRES

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CLASSIC WINNER, CLASSIC SIRE

FEE: €10,000

SENSATIONAL YOUNG SIRE BY DUBAWI

NEW BAY.

FEE: €75,000

THE BEST GALILEO SINCE FRANKEL

FEE: €10,000

BAYSIDE BOY.

LOPE DE VEGA.

MAKE BELIEVE.

WALDGEIST.

BALLYLINCH STUD

Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

2024 • Won the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 123 and Gr.2 Champagne Stakes – • Covered 134 mares & the BEST BOOK of any first season sire in Ireland by % winners & % Blacktype Horses

• Sire of 19 individual Gr.1 winners and over 100 career Stakes winners • Over 50 Stakes horses in 2023 including leading 2yos IBERIAN, BEAUVATIER and ROSE BLOOM

• Sire of Classic winning World Champion MISHRIFF • 14 individual 2yo winners in 2023 include 5-length Listed winner SAJIR and Paddy Twomey’s 4 length debut winner & Classic hope PORTERS PLACE

• 14 Stakes horses in 2023 include Gr.1 2yos ALCANTOR, DEVIL’S POINT & SHUWARI • 2023 yearlings made up to €1,650,000 and averaged €128,500 (6.5X their service fee)

• Winner of 4 Group 1s including a vintage Arc –

132

• His progeny in 2023 sold for €360,000, 125,000gns, 120,000gns, 100,000gns, etc.

Te l : + 3 5 3 ( 0 ) 5 6 7 7 2 4 2 1 7 • i n f o @ b a l l y l i n c h s t u d . i e • w w w. b a l l y l i n c h s t u d . i e

CONTENTS EDITORIAL

FEATURE STORY Paul Townend

EXTRAS

AIRO Awards Photos And In Other News Go Racing Promotion I Took That Photo Spread The X Files HRI Awards Nominations

15 16 19 31 38 40

MAIN

Davy Russell Ryan Moore Barry Connell & Michael O’Sullivan Donal Spring Oisín Murphy Wesley Joyce Donagh Meyler

NATIONAL HUNT

Derek Fox & Stephen Mulqueen Keith Donoghue Gordon Elliott Paddy Neville John Gleeson Anthony Bromley Warren Ewing Brian Hayes Danny Gilligan Ricky Doyle

FLAT

Rossa Ryan Natalia Lupini Gary Carroll Fozzy Stack Sean Kirrane Adrian Murray Niall McCullagh Leading Irish Juveniles Leading European Juveniles Older Horses To Follow

74 78 82 86 90 92 96 100 104 106 108 112 116 120 122 126 130 132 136 140

GENERAL

Noel Meade Ben Harvey Adam Caffrey Cian Collins

144 148 150 152

POINT-TO-POINT

Pa King Matty Flynn O’Connor Dara & Oran McGill

154 158 162

BLOODSTOCK

Frankel Honeysuckle & NH Mares Roderic Kavanagh Broodmares Bloodstock Sales Yearling Sales Leading Sires First-Season Sires in 2024 New To Stud in 2024 Stallion Fees

166 170 176 178 182 186 190 196 200 204

STATISTICS, RACE RECORDS & FIXTURES

Championship Stats Top Irish NH Race Winners Top Irish Flat Race Winners Fixtures (Ireland & Point-To-Point) 2

42 48 52 58 62 70 72

207 208 212 215

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

Exciting young sires, looking to the future… £80,000

Fee: October 1st SLF Standing at Beech House Stud, UK

NEW FOR 2024

£15,000

Fee: January 1st SLF Standing at Beech House Stud, UK

£12,500

Fee: January 1st SLF Standing at Beech House Stud, UK

€15,000

Fee: January 1st SLF Standing at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland

€5,000

Fee: January 1st SLF Standing at Derrinstown Stud, Ireland

To book a nomination or arrange a viewing, contact: Ireland – Stephen Collins, Joe Behan or Kay Skehan: +353 (0) 1 6286228 | nominations@derrinstown.com UK – Will Wright: +44 (0)7787 422901 | nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk

View our stallion roster: www.shadwellstud.com

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EDITORIAL

t has been another year of tremendous highs and crushing lows in horse racing and Ireland continues to be operational at the highest level in all spheres. The aim of Irish Racing Yearbook 2024 is to provide a snapshot of some of those. There are plenty of worthy subjects that didn’t make it – no arguments there. But you couldn’t say any of those featured within these pages don’t deserve acknowledgement. For all the enjoyment we get from it, racing is a tough sport as it is an industry. Only the few prosper. That’s the real world, in any sport and industry I know. The catastrophic injuries suffered by Graham Lee offer a reminder, if it were needed, of the dangers for our jockeys in particular, though that applies to anyone who works with horses. Graham did an interview with Edward Prosser for Irish Racing Yearbook 2013 to mark the immediate success of his transition to the flat sphere, having ridden over a thousand winners over jumps, including a Grand National on Amberleigh House in 2004 and a trio of triumphs that led to being leading rider at Cheltenham the following year.

