Who will value horse racing’s past if not the sport itself? If we cannot pay for a building, at least let us find the space onlineThe absence of money, a familiar problem for followers of horse racing, is, I am told, the reason why the sport in Britain does not yet have a Hall Of Fame, nor no plans for one. It is an idea that has been kicked around for decades but we have yet to arrive at the decisive moment, when a powerful person wakes up and says: “Today, I am going to find the pockets deep enough to pay for this thing...”The benefits to racing would obviously include having a building in a busy town somewhere that...
While some are sanguine about the planned withdrawal of Michael O’Leary, much can be said for his ownership vehicleThere was a certain amount of criticism by Talking Horses regulars of the O’Leary brothers, Michael and Eddie, when I raised the topic of Tiger Roll’s participation in the Grand National in this space last week. I can see the subject boiling up again on Tuesday, when the weights for the Aintree race are published and we find out what the O’Learys think about it.Evidently, there is a deal of resentment about the Gigginstown team applying pressure to the handicapper through occasional public announcements that their great little horse might not actually turn up in April. Some appear to see the O’Leary...
Willie Mullins’ runner looks a very rare talent and the visual impression of Saturday’s win was backed up by a timefigure that was almost off the scaleThe third Dublin Racing Festival over the last two days at Leopardstown was, by some margin, the best so far, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the track’s groundstaff and the decision to keep watering the track on Sunday morning despite 5mm of rain overnight. A repeat of 2019, when the final day saw 22 non-runners as a result of drying ground, was avoided, and Delta Work, whose connections were 50-50 at best about his chance of running on Saturday afternoon, was able to give Gordon Elliott his first win in...
Selection can surprise the hot favourite, Honeysuckle, on the opening day of the Dublin FestivalIt is not available to viewers of ITV4 but the Irish Champion Hurdle is undoubtedly the big race of the day, with the betting market evidently expecting Honeysuckle to reveal herself as a star. Henry de Bromhead’s mare remains unbeaten but new questions are asked by this step back in trip on drying ground at a track she has never visited.At 2-1 or thereabouts, Sharjah (3.10) is surely the way to go. But for a fall as a novice, he would have won Grade Ones at Leopardstown for the last three Christmases and he should be hard to beat in these conditions. Aramon ran Klassical Dream...
It is reasonable for Tiger Roll’s owners to expect a reduction in their horse’s rating for Aintree but 8lb may be asking too muchTiger Roll’s chance of winning a third Grand National hangs in the balance and will do so until the weights are unveiled for the famous race at a ceremony in Liverpool 12 days from now. I’m very much afraid that his owners are not going to be given everything they want by the official handicapper and there is therefore the distinct possibility that the horse may be withdrawn before the race itself in early April.Eddie O’Leary, who runs the ownership operation on behalf of his brother, Michael, made it clear in quotes reported by the Racing Post...