Latest news with #Mehmas
Rhyl Journal
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Underwriter cashes in for returning James Doyle at Ayr
James Doyle returned from a frustrating spell on the sidelines with a winner as the very promising Underwriter bolted up at Ayr. The Mehmas colt cost his owners Wathnan Racing £200,000 from the Goffs breeze-ups and was following the same route as Electrolyte, who Archie Watson also sent to Ayr for his debut before missing out by a nose to Rashabar in the Coventry Stakes. Paddy Power cut Underwiter to 8-1 from 12s for the same race at Royal Ascot and Doyle said: 'I was very pleased with him, obviously that was my first look at him today. 'He did everything very professionally on the way to the start and through the run he was very relaxed, did everything the right way round. 'I kicked myself a little bit as I was told he was very relaxed so I got into him early, but he skipped away and then spent a furlong looking around. 'I didn't expect him to pick up that well. He'd done his breeze and a few other bits, but he was very professional. I was able to teach him a little and that will hopefully stand him in good stead. 'We've plenty more to come out and we'll try to slot them all in. We were successful with Electrolyte up here and he was just touched off in the Coventry, so Archie has a good handle on these speed horses.' Doyle was out for just over a month with a broken collar bone and paid tribute to the staff at Peter O'Sullevan House in Newmarket. He told Racing TV: 'There's never a nice time for anything like that to happen, but it was frustrating watching the Guineas and the French Guineas and things like that, but it's only four weeks since my operation so it's a testament to the guys at Sir Peter O'Sullevan House, I really appreciate it.'
Irish Examiner
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Kyprios should have class to prevail
Irish preview All eyes will be on legendary stayer Kyprios when he bids for a third win in tonight's Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes at Leopardstown. Now a seven-year-old, the sixteen-time winner (eight at Group 1 level) is being prepared for a tilt at a third Ascot Gold Cup next month – he won the race in 2022 and 2024 – and is following the same path as last year, having won the recent 'Vintage Crop' at Navan on his recent seasonal debut. A very high-class performer, whose career was interrupted by a serious injury which his 2023 campaign to just two runs, Kyprios normally does just enough in his races and, in Navan, he had to be driven out to beat Enfranchise (second in a German Group 2 on Sunday) by two lengths. Unbeaten in seven starts last year, Kyprios is a phenomenal performer and, although not a betting proposition today, at a very prohibitive price, he's a horse to savour by all racing enthusiasts. Ryan Moore is making the dash from York, where he rides Continuous in the Boodles Yorkshire Cup (3.45.) to renew his formidable partnership with Kyprios, his only mount on the card. The opening two-year-old maiden, the first of the season over seven furlongs, might develop into another head-to-head between Ballydoyle and Glenburnie, on the back of two such clashes in Naas last Saturday. This time, Aidan O'Brien relies on the 200,000 Guineas Wootton Bassett purchase while Ger Lyons runs the home-bred, Juddmonte-owned Mehmas colt Star Chamber. These newcomers face Donnacha O'Brien's Ipanema Beach, fourth to the impressive Charles Darwin on his debut at Navan, with the market likely to point us in the right direction. Perhaps, Italy will prevail. Willie Mullins will break new ground when saddling Reaching High, in the colours of the British king and queen, for the Leopardstown Lady Riders Handicap. Now 11lb higher than when registering his only win, at Wolverhampton last August, he's a dual-purpose prospect, worthy of note. But Joseph O'Brien's Beyond Your Dreams, successful on the flat at Listowel last September, makes plenty of appeal, returning to the level after a hurdle campaign which yielded a maiden win at Fairyhouse in December, beating Slurricane, who went on to perform creditably in the 'Booodles' at Cheltenham off a mark of 126. Beyond Your Dreams, a four-year-old filly, has scope for improvement on the flat off 73 and has solid claims. Still in the early days of the 'post-Rachael' era, Henry de Bromhead has a number of obvious chances on tonight's Kilbeggan card, the likely pick being recent Down Royal maiden hurdle winner Nastya, on her fencing bow, in the Cooke's Bar And Restaurant Beginners Chase. Noel Meade's recent Bellewstown winner Kaptain Bay should run a very big race in the Kilbeggan Handicap Hurdle.
Rhyl Journal
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Scorthy Champ has Curragh plan after Newmarket disappointment
A Group One winner in the National Stakes at the Curragh last season, the son of Mehmas was well fancied for the first colts' Classic of the year but was ultimately well beaten in seventh place. The Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas on May 24 is now likely to be next on his agenda. 'We didn't get the result we wanted but he's pulled up fine,' O'Brien said. 'Newmarket is a tough place, as we know. It's downhill there and it was a very fast pace, so whether it all just came a bit soon for him, I'm not sure. 'We'll regroup and come back to the Curragh most likely. We're still confident that a mile is a good trip for him and we'll know more after the Curragh.'