FRE

Over 90 race days – Worth €2,500

Publisher: JOHN FLEMING Editor: DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR Marketing: MEGAN ROGERS KERRY RYAN

PAUL TOWNEND Galopin to glory

Design: THOROUGHBRED ADVERTISING Also featuring

DAVY RUSSELL RYAN MOORE HONEYSUCKLE FRANKEL and much more

€35.00 (£30.00)

Printed by: CHARACTER PRINT SOLUTIONS Distributed by: EASONS Contributors: HARRY ALLWOOD JOHN BERRY

JOHN BOYCE GORDON BROWN GARY CARSON ROBERT CATTERSON BRENDAN COFFEY RORY DELARGY GRAHAM DENCH ANNE MARIE DUFF MICHAEL DUGGAN IAN GAUGHRAN RONAN GROOME ALAN HEWISON LAURA JOY DONN MCCLEAN DR SIEGLINDE MCGEE PATRICK MULLINS

a little

He would make a stunning success of life on the level, winning an Ascot Gold Cup and a Nunthorpe Stakes. How many have done the National-Nunthorpe double I wonder? Galway Graham did. After being unseated from Ben Macdui at Newcastle on November 10 however, Graham suffered serious spinal injuries and remains in hospital after what was said to be a successful surgery on an unstable cervical fracture. His daughter, Amy set up a Just Giving page for the Injured Jockeys Fund that at the time of writing, had already reached £150,000. Anyone reading this is a fan of the sport. If you have a spare few quid, think about contributing to this fund at https://www.justgiving.com/page/ amy-lee-1699871461293. In that context, I should also mention Irish Injured Jockeys, who are always in need of donations too. We all know someone that has needed their help. You will find the necessary links on irishinjuredjockeys.com. After that, thanks for the continuing support. I am indebted to the entire team for ensuring the quality of this year’s edition and I hope you enjoy it. Beir bua. Daragh Ó Conchúir – EDITOR DONAL MURPHY DARREN NORRIS DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR JOHN O’RIORDAN FINTAN O’TOOLE LEO POWELL EDWARD PROSSER MARTIN STEVENS JAMES THOMAS MARCUS TOWNEND MICHAEL VERNEY DENIS WALSH EOGHÁIN WARD JOHNNY WARD GUY WILLIAMS SEB VANCE

Photographs HEALY RACING PETER MOONEY CAROLINE NORRIS Front cover: PAUL TOWNEND CELEBRATES WINNING THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP ON GALOPIN DES CHAMPS Photo: CAROLINE NORRIS

29 Lower Patrick Street Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny. Tel: 056 7761504. Fax: 056 7761510 www.irishracingyearbook.com • TWITTER@IRYOfficial

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

BOUTTEMONT

THE FASTEST-EVER SON OF ACCLAMATION TO RETIRE TO STUD

ACCLAMATION

Proven Multiple Group 1 Sire incl. ROMANTIC WARRIOR Winner of Gr.1 Cox Plate, Gr.1 QE11 Cup (twice), Gr.1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, Hong Kong Derby

BOUTTEMONT

A Group 3-winning sprinter, he won the Prix Hampton over 5f at Chantilly in an electric time of 56.18 s. Bouttemont is Acclamation’s first son to retire to stud in Ireland since Mehmas in 2017

KODI BEAR

Sire of 15 Individual Stakes Performers incl. Stakes Winners GO BEARS GO, THUNDERBEAR, CLOUNMACON, MYSTERY ANGEL, etc. and of ROOM SERVICE Winner of the £300,000 2-Y-O Weatherbys Stakes Race

STATE OF REST

Four time Gr.1 Winner - Top Rated Older Horse in Ireland and France in 2022 (9.5-10.5f.) Support from renowned breeders with an exceptional book of mares covered in his first season

T: +353 (0)25 36362 • E: info@rathbarrystud.com • www.rathbarrystud.com A4 roster ad 2023 2

