
Lossiemouth being primed for next season says Willie Mullins
Lossiemouth, who has won 11 of her 14 starts, successfully defended her title in the Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham last month and followed it up with a win in the Aintree Hurdle in early April.
Despite expectations that she would compete against the geldings in the Boodles Champion Hurdle at Punchestown on Friday, connections decided against it. She was also expected to aim for consecutive wins in Saturday's SBK Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle, but was not confirmed on Tuesday.
Explaining her absence, Mullins said: 'She misses Punchestown but she will be back next season. I don't think we'll be going to France with her.
'It's disappointing to miss the last day of the season but she'll be fine in a week or two and we'll prepare her for next season.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
John Sheridan the new general manager of Fairyhouse
John Sheridan has been appointed general manager of Fairyhouse Racecourse, HRI has confirmed. Sheridan joins from Vodafone Ireland, where he was Commercial Lead for the Consumer Prepay Division. He previously worked with betting firm Betdaq and for five years with Showjumping Ireland as Marketing Manager. Paul Dermody, CEO of HRI Racecourses, said: 'I am delighted to welcome John Sheridan to the role of General Manager at Fairyhouse Racecourse. John joins us at an exciting time for the racecourse team with interest in our flagship festivals increasing and an ever-growing list of race day and non-race day events demonstrating the popularity and appeal of the venue. "John will lead our engagement with the local community, commercial partners, tenants and industry stakeholders to drive Fairyhouse Racecourse on in a collaborative and sustainable way. 'John's commercial experience will bring so much to the role. One of his notable responsibilities at Betdaq was the management of the sponsorship of the Betdaq Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival. John, a Kildare native, also enjoyed a spell as an amateur rider and he rode in a bumper at Fairyhouse in 2006.'


Irish Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Gordon Elliott has €226k horse who beat Grand National winner removed from yard
Gordon Elliott has seen a horse that cost €226,000 leave his yard after suggesting that a change of scenery would do him good. American Mike has won five of his 19 races under rules, with his last victory coming at Navan in February 2024 when he beat subsequent Grand National winner Nick Rockett in a Grade 2 Novice Chase by 1¼ lengths. He was last seen finishing well down the field over hurdles at the Punchestown Festival in late April when beaten 50 lengths by winner Kaid d'Authie. The eight-year-old has moved to Olly Murphy's Warrren Chase Stables in Stratford-upon-Avon. Murphy previously spent four years as Elliott's assistant trainer. He told Racing TV's Josh Stacey: "He's been a horse who hasn't quite reached the expectations as a novice it looked like he might. I am just starting to get to know him. Jack Kennedy onboard American Mike (Image: ©INPHO/Tom Maher) "Gordon filled me in about him and it was actually Gordon who said the change of scenery would do him good. I'm very lucky to have a horse like him and hopefully he can be competitive in some handicap chases. "We're working as a team. Owners Noel and Valerie Moran who sponsor Gordon's yard are also good supporters of me. Hopefully just a change of scenery will spark a small bit of a revival. "Albeit he has some good form from last season so it's not like he's completely gone off the face of the earth. We're not just trying to find something that was there three years ago, he has got recent form as well."