Irish Daily Mirror
28-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Katie Walsh makes monster profit with record-breaking €1.2 million sale
Katie Walsh spent many years riding winners at the Punchestown Festival but she's hit the jackpot on the eve of this year's meeting with a record-breaking sale. Former amateur rider Katie, daughter of Ted and sister of Ruby Walsh, now runs a successful horse buying and selling business with her husband Ross O'Sullivan under the name of Greenhills Farm. Last Thursday at the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, Walsh made history when her young colt by the sire Mehmas was sold for an eye-watering £1 million (€1.2m). The price was a record for the sales ring by some distance with £660,000 the previous record amount paid for a horse last July. The Mehmas colt became subject of a three way bidding war and hit the massive seven figure sum when a member of Godolphin's buying team finally made the successful bid. The breeze-up sale is when vendors work out their horses on a racecourse in front of prospective buyers and Walsh's colt produced a very impressive display. Walsh said: 'It's unbelievable. I'm delighted for my clients, he's owned by a big syndicate; there's people from Scandinavia, Ukraine, France. They gave €140,000 for him as a foal and it didn't happen for them as a yearling, so they asked me if I'd breeze him. He's been extremely straightforward from the get-go. 'Mehmas is obviously having a fantastic time and this colt has a lovely pedigree. He breezed very nicely and is going to a very good team. I just hope he's extremely lucky for them.' The colt had been unsold at a yearling sale last year having been bought for €140,000 but Walsh worked her magic and he made over seven times that at Doncaster. She enjoyed a hugely successful amateur career, and retired in 2018 having won races at the Cheltenham Festival and having finished third in the 2012 Grand National. 'It's very different (to riding), I'm not going to lie. Financially this makes an awful lot more sense, but they're two completely different things.," she told the Racing Post. "It's a different thrill, a different buzz, a different adrenaline rush. You just don't know what's going to happen when you come into the sales ring. Hopefully he can go on and prove himself," said Walsh, who will be part of the RTE Racing team at Punchestown this week. The sale had a poignant twist for his Ukraine-based connections, Jakob Dalhoff and his partner Maria, saying it was 'very bittersweet' in contrast to the plight of Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Dalhoff said: 'It's very bittersweet as we've had a lot of joy here but we face horrors at home in Ukraine. Life is so odd now. We were in the middle of enjoying a cosy meal with friends in Doncaster last night and our mobiles started bleeping to alert us of an air-raid attack at home. 'We own a couple of horses in Denmark, and a percentage of any winnings go to renovation work after the bombing of Ukraine. It helps a lot, and we've seen the difference it makes. We do humanitarian work in Ukraine and help as much as we can in any way. We'll be back home in Ukraine next week.' Walsh hung up her riding boots at the Punchestown Festival in 2018, one year before her brother Ruby did the same. He third placed finish in the 2012 Grand National was the best any woman had achieved before Rachael Blackmore's 2021 win.
Daily Mirror
25-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
'Bittersweet' moment as racehorse fetches £1m after missile attack on investor's Ukraine home
A two-year-old, offered by a group of Scandinavian investors, smashed the record for the highest priced lot sold at Goffs in Doncaster when bought by Godolphin A group of bloodstock investors realised a sum beyond their wildest dreams when they sold a two-year-old for a record £1 million. Last year the jumper Regent's Stroll fetched the highest price paid at a Goffs auction in Doncaster when knocked down to ex-Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his pals for £660,000. The figure was smashed on Thursday after Godolphin landed the winning seven figure bid for a colt by Mehmas who had been prepared by former jockey Katie Walsh, sister of Ruby Walsh, on behalf of a Scandinavian group, at the breeze-up sale. The Nordic Partnership includes Danish-born businessman Jakob Dalhoff and his Ukrainian partner Maria, who live in war-torn Ukraine. Dalhoff said: 'I said to our agent Filip Zwicky two years ago that I wanted him to find a new, interesting project for us, and so he and Anna Sundstrom bought two foals for us to pinhook at the Goffs November Sale – this Mehmas colt and a Blue Point filly, who made a nice profit as a yearling last year. All the credit has to go to them for finding such lovely horses. 'Never in our wildest dreams did we think the Mehmas colt would make that much money today. We were thinking £400,000 or £500,000, so we're over the moon." He went on: 'It's very bittersweet, though, as we've had a lot of joy here but we face horrors at home in Ukraine. Life is so odd now. We were in the middle of enjoying a cosy meal with friends in Doncaster last night and our mobiles started bleeping to alert us to an air-raid attack at home. 'We own a couple of horses in Denmark, and a percentage of any winnings goes to renovation work after the bombing of Ukraine. It helps a lot, and we've seen the difference it makes. We do humanitarian work in Ukraine and help as much as we are able in any way we can. We'll be back home to Ukraine next week.' Walsh has become a successful bloodstock consignor, preparing horses for the breeze-ups, since retiring from the saddle. 'It's unbelievable,' she said. 'I'm delighted for my clients. It's very different [to being a jockey], I'm not going to lie. Financially, this makes an awful lot more sense of course, but they're two completely different things. It's a different thrill, a different buzz, a different adrenaline rush.' The colt will go into training with Charlie Appleby.