13/11/2023 14:00

Leading man PAUL TOWNEND

Photos: CAROLINE NORRIS • Words: DONN MCCLEAN

Though preternaturally talented and achieving at the top end almost from the time he got a licence to ride over jumps, Paul Townend elevated his game in 2023

own the back straight for the final time in the Gold Cup and Galopin Des Champs is still well back in the field. Over the water jump and onto the open ditch, he closes up on Sounds Russian in front of him. Paul Townend takes his horse to the right. He could go to the left of his rival, towards the inside, save ground. There is enough room there, he is travelling well enough, but he goes outside. Call it instinct, call it playing the percentages, figuring out the probabilities in an instant while travelling at 30 miles an hour. Call it intuition. The rider reasons, in fractions of seconds, that it has been a busy enough race for him up to that point, and he is travelling well. He doesn’t want to complicate things any more than he needs to. Best to keep it as simple as possible from there. Over the next and Sounds Russian makes a slight mistake towards his inside. Paul Townend sits still though. Church-quiet. He can see the leaders now but it’s a hundred miles from the top of the hill at Cheltenham to the winning post. He hears the crash up ahead all right, and he hears the shouts. He sees the horse on the ground and the red colours of Derek Fox shoot clear. There isn’t much time to do anything, between the landing side of the fence and the point at which you happen upon the horse that has fallen there. There never is. There isn’t much time for evasive action. Lucky, then, that there isn’t much need for evasive action. Ahoy Senor’s fall is flush in Sounds Russian’s path. Sean Quinlan is helpless, hapless. There is nowhere he can go and Sounds Russian goes to ground. By contrast, Galopin Des Champs hardly breaks stride, moves a tiny bit to his right, but maintains his rhythm and moves up easily into fifth place. There’s the bounce of the ball right there. He doesn’t need to be lucky, he just needs not to be unlucky. If the ball bounces the other way, if they go inside instead of outside, Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend would be a footnote to the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Instead, Galopin Des Champ is the hero, the central character, Paul Townend the leading player in the blue riband of national hunt racing. It is a theme that runs through much of the season.

“I think that I can

compartmentalise things better than I used to… I suppose I have more faith in myself now that I am doing the right thing” IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 20224

“I went

waving to the crowd on the way to the winning line, and the pony ducked. Landed me in a bunch of nettles”

Paul Townend is relaxed, sitting easily on the couch, talking about his job as first rider for Willie Mullins. Pressure? Of course. Always pressure. That’s the nature of it. But it’s pressure that you want. “It’s a job that warrants so much respect,” he says. “I feel like I have matured into it. I’ve got a little more confidence in it, but I’d never take it for granted. You can’t. I think if you did, you wouldn’t be doing the job justice. And it’s too big of a job for you to be resting on your laurels. There are a lot of owners investing in it, you feel responsible, you have to perform, a maiden hurdle, a Grade 1, it doesn’t matter. They’re giving you their horse for that five or six minutes. You have a job to do.” He has earned the job though. His roots with Willie Mullins run deep. He showed the promise that attracted the champion trainer’s attention, and he had the talent and the drive and the commitment to grab the opportunities when they presented themselves. “I was so lucky. When I started there, I rode on the flat, got my foot in the door. (First cousin) Davy Condon went to England, to Nicky Richards’, Richie Kiely got hurt while I was there, David Casey was out. Ruby ruptured his spleen at Cheltenham while I was there, and I just kind of fell in for the ride on Hurricane Fly.” He presents it as if he was the only option, but there was way more to it than that. They would have been breaking down the door to ride Hurricane Fly in the Grade 1 Royal Bond Hurdle at Fairyhouse in 2008, and yet, Willie Mullins had enough faith in his young rider to give him the opportunity. Paul Townend was 18 at the time, just at the end of the second year of his Transition Year at Willie Mullins’. It was only four months earlier that he had gained his first major victory when riding Indian Pace for John Kiely to win the Galway Hurdle. He had managed just three winners over jumps before that. When top chasing prospect Cooldine needed a rider on his chasing debut at Thurles the week before the Royal Bond Hurdle, with Ruby Walsh on the sidelines, Mullins had no hesitation in putting the East Cork man up. The teenager had ridden just one winner over fences before that, and he had never won a novices’ chase, but he gave Cooldine the perfect ride, got him into his rhythm early and won by 19 lengths. And it was a similar story on Hurricane Fly in the Royal Bond, cool as you like, his first Grade 1 win on his first Grade 1 ride. Those deep roots foster an innate understanding between trainer and jockey, a mutual appreciation. The blips are inevitable, it’s the nature of the sport, of any sport at the top level, but the blips are only blips. The day after Al Boum Photo ran out at Punchestown’s 2018 festival, Townend rode a treble for Mullins. An hour after Lossiemouth got beaten in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown, he won the Irish Gold Cup on Galopin Des Champs. A day after, it was the Irish Champion Hurdle on State Man. A month after, he won the Triumph Hurdle on Lossiemouth. Willie Mullins phoned Paul Townend after the media hullabaloo that followed the trainer’s post-

