Latest news with #JP McManus
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Galway Races: Davy Crockett makes last stand in first race
In the first race of this year's Galway Festival , the hopes of punters rested ominously on a horse called Davy Crockett. If you were of a superstitious bent, as most racegoers are, it was not encouraging to reflect that the original, two-legged Davy Crockett is mainly famous for a doomed last stand at the Siege of the Alamo, where he and everyone else died. On the other hand, that Davy was not trained by Willie Mullins , ridden by Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Mark Walsh or owned by JP McManus . If he had been any of the foregoing, he would probably have been well out of Texas and by the time the trouble started. Also encouraging to supporters of the four-legged version, meanwhile, was that his main rival was a horse named Mick Collins. That was hardly designed to reassure the nervous either. READ MORE So the Mullins horse was backed into odds-on favouritism for the novice hurdle, and, as so often with Mullins-trained mounts, the weight of money proved well justified. Mick Collins briefly laid siege to Davy Crockett around the last bend after the latter made a mistake. But the favourite pulled clear up the straight and, roared to the finish line by a big opening-night crowd, got the festival off to a heart-warmingly bad start for the bookmakers. It was a different story in the second race, where another Mullins runner, Rakki, started favourite, albeit in a much more competitive field of 20. Among his backers, at a tenner each way, were two Slovakian sisters, Rebeka and Radka Kotulakova, who admitted they only picked the horse because he sounded like he was related to them. The Kotulakovas are third-year business information students at Galway's Atlantic Technological University , now doing internships locally with Boston Scientific. Twins Rebeka and Radka Kotulakova, from Slovakia, at the opening night of the Galway Races. Photograph: Frank McNally Identical twins, they differed only when asked their age. 'Twenty three,' Rebeka said. 'Twenty four,' Radka suggested. Under further questioning, it emerged that like most twins they had in fact been born in the same year, but in August, so that, as they ultimately agreed in a joint statement, they are about to turn 24. The identical looks explained their outfits, among the most elegant on the racecourse amid stiff competition, although ladies day is not until Thursday. They wore also-identical Edwardian-style boating hats and dresses, except that Rebekah's ensemble was black with white ribbons while Radka's was white with black. If they'd come later in the week (which they can't), The Irish Times suggested, they might have made history as the first joint winners of the best dressed lady competition. Alas, it was their debut visit to the festival and nobody had told them about lady's day in time. Also unfortunately, Rakki's co-ordination did not quite match theirs. He could finish only a distant third, while a 10-1 shot named Jerrari won well, to quieter cheers than those for Davy Crockett. There was more pain for the bookies in the third, but Aidan O'Brien's Constitutional River went to the starting at intimidatingly thin odds that meant you had to risk €5 on him to win one. Then came the event bookmakers really dread: a horse that, wearing the green-and-gold of JP McManus, starts at long odds which then shrink under an avalanche of bets. Filey Bay was backed in from 16-1 to 7-1 while the bookies trembled. And even more than usually afterwards, McManus's shy smile looked like that of the cat that got the cream. There was some poignancy in the result, too, however. The winning jockey was Alan O'Sullivan, a younger brother of the late Michael, who died days short of his 25th birthday last February after a fall in a race at Thurles .
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Poignant success in Galway festival feature for Alan O'Sullivan aboard Filey Bay
The death of renowned trainer Edward O'Grady made for an unusually sombre start to the 2025 Galway festival on Monday evening where Filey Bay delivered an evocative success in the featured Connacht Hotel Handicap. The JP McManus-owned 7-1 shot justified significant market support to win the biggest prize of the year for amateur riders under jockey Alan O'Sullivan. It was a poignant success for O'Sullivan whose older brother Michael tragically died in February from injuries sustained in a fall at Thurles in an incident that devastated racing and beyond. After cooly guiding Filey Bay to an ultimately smooth defeat of Mon Coeur, with Ragmans Corner in third, O'Sullivan looked to the skies before paying tribute to O'Grady who passed away on Sunday. READ MORE Like all riders on Monday, O'Sullivan (21) wore a black armband in memory of the 75-year-old former champion trainer who had been a mainstay of Irish racing for more than half a century. Coming just months after the loss of his Cheltenham Festival winning older brother, it was a heartfelt message that chimed with popular delight for the big race winning rider and his family. Owner JP McManus, jockey Alan O'Sullivan and trainer Emet Mullins after winning with Filey Bay. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho 'My goal at the start of the year was to be good enough that someone might want me for this [race]. He was looking down on me, I think,' said O'Sullivan. 'I probably went the brave man's route, but I thought it's what Mikey would have done. I got a dream run and he galloped all the way to the line.' Filey Bay was a second winner on the day for McManus which felt apt in the circumstances. Back in the 1970s it was O'Grady that nurtured McManus's racing interest beyond gambling and bookmaking into becoming the most significant owner in jump racing history. He saddled McManus's first Cheltenham Festival winner, Mister Donovan in 1982, and continued to train for him until his death on Sunday aged 75. The renowned businessman was in Ballybrit and fondly remembered his old ally as 'something special'. He said: 'When Edward fancied a horse, and gave you the office, you didn't need to have money; all you needed to have was credit, because you always felt he would deliver.' Filey Bay's trainer Emmet Mullins is rapidly carving out a similar reputation and won the big race for a second time in three years. He saddled three in it and although another of his hopes, Toll Stone, was weak in the betting, market trends pointed to confidence in the winner. 