Irish Daily Mirror
10-08-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Thurles racetrack closure only serves to highlight importance of Galway festival
Galway Races rolls over, ever Galway Races year on year, and this year proved the point - again. Whether it's Ireland's most colourful trainer Shark Hanlon or most successful trainer Willie Mullins or any of the just three short of 126,000 people who attended this year talking… Or even those who remain critical of the extension to make it a week-long operation, they are all saying the same thing; it has to stay going. That's especially .after the shock news of Thurles racecourse closing down. The Ballybrit festival still registers as a seven-day wonder on both the Irish social diary and sports calendar, an eclectic mix of style, National Hunt and Flat Racing, and latest 2025, mainly good-weathered, week was an attributable success for lots of types across the industry; there is a lot to like, in these modern times, about 53 races having 33 different winning it was Willie Mullins gained his 10th leading trainer award albeit for only four winners when Gordon Elliott had five and snuck off with both the Plate and The good, all positive, in a week where the fragility of the Irish track industry was summed up by the late-in-the-week bombshell that Thurles Racecourse, established 1732, was closing down with immediate in racing times when there is concern about prestige meetings sucking the life from smaller meetings and prize-money for the last two decades remains the same at smaller meetings when training fees have nearly doubled. Galway is fending off the first challenge with the €270 Plate and €270k Hurdle competitive in the market. There is over €2m prize money available through the week (good) yet there are still close to 50 percent of the Festival's races with less than €20k in the pot (worrying). "I love this Festival," says Shark Hanlon before he sheepishly tacks on an almost two-decade caveat. "It is just I'll tell it anyway, for the last 17 years we'd never left here without a winner and for me, that means an awful lot."But I wasn't to know what was going to happen this week and sure enough we missed out!'The week at Ballybrit is something that resonates, is generational, for the Carlow-based Hanlons, originally cattle dealers before Shark changed the type of livestock to equine."Galway is a place that everyone looks forward to every year and, alright, it might not be the best track in the world."It's very tight and it's up and down but it doesn't matter in the overall week because the crowd, the trainers, the owners, they all love coming here, as with me, that's why I love coming here."Don't ask racing people to talk definitively about any of the days either."Every day has its own character, Monday and Tuesday you have a noticeably older crowd, the local people, Wednesday and Thursday you have two big National Hunt races and you have the racing crowd."And then Friday and Saturday, you have a younger crowd coming in because it's always set for the Bank Holiday weekend."Some people plan about playing a game of golf but a lot of people plan around Galway. "They have their year planned around it, getting travel, accommodation, tickets for the previous or seven months. "Then you have the real, real race crowd on Wednesday and Thursday, they love the two big races the Plate and the Hurdle and some of those like to tag on Friday which has become a very interesting day."Friday probably had the biggest crowd this year (correct, 26,734), the mix of those coming to see the racing but going home afterwards and then you have the younger people that are coming in for the Bank Holiday weekend."Shark has mentioned planning: Willie Mullins tells me the Thursday Hurdle occasions plotting far beyond the industry norm."It's a special day in Irish racing,' notes the Master of Closutton. 'Everyone wants to win all year and there are fellows setting their horse up for two years for this type of a race."So, you know, when you're looking at the form, you have to say who's behind it and where have they been for the last two years? "There are guys for whom this is it, they would rather win a Galway hurdle than Cheltenham, you know. 'Look at people such as Pearse Mee, although he didn't have a runner this year, if he has a runner in the Hurdle watch out.'Well known publican Gary Monroe's place is close to Spanish Arch, it will feed you night and day, and if you're lucky there is an Ado or a Gordon, a Nina, Ted or a Ross there after racing."Galway Arts Festival takes place the two weeks directly preceding the Racing Festival and between them the city of is on the go 18 and 24 hours every day," says an owner closely associated with the Rosabel Rooms charity and who had his horse Talk of the North touched off second last week."The city doesn't get overrun by either the Arts or the horse racing but seems to be able to absorb what are, let's face it, two different crowds."There plenty of guards yet it's never been heavy-handed, plenty of students willing to work very hard for the period and earn some money."The food and drink prices don't escalate - I'd say that is a rare quality but it is part of appreciation that both are good for the city."Not known to many are the beautiful stables beneath Monroes, a legacy from dray horse times and although not used any longer, are still in pristine conditionHis upstairs gig venue/theatre had Richard Thompson, Cry Before Dawn on race week. Sharon Shannon is practically the house musician, upstairs or downstairs. Fun Lovin' Criminals love the place and return again December first race meeting was 155 years back, 1869, and was a two-day event for 90 years before moving to three days in 1959, four in 1971, five in 1974, six in 1982 and, the whole hog, seven days in 1999. "My fascination came from when I was down here with my dad," continues Shark, "my mother and father came down here for years and years, we stayed in the one hotel for the last 30 years. READ MORE: Hewick - on his way to being a movie star? "When I won the Plate (with €800 purchase Hewick in 2022) he was in the ring with me, it was one of the last days he was racing and it was just a proud day for me and for him and we shed a few tears in it."I knew at the time he was getting 'bet' and, in fairness, he stayed for another year, but he hadn't been racing. My father passed away this year but my mother came Wednesday and Thursday."Moreover Shark is not just about the feeding frenzy that comes with a big race week and two very prestigious prize money pots, there is an appreciation for far more than that and god-given lush green scenery."There is very good staff here and that means a lot too. "It's a long hard week for them people coming in there in the morning, walk the track, and then they're around here after dinner, going back and walk the track. 'You're starting at six o'clock in the morning and maybe finish at nine o'clock that night, that's a long week. 'The management here are very good and the bars here, as you can see yourself, you have the Guinness Bar, you have the Champagne Bar which is a new bar they put up a couple of years ago, everyone loves it, even myself!" Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.