race comments on Lossiemouth’s defeat at Leopardstown. “I only said what I said,” said the trainer. “I know,” the jockey replied. There’s that innate understanding right there. It was some season: 23 Grade 1 wins to sail through the century landmark, as well as a first Irish Grand National, the product of one of the best rides that you will ever see in an Irish National, in any National, in any race. Cheltenham was good too. He hoped it would be good. “When you go through the book of rides that I had going to Cheltenham,” he says thoughtfully, “I had strong rides every day. I had a lot of decisions to make. The depth that was there to the runners that we had. There were some tricky decisions. And we were strong in the championship races. It was always going to be difficult for State Man to beat Constitution Hill, we knew that, but he still ran a massive race. Energumene had to leave behind his run in the Clarence House, but we thought that he would. And then there was Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup.” He pauses for a second, considers Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup. “The Gold Cup is the Gold Cup,” he says in a slightly quieter tone. “But I thought that Galopin Des Champs was one of my best rides of the week going over there. Honestly. After riding him at the Dublin Racing Festival, I just thought, ‘If things go right, he has a massive chance.’ And if things had gone wrong during the early part of the week, that he would still be a big bullet to fire in the Gold Cup.” It was in 2019 that Paul Townend won his first Gold Cup on Al Boum Photo. Then he went back in 2020 and won it again on the same horse, just the third horse to win back-to-back Gold Cups since Arkle. “To win the Gold Cup the first time, that was magic. He wasn’t fully expected. I didn’t think that, if I won it a second time, it could be as good. But it was. Every bit as good. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if I happened to win it again.” Things didn’t go wrong during the early part of the week. Quite the contrary actually. Things happen early at Cheltenham, a hundred miles an hour and no pause. Race 1, Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Race 2, Arkle Trophy, rat-tat-tat, the match between El Fabiolo and Jonbon that people had been raving about for weeks, for months. “You want to get a winner on the board at Cheltenham and you want to get a winner on the board early. That’s not being greedy. It’s just the nature of it, the horses we have, the chances we have. The expectation. Facile Vega was beaten by a very good horse (Marine Nationale) in the first race, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, but you put that behind you. You move onto the next race.” Different horse, different race, different contest. “When I got to the top of the hill in the Arkle, and the boys were going at it, I thought, ‘Just have confidence, forget the first race.’ I think that I can compartmentalise things better than I used to. Put IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

PAUL TOWNEND

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 20224

PAUL TOWNEND

“It’s huge

that there is another race. A lot of people go there with one bullet, and if it misses, that’s it until next year”

the first race behind me, the first defeat, and move on. I suppose I have more faith in myself now that I am doing the right thing. And, if El Fabiolo had got beaten, I could have faced that when I came back in too. Move on to the next race. And everyone does. So I was happy enough to take a chance, bide my time.” Townend moved El Fabiolo up nimbly on the inside of Dysart Dynamo at the second-last fence, and the Spanish Moon gelding picked up impressively from there, stretching away from Jonbon up the run-in. “It’s huge that there is another race. A lot of people go there with one bullet, and if it misses, that’s it until next year. It probably helps in riding every day, not just at Cheltenham. If you get beaten on a horse who had a good chance, you go to the next race, the next day, with another horse who has a good chance. I’m very fortunate that way. You give every horse the best ride that you can give him or her, but if you get beaten, you can take the stick, and hopefully the next one will win. I’m in a very lucky position.” The pressure continued. No relenting. Cheltenham Day 1 morphed into Cheltenham Day 2, out on the gallops in the morning, back to the house, try to have a bit of breakfast, have another quick look through the form. All the work is done, but it’s no harm having another look. Refresh everything. “I have a winner on the board. It’s not pressure off, but I have a winner got. Park it and move on, look at

the next day. Wednesday was going to be a big day. I’d had decisions to make in the Ballymore Hurdle, the first race. Impaire Et Passe or Gaelic Warrior or Champ Kiely. You pick it and, once you’re happy with your decision, you go with it. It doesn’t matter that you could have ridden something else, you can’t change it then, you just go and ride your horse. It was a close call too. Like, when you’re doing previews or speaking to people, they’re saying to you, ‘Ah you do know what you’re riding?’ But you don’t. One of them usually sticks their head up and says, ‘Pick me,’ and, in this instance, it was Impaire Et Passe.” Impaire Et Passe wouldn’t impress you hugely at home, he saves a lot for the track, but you know that, and you take that into account when you’re making your decision. In the end, Townend chose right, with Impaire Et Passe leading home a Mullins 1-2-3. Energumene was back. Nine years old and beaten in the Clarence House Chase on his final run before Cheltenham, but he was the reigning Champion Chaser, returning to try to retain his crown. “I remember coming in after riding him in the Clarence House Chase. We were disappointed, but I said to Willie and the owners, ‘He’s not done with.’ It wasn’t his true running. I just didn’t think that he operated on the day. He was beaten going to the last, and he shouldn’t have been. I thought that he wasn’t in the form that he was in at Ascot the

