State Man rules supreme in Champion Hurdle showdown
The Grade One contest staged a mouthwatering rematch between the Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson-trained superstars, who both fell in the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, with the presence of Jeremy Scott's eventual Champion Hurdle heroine Golden Ace adding further spice.
Despite suffering a second successive fall in the Aintree Hurdle, Constitution Hill was a heavily-supported 8-13 favourite to get back on the winning trail on his first trip to Ireland, but he was a spent force from before the home turned and weakened rapidly out of contention.
In contrast, State Man (9-4) - who looked to have a second Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham at his mercy when crashing out at the final obstacle at Prestbury Park in mid-March - continued to pour it on in front under Paul Townend and came home with four and three-quarter lengths in hand over Golden Ace.
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Irish Daily Mirror
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Legend of Dawn Run lives on at Sligo on a special night for teenage jockey
It might be 40 years since Dawn Run created horse racing history at Cheltenham but the mighty mare's legend lived on at Sligo on Wednesday night. The Paddy Mullins-trained racing icon was the only horse to ever win the Champion Hurdle (1984) and Gold Cup (1986) and is considered the greatest mare ever to race over jumps. She was tragically killed in a fatal fall at French racecourse Auteuil just a few months after her historic Gold Cup win when attempting to win the French Champion Hurdle. Dawn Run was famously owned by Mrs Charmian Hill, who rode out the mare at Mullins' yard and was known as the 'Galloping Granny'. The Waterford woman also incredibly won a race at Tralee on her mare when she was 62. Mrs Hill died in 1990 but decades on the iconic red and black silks of Dawn Run were back in the winners' enclosure at Sligo, and amazingly worn by HIll's great-granddaughter. 19-year-old Gabriella Hill and the Henry De Bromhead-trained Trubshaw grabbed the glory in the Guinness Handicap - hanging on by a head to win from God The Highness in a desperately close finish. Glor Tire and Gabriella Hill after winning at Leopardstown last year (Image: PA Archive/PA Images) HIll rode her first winner last summer for Jim Bolger and is now eyeing a new career in the UK with trainer Stuart Williams, ensuring the Dawn Run dynasty continues. Wexford-based Hill told : 'It's great to get a win in the family colours and Trubshaw has come on a lot in his last few runs. He was lovely and relaxed today. 'I'm getting the boat over to Newmarket on Monday to join Stuart Williams. He has a good few horses and I'm looking forward to it. She added: 'We always had a couple of horses at home I've always been riding. I started with a local point-to-point trainer down the road at weekends. I got a taste for it then and got my licence. I'm really enjoying it.'
RTÉ News
03-08-2025
- RTÉ News
Zanahiyr delivers the goods at Galway Festival
Zanahiyr made a welcome return to the winning ways in the Kinlay Hostel Chase on the final day of the Galway Festival. Third in the 2023 Champion Hurdle, Gordon Elliott's one-time Triumph Hurdle favourite was third in the Galway Plate last year and was making his second appearance of the week at the Ballybrit track after finishing seventh and well held in this year's feature chase. Sent off 9-4 in the hands of Jack Kennedy, this was far from an easy assignment with Willie Mullins' Blood Diamond the odds-on favourite, but the eight-year-old rolled back the years to strike for the first time since shedding his maiden status over fences in February 2024. Kennedy said: "Delighted for the horse. He's been a great horse, placed in Champion Hurdles and it's nice for him to get his head in front today. "I was happy enough to tip away in front, I didn't go mad, and it worked out well. "He was brilliant at the last two in the dip and is better when you are going on with him and not getting in too tight. "It's been a great week." Elsewhere John McConnell's Ballystone kept on well to win in the Kenny Galway Peugeot Handicap Hurdle. It was a dream success for his jockey Alex Harvey who was full of praise for the 14-1 scorer. Harvey said: "He's a lovely horse, very genuine. I got a lovely run around on the inside and it was just a matter of holding onto him and pressing the button. "He put his head down on the run-in and galloped away to the line. "The ground was a question as he wants a bit of nicer ground. To be honest it's just the slow side of good bar the straight which is borderline heavy. "He's progressive and I can't wait to see him over a fence. "I've been coming here since I was a kid and you dream about having a winner so to have two in the week is unbelievable."