'It was meant to be and I'm a bit lost for words,' he said. 'It was Michael's saddle that Alan was using today. Michael rode a few times for me here and I think we hit the crossbar twice, so Alan steadied the ship.' Jockey Alan O'Sullivan celebrates winning with Filey Bay. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho O'Grady trained the Day One feature winner, Kentucky Charm, 20 years ago, part of a festival CV that also included three Plate victories in four years between 1978-1981 and a Galway Hurdle in 1979. McManus's opening winner was the regally bred odds-on shot Davy Crockett whose trainer Willie Mullins pointed to how his former colleague's Cheltenham Festival tally of 18 winners set the bar for him and others in more recent years. 'He was the foremost trainer going to Cheltenham, when no one [from Ireland] was having runners or winners in Cheltenham. He was having one or two of them every year,' said Mullins who nominated the Royal Bond at the Fairyhouse Winter Festival as a target for the winner. There was an even shorter priced winner of the two-year-old maiden when Constitution River landed 1-5 odds with ease under Wayne Lordan. However, there was some reprieve for bookmakers when Jerrari scored in the handicap hurdle. British based trainer David Loughnane returned to his native Galway to saddle a first festival winner with It'sneverjustone, successful in the seven-furlong handicap. 'It'll take a while for this one to sink in. It's magical. I grew up on the hurdy gurdy's across the road looking in on this place and the noise of the horses galloping past. I don't come from racing. This was my Everest for a long time now. It's very special,' Loughnane said. Monday's opening festival attendance of 18,472 was up almost eight per cent from last year's tally of 17,074.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Legendary horse trainer Edward O'Grady dies aged 75 just days after saddling his final runner
LEGENDARY horse trainer Edward O'Grady has died aged 75 - just days after saddling his final ever runner. The King of Cheltenham before Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott came on the scene, O'Grady is remembered as one of Ireland's greatest ever handlers. 1 He hit the big time when he teamed up with iconic owner JP McManus to land a huge punt at the Festival in 1982. O'Grady trained the first of more than 80 McManus Cheltenham winners in the shape of Mister Donavan. A fearsome punter, McManus said he won more than £250,000 backing his horse over and over for what is now the Turners Novices' Hurdle. In today's money the victory would be worth more than £1.1million. O'Grady had 18 Cheltenham Festival winners in all, his victories coming in the days when British trainers still dominated. His most famous horses included the likes of Golden Cygnet, Gay Future, Native Upmanship, Ned Kelly, Back In Front and Tranquil Sea. O'Grady was training right up until his death. His final ever runner was Sovereign Banter who ran at Cork last Friday night - mere weeks after his last winner, Our Soldier, earlier this month. More to follow.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rachael Blackmore - the first woman to win the Grand National - announces her retirement at 35 in emotional statement
Rachael Blackmore, the most successful female jump jockey in history whose exploits inspired a generation, has announced her retirement. The 35-year-old, who became the first woman to win the Randox Grand National when she partnered Minella Times to success at Aintree in April 2021, posted on social media on Monday afternoon to confirm that her career is over. Blackmore was a trailblazer who kept pushing the boundaries and she is one of a select few to have done the 'Grand Slam' at Cheltenham — the Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Stayers Hurdle. She had associations with horses who became public favourites, such as Honeysuckle, the mare with whom she enjoyed four consecutive wins at the Festival from 2020 to 2023. In total, Blackmore rode 18 winners at Cheltenham, where she was leading rider in 2021. But it was that day at Aintree, at a time when racecourses were spectator-free due to the impact of Covid-19, that saw her transcend the sport, her success on 11/1 shot Minella Times for trainer Henry de Bromhead and owner JP McManus leaving her to memorably say: 'I don't feel male or female now… I don't even feel human.' The most recent National Hunt season had been fractured by a serious neck injury she sustained last September, which led to her spending three months on the sidelines, but she returned at Christmas and the pinnacle of the campaign came when she rode a 152/1 double at Cheltenham, headed by one of her favourite horses, Bob Olinger, in the Stayers Hurdle. In a statement, she said: 'My days of being a jockey have come to an end. I feel the time is right. I'm sad but I am also incredibly grateful for what my life has been for the past 16 years. I just feel so lucky, to have been legged up on the horses I have and to have experienced success I never even dreamt could be possible. 'The people to thank are endless. It's not possible to mention everyone! Firstly my parents, who provided me with the best childhood and a pony I couldn't hold… I rode my first winner for Shark Hanlon, who then helped me become Champion Conditional. 'A conversation between Eddie O'Leary and Henry de Bromhead took my career to a whole new level. Henry has been a phenomenal trainer, who brought the best out of me. Without Henry, my story is very different.' She went on: 'It's daunting, not being able to say that I am jockey anymore. Who even am I now?! But I feel so incredibly lucky to have had the career I've had. So many people have given me the best days of my life and to them, I am most grateful.' Blackmore's first winner was at Thurles, in February 2011, on Stowaway Pearl. The last of close to 600 victories came two days ago at Cork, for de Bromhead on mare called Ma Belle Etoile.