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

S A LE S D AT E S 2 0 24 February NH Sale 30 - 31 January Tattersalls Ireland Breeze Up Sale 23 - 24 May May Store Sale** 30 May Derby Sale** 26 - 27 June July Store Sale** 23 - 25 July September Yearling Sale* 24 - 25 September Part II 26 September November NH Sale 8 - 14 November Sapphire Sale* 15 - 16 November These dates are subject to change. * featuring the €250,000 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes **featuring the €100,000 Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper

T: +353 1 8864300 info@tattersalls.ie www.tattersalls.ie

v2Tattersalls Ireland | 2023 | Sale Dates | A4.indd 1

01/11/2023 13:58

PAUL TOWNEND

previous year, but that he still had a bit of fire in his belly. We learned a lot from that day too, because he’s a brilliant jumper, and to ride over the fences with the white aprons, it was something different, something new. I thought that he was humming at home before Cheltenham. Then the rain came. Everything was in his favour.” Energumene was brilliant. Coasted around and won easily. Another Cheltenham winner, another Champion Chase. Main market rival, Edwardstone underperformed, but even so, you can only ever beat what they put in front of you on the day and, on Champion Chase day again, for the second year running, Energumene did so with ease. The jockey got to the line though before he allowed himself the realisation that he had won it again. “I learned my lesson one day pony racing,” he explains with a smile. “I went waving to the crowd on the way to the winning line, and the pony ducked. Landed me in a bunch of nettles. Ever since then, get by the winning post first, get paid first. You can showboat afterwards!” Friday opened with the Triumph Hurdle, and more decisions. “That was another tough one, Lossiemouth or Blood Destiny. I loved what Blood Destiny was doing, I was getting a great feel off him, and I’d got beaten on the mare at Leopardstown. It was a difficult call. But that’s the joy of riding for Willie and for Rich Ricci, they understand that things can go wrong too. It was great to win the Triumph Hurdle on her. There was a sense of vindication there all right, finishing unfinished business.” The Triumph Hurdle is the Triumph Hurdle, brilliant to win it, important to win it, big race to win, but the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup. They don’t make them any bigger. “I’d had a couple of winners during the week, I’d got a couple of decisions right, so I was feeling fairly good going into the Gold Cup. But even though I had had a few winners, I still believed that he was my best ride of the week.” The start is messy. “There were two groups of us, they galloped up to us, next thing we turned. Are we going? Aren’t we going? Next thing we’re gone.” Townend finds himself in last place, and he doesn’t want to be in last place. “At least they kept going, so that helped. But there was so little fresh ground, everybody wanted to be on it. It was so tight in there. We saw so little. He didn’t jump that well for him, probably because we were landing up into the back of horses. It was just lucky that the leaders stayed going because, if they had parked it, I had no way out of where I was. Houdini wouldn’t have managed to find a way out of there!” As the race progresses and the pace continues, unrelenting, Paul Townend grows more comfortable. He has the right horses around him, the right riders, and he knows that the leaders can’t keep up that gallop. The figures tell you that he rides the nearperfect race. Maximises efficiency. That’s what the best riders do, in the best races, when the stakes are 12

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

Enduring quality In t rodu c i n g

CHALDEAN The Dewhurst Stakes and 2000 Guineas-winning son of Frankel

£25,000

1st Oct, Special Live Foal

St an di n g al on g s i de

B AT E D B R E AT H

KINGMAN

The best value sire in Britain of blacktype performers

The brilliant Classic-winning miler with global appeal

1st Oct, Special Live Foal

FRANKEL

OA S I S D REA M

2023 Champion Sire in Europe, and GB and Ireland

Europe’s leading source of Group 1 speed

1st Oct, Special Live Foal

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Contact Shane Horan, Henry Bletsoe or Claire Curry +44 (0)1638 731115 | nominations@juddmonte.co.uk

www.juddmonte.com

£125,000

£15,000

PAUL TOWNEND

“Winning

the Gold Cup... It’s off the scale”