RTÉ News
01-08-2025
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Shock and sadness at Thurles Racecourse closure
Members of the horse racing community in Tipperary have been expressing their shock and sadness at the news that Thurles Racecourse is to close with immediate effect. The Molony family cited ever increasing industry demands as a reason for their decision and thanked their "extended racecourse family" for their support over the years. In a statement, Horse Racing Ireland said they will meet the family to discuss their position and consider their options. Thurles Racecourse is Ireland's only privately-owned track and is considered a cornerstone of National Hunt Racing in the industry. It has been in the hands of the Molony family since the early 1900s. But today Riona Molony said she and her four daughters had kept the show on the road for ten years since the passing of husband and father Pierce. In a statement, the family said it was a privilege and an honour to run Thurles Racecourse but the cost of doing business was a major factor in their decision. Nearby at the Horse and Jockey Hotel, news of the closure was still being processed. Marye Blundell is a former horse trainer. "I think it's terribly sad. It was so well run, and a credit to Pierce's family for the way they ran it. The ground was always right, you know. "I don't think they ever had to cancel a race meeting. I mean, that's a terrific achievement in my eyes." Marye then turned on her heel before adding: "Now, I don't want to say anymore. I've said enough. "I think the Molony family are brilliant people. And I just hope the track survives and stays open in the future." A young Anthony McCoy rode the first of his 4,358 winners at Thurles on 26 March 1992 when he won on Legal Steps for Jim Bolger. Rachael Blackmore enjoyed her first winner there on 10 February 2011 when she won on Stowaway Pearl for Shark Hanlon before going on to take the sport by storm. Over the years many Cheltenham Festival winners have also won and raced at the track, including two-time Champion Hurdle winner Honeysuckle, Champion Chase winner Newmill and Gold Cup hero Sizing John. Today in Tipperary, former National Hunt jockey Charlie Swan, best known for his three Champion Hurdles wins with the horse Istabraq, said Thurles Racecourse had been very good to him and his family. "Yeah, I mean, Thurles Racecourse was a very lucky track for me. I rode a lot of winners there. I'm sort of shocked to hear that it's closing down. "It's a great track, you know, especially in the winter, when the ground is heavy everywhere else. The ground is always nice in Thurles and the Molony family, they've run it so well you know, all these years, and it'll be very, very sadly missed. "It was one track that always brought a crowd, everybody loved to go to Thurles. It's very sad." Charlie said he lives just 30 minutes away and hopes that racing will continue there. "Of course, I would, you know it's always been a great track to me and my family. So, yeah, I'd love to see it stay open." Tom Egan is the proprietor of the Horse and Jockey Hotel. "It's been going for hundreds of years. It's part of Thurles, it's part of this area, part of this hotel. We'll sadly miss the course, and we have all the memories of the course over the years. "They're all the good times and looking out on cold winter days and looking over to the Devil's Bit mountain." Tom shook his head sadly and wiped his eye. "Ah 'tis a nostalgic place. It was such a homely track. I think this became homely because of the family running it. "Everybody felt part of it all, and it's just a real sad occasion." Tom Egan said that ongoing regulations were a big part of the decision by the Molony family to close. "Family businesses can't afford a lot of the regulations that have been brought in now. The Molony family did an awful lot of work in the last five or six years since Pierce died. "Pierce is dead over ten years, and they put in a great effort there. And they did up the parade ring, did up all the stable yards, did up all the course, put in post and railings and the place is looking absolutely magnificent. "But then people wanted them do more and more and more. And really, it's just, it's just without help, it's virtually impossible. "Obviously, we'd love to see the track going on, but it's a complete decision of the Molony family. "They own it, you know. And I wouldn't like them to be forced into anything. It's their place and that should be respected." Thurles Racecourse is licensed to race until the end of this year with 11 prominent fixtures in the 2025/26 racing calendar but those meetings will not now go ahead Riona Molony said the family had made their decision and they looked forward now to relaxing and being spectators. In a statement, Horse Racing Ireland said it had invited the family to a meeting in the coming weeks to discuss their position and consider options.