sky-high and the world is watching. There isn’t much talk on the way around. There rarely is much talk in a Gold Cup. “Some people are talkers in races, but I wouldn’t talk too much. I think if you’re talking, if you’re shouting, you’re only letting someone know where you are, how you’re going.” He makes his ground on the outside, Ahoy Senor comes down at the fence at the top of the hill and brings Sounds Russian down with him, and suddenly, in an instant, Galopin Des Champs has moved into fifth place and is rolling. Down the hill, and Townend sits still. Galopin Des Champs gets in tight to the third last and nods a little on landing, but recovers his equilibrium quickly and travels well around the home turn. Still only fifth, but travelling. “When you’re going well, stay going well. Keep your powder dry for now, they can’t go any faster than me in front.” The rider waits until they round the home turn, until they actually straighten up for home, before taking his horse towards the outside. When he does, without really needing to be asked, Galopin Des Champs picks up and closes on the leaders. By the time he rises at the second-last fence, he has moved with minimal effort into second place, just a half a length behind Bravemansgame. “Nobody knows if they will stay until they do,” says Townend thoughtfully. “But I thought that I had as good a chance of staying as anybody. I thought that I had plenty of horse and, when I pulled him out, he started to motor.” The two of them come away from the rest of the field on the run to the final fence, the race everyone wants. Galopin Des Champs v Bravemansgame. And here we are, the Gold Cup, down to the final fence. Both horses stride for stride, literally, both riders looking for the perfect stride at the last. They both see the same stride at the same time. One, two, three, UP!

Both horses see the stride too and both have the energy to make it. “The relief that you feel when you see that stride on the run to the last. The only stride you’re looking for is the longer one. Early in the race, you have the option of taking back and popping. You don’t have that luxury at the last when you’re in a battle. If you see a long one, and you have to ask for a little bit more, and you feel them extending a little bit to pick up that stride. That’s a great feeling. They see it too. An intelligent horse will. If he’s going well enough. You know when they see it, and that’s such a good feeling.” They jump the final fence as one and land together. Then you ask for everything, maximum effort, up that famous hill, and Galopin Des Champs responds. Ten strides after the final fence, he’s a length in front. “Cheltenham is extraordinary. You can’t actually hear anything during a race. During any race. Not when you’re involved. I can’t anyway. If you’re coming up the straight and you’re beaten, you can hear the crowd all right. When you’re in a battle though, when you’re in the zone, you can’t hear a thing. Then you go past the line and stand up, and it hits you, all of a sudden. Like you released the mute button. Because, you couldn’t hear it, but it had been there all along.” The noise is there all right, the crowd. When they round the home turn, when they jump the secondlast, when Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame take the final fence together. The roar. And it reaches a crescendo when Galopin Des Champs comes clear. “The Gold Cup feeling. Winning is brilliant, unbelievable, winning at Cheltenham, but winning the Gold Cup. I can’t explain it. It just brings it to a different level. When you go past the post in the Gold Cup. It’s off the scale.” By the time he gets to the winning line, he is seven lengths in front. Paul Townend hears the crowd then. Magic. IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

Association Of Irish Racehorse Owners 1

Awards 2

1. The 16 award category recipients or their representatives. 2. Racing Personality Award winner Valerie Cooper (2nd left) with grandson Seán, daughter Diana and son Alan. 3. The Naas team that collected the Racecourse Award. Back: Eddie Coffey, Robert Walsh, Eamonn McEvoy, David Cox. Front: Margaret Scott, Kate Brophy, Niamh Byrne, Milly Harwood, Sarah Deane. 4. Aurelija Kupryte, Eleanora Kennedy and Arthur Gourounlian. 5. Audrey Turley, owner of Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs and winner of the Racing Dream Award, and Robert Power, who collected the Tattersalls Ireland Sales Selection Award for Gerri Colombe on behalf of owner Brian Acheson (Robcour). 6. James Fenton and Niamh O’Connell. 7. Frances Crowley, Angela O’Ryan and Richie Galway. 8. Irish Field editor Mark Costello presents the Service to the Industry Award to Ciara Cooney on behalf of her mother, Mary.

IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

News

Photos: HEALY RACING • Words: DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR

And in other Liam Burke riding Teuchters Glory to win a Cork bumper in March just days after turning 66 was one of the stories of the year

BURKE’S GLORY

It is fair to say that when Liam Burke took out his licence to ride again in 2022, as his 65th birthday loomed, there were a few who thought the successful trainer had lost his marbles. It was only for bumpers but he had been training nearly 40 years at this juncture and free travel was around the corner. But he had only packed it in because his knees were killing him and always felt a sense of unfinished business. Watching his son Jonathan do so well probably reminded him that the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree either. So when he went under the knife for new knees and felt a new man as a result, he took the plunge and with the knowledge that Charmian Hill had ridden a winner at 63 as motivation, caused a sensation that made him a media darling for a week by booting Teuchter’s Glory, who he trains himself, to victory in a Limerick bumper on March 12. The Cork man had turned 66 six days before and was recording a first winner in 34 years in the saddle. To put a cap on an incredible few days, Burke Jnr would secure his maiden Cheltenham Festival winner the following week. There weren’t too many better stories all year. 16

MILESTONES FOR MULLINS AND KENNEDY

It has become tiresomely routine for the achievements of those associated with the powerhouses to be downplayed because of those associations. Multiply that by infinity when there is family involved. However, Patrick Mullins’ feat in riding an 800th winner, courtesy of Luckinthecity at Listowel in September, is quite remarkable and we’re not just saying that because he’s been such a high-class contributor to this publication in recent years. He always points to the artillery at his disposal, and you can’t dispute that, but you have to be able to do the job at the highest level nonetheless. More to the point is the height and size of the man and I’m not sure he thought he would still be pulling on the boots at 34. The 15-time champion already holds the most winners for an amateur rider in a calendar year (74). At present, he has 23 Grade 1 successes to his name, 15 over hurdles and fences, and eight Cheltenham victories. With 1000 career winners a stated target, he’s nowhere near done yet. Jack Kennedy reached 500 winners on Yeats Star at Downpatrick in October and he is still only 24. IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

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He, of course, has the pick of the Gordon Elliott string now, though he had to share them for the early part of his career with Davy Russell. He has also had very bad luck with injuries, breaking a leg five times. He’s still the youngest winning jockey of a Gold, who won a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at 17 and has ten Cheltenham successes to his name. He recorded his first four-timer on the opening day of the Down Royal festival at the beginning of November and 24 hours later, gave Gerri Colombe a power-packed ride to land the Ladbrokes Champion Chase, the young Dingle man’s 37th Grade 1 victory. A clear run with injuries and he is sure to challenge strongly for a first champion jockey’s title.

O’REGAN’S FULL HOUSE

Denis O’Regan made history by becoming the only jockey to ride a winner at every current jumps track in Ireland and Britain last November. Have a think about that. All the greats that didn’t manage it. They might not have had the opportunity, maybe not even the inclination, but plenty rode on both sides of the Irish Sea. Norman Williamson, whose son Josh rode his first winner this year, deserves a mention here, as he was first in a different time, retiring six years before Ffos Las opened in 2009. O’Regan is a multiple Grade 1 and Cheltenham winner, renowned for his sympathetic hands, for being one of the last to go for the whip, for being a really good judge of pace. He is at the latter end of his career now and hitting 800 winners last year was something to be proud of. But Hereford was an itch that needed to be scratched. Just for himself. To be that close irritated, especially as the track was closed for his last four years based in England. There were a few failed attempts in the past year or so. Then a back injury put him on the sidelines for a spell. He had been riding out for Cian Collins and the upwardly mobile handler gave him the nod for Fiveonefive on November 6. He was odds-on favourite, expected to win and O’Regan kept it simple, which is his watchword really. In terms of status, it is nowhere near the Stayers’ Hurdle on Inglis Drever or the Arkle on Tidal Bay, but it will be as dear to O’Regan’s heart as any winner he ever had, and it was a fitting way to bow out, as the Youghal man announced his retirement less than a fortnight later.

VALERIE COOPER RETIRES AS STEWARD

Valerie Cooper brought the curtain down on her involvement in racing – as an official one hastens to add – making her last appearance as a steward at the Listowel Harvest Festival in September, having become a member of the Irish Turf Club and Irish Racing Board in 1991, following the death of her legendary husband Tom. She was a co-founder of BBA Ireland with her pioneering husband, a renowned bloodstock agent who conquered America before any other European talent-spotter. She is also the mother of Niarchos Family racing manager Alan, Patrick, who runs BBA Ireland, and Diana, who oversees Sheikh Mohammed’s equine charities. Diana has also joined IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

in ownership with her mother and Carolyn Waters with Woodland Opera, bred by Valerie from the super racemare Opera Hat, and now giving them great joy on the racehorse to riding circuit. They are involved in a couple of other homebred mares too, now in training with Lorna Fowler. Another son, Jonathan was a respected journalist who died suddenly. Of course, Valerie was a pioneer in her own right, only the second woman to represent Ireland in showjumping, competing with the Irish army riders. Henry de Bromhead’s aunt, Iny, was the first. Thankfully, the 88-year-old remains as visible at the track as that other great matriarch, Maureen Mullins.

A November’s victory on Fiveonefive at Hereford made Denis O’Regan, pictured here with son Thomas, the only jockey to enjoy success at every current jumps track in Ireland and Britain

HELEN MCDONOGH RIP

Another female pioneer sadly passed away in 2023. History maker, Rachael Blackmore would say herself that she has been standing on the shoulders of giants, and Helen McDonogh – she was Bryce-Smith then - was at the forefront of the movement to allow women to ride under Rules through the 1960s. It was emblematic of the time that it was a bitter battle with the old boys’ club, that she and colleagues such as Jean O’Connor, the Rooney sisters Rosemary and Ann (Ferris) and Peggy St John Nolan fought. At the time, McDonogh was a leading light on the point-to-point field. Ted Walsh was just one who spoke of her ability and fierce will to win after her death and it was only last year that her record tally of 109 was supplanted by Liz Lalor. Lalor told in these pages of what it meant to receive a congratulatory card from the great woman. She married Des McDonogh and won an amateur riders’ hurdle on two-time Champion 17

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

It was a year to remember for Dick Donohue (2nd left), capped by the family-owned Vischio winning at listed level at Curragh Racecourse on the last day of the flat season

Hurdle winner Monksfield in 1980, just two months after giving birth to future champion flat jockey, Declan. Lalor, who registered her 100th point winner five weeks after having her first child, daughter Alex, was a fitting successor indeed.

DICK’S DOUBLE DOUBLE

Dick Donohoe won’t forget 2023 in a hurry. It is 26 years since the popular Goresbridge conditioner trained his first winner and he recorded his first ever double at Tramore in July courtesy of Magnetic North and Vischio. Then amazingly, he sent out the same pair to repeat the trick 13 days later at Ballinrobe. That the double double came courtesy of the same two horses is some feat indeed, particularly for a trainer that has always operated on a very small scale. While Magnetic North was bought from the Ballinrobe claiming race and continued to deliver for Ado McGuinness, Vischio has been an enduring star for Donohoe. Originally owned by his close friend John Kennedy, the Holy Roman Emperor mare was put up for sale after he passed away and now runs for the Goatsbridge Syndicate, headed by his cousins Mag and Michael. Michael is the well-known bloodstock agent at BAA Ireland and he picked Vischio out and sent her back to Dick. She was rated 72 when she won at Tramore but ends the year on 101, following up her summer triumphs and a couple of other runner-up finishes, with a stunning three-quarter length defeat of a Group 1 victor Helvic Dream to land a listed prize at Curragh Racecourse on the final day of the season.

FLYING THE COOP

Bryan Cooper was a prodigious talent in the saddle, whose precociousness earned him the Gigginstown House Stud job in place of Davy Russell when the Tralee tyro was still only 21. Russell would be back, with Cooper replaced, three years later and it is one of life’s ironies that they would call time on their careers within a few weeks of one another. Cooper was enjoyed Grade 1 and Cheltenham success already before Michael O’Leary called. He was only 30 when he hung up the boots last 18

March, but he did so having had 36 Grade 1 triumphs, with the 2016 Gold Cup success on Don Cossack for Gigginstown and Gordon Elliott the undoubted highlight. That victory came two years after breaking his leg in a fall in the Fred Winter. Then former IHRB senior medical officer, Adrian McGoldrick described it as the worst leg break he had ever seen. For Cooper to return from that to scale the highest peak of jumps racing, spoke volumes. Our Conor, Don Poli, Apple’s Jade and Road To Respect were just some of the other outstanding horses he was associated with and he is now focusing on attempting to source the next champion. And if his father, Tom, himself no stranger to Cheltenham glory, is the man training it, all the better.

DOYLE BOUNCES BACK

Tim Doyle only saddled 26 runners during the 2022 flat season. He had no winners and only two of them were placed, accumulating €3,915 between them. Fast forward 12 months, and the former amateur rider from Tipperary finished up with 14 winners from 113 shots at the target. A further 35 runners were placed and the total prizemoney earned was €154,880. Simply Sideways was the flagbearer, winning five times and improving from an official rating of 48 to 89. The astute use of top apprentices, Wayne Hassett and Seán Bowen was notable. It was a staggering turnaround for a true familyrun operation, with most of the horses homebred and them all running in the colours of wife Claire, who rode his first winner as a trainer, Mr Magnetic, in 1997. Daughters Niamh, Cora and Emma have all been heavily involved and this year, there was the added dimension of 17-year-old son David riding his first winner under Rules in his mother’s colours in a Cork bumper on Beauforts Storm on July 14 and then steering Delias Pet to a first triumph over hurdles. That was a fourth win in nine days for Doyle Snr over both codes as the Moyne squad hit a run of form that would have had the pet dog towards the top of the betting had they chosen to run it. IRISH RACING YEARBOOK 2024

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