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21 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Galway Races: Dunum delivers in Mile Handicap for Seamie Heffernan and Natalia Lupini
Dunum showed his liking for Galway once more with a tremendous front-running effort in the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap. Not that sharpest away but quickly to the front nonetheless in the hands of 53-year-old veteran jockey Seamie Heffernan, the Natalia Lupini-trained was pressed all the way through the final furlong by Bear Profit. The 12-1 winner would not give way, however, as he made it three career wins at the Ballybrit festival. Dunum (8/1) held off the challenge of Bear Profit to win the feature Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap by a nose 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #GalwayRaces — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2025 Lupini said: "We couldn't dismiss Galway and have been working towards both this race and the Ahonoora on Sunday. He did well today and Seamie is a great asset for a small yard like ours. Having a jockey of his calibre is a massive help. "The horse usually jumps out smart, Seamie wasn't going to give away his position and the horse enjoyed himself. He loves the downhill run into the dip and he battled well towards the line. "We'll see how he is at home, but hopefully he'll also run in the Ahonoora." "I am running out of time so it was nice to win it" said 53-year-old jockey Seamie Heffernan after clinching the Mile Handicap for the first time 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #GalwayRaces — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2025 Joe Murphy and Gary Carroll have a big day booked at Goodwood on Thursday and warmed up in style with a runaway success for Pivotal Attack in the Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Fillies Maiden. The trainer-jockey combination will team up with Royal Ascot heroine Cercene in the Nassau Stakes and were in the winner's enclosure courtesy of this 9-2 chance, who fairly sprinted by hot favourite Amelia Earhart when asked. Murphy said: "Our filly was very professional, she relaxed and when he asked her, she quickened. I think we have a nice filly going forward. "I don't know where we'll go next, but the curve will be upwards anyway. I don't know the calibre of race it was and the O'Brien-horse (Amelia Earhart) was a bit unlucky, but it was the way our filly did it – she did it very well. "She is out of a Pivotal mare and we think she is stakes class." Ricky Doyle has an appropriately named winner of the opening race on Day 2 with Cormac Farrell's Sticktotheplan (22/1) 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer now #GalwayRaces — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2025 Cormac Farrell's Sticktotheplan was sent off the 22-1 outsider of the seven-runner Colm Quinn BMW Novice Hurdle but shot through against the rail to win in good style. The Willie Mullins pair of Vicar Street and La Note Verte seemed sure to fight out the finish approaching the last but the race changed drastically in complexion. Emily Love was challenging, as was Timeless Treaty, but it was Sticktotheplan and Ricky Doyle who quickened up best of all to win by two and a quarter lengths. "We fancied him and had a few quid on as we've always thought he was a very smart horse. It has taken time for the penny to drop and to race correctly. His jumping has come together and he has a huge future," said Farrell. "I tried to sell him on several occasions but nobody would buy him so I'm delighted, as I'll be properly paid for him at some stage! I'm a big fan and he is a very exciting horse. He is a fine horse and that ground is as good as he'd want. "It is so exciting to be in Galway as we don't get many winners so to have a nice horse to run in a Listed race is great." Jack Kennedy won the Latin Quarter Beginners Chase. for Gordon Elliott on King of Kingsfield (7-2) as he continues his successful return to the track this month. "It's great to be back" - Jack Kennedy is enjoying his return from injury after scoring on King of Kingsfield in the Latin Quarter Beginners Chase. 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 29, 2025
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Emotional win for Alan O'Sullivan in opening feature at Galway Races
Filey Bay justified market support in recording an emotional victory in the Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap at Galway. The feature event on the first evening of the week-long festival at Ballybrit is restricted to amateur riders and it was Alan O'Sullivan – brother of the late Michael O'Sullivan, who tragically died in February following injuries suffered in a fall at Thurles – who shone in the saddle. O'Sullivan had to weave a path to get a run on the JP McManus-owned gelding and when he did he fairly shot clear aboard Emmet Mullins' 7-1 chance, with the winning jockey looking to the skies as he passed the line four and three-quarter lengths ahead of Mon Coeur. Filey Bay is a 7-1 winner of the Connacht Hotel Handicap for Emmet Mullins 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer #GalwayRaces — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2025 "He's looking down on me since the day he left us," O'Sullivan told RTÉ Sport. "I have so much confidence now, knowing that he's looking down on me. "To do this for him, I think he would be proud." He added: "It's unbelievable, my goal at the start of the year was to be good enough that someone might want me for this. "When I wanted the gaps, they came for me, I got a dream run. I probably went the brave man's route, but I thought it's what Mikey would have done. I had loads of horse, if I got any gap at all I had the horse to take it. "I got a dream run and he galloped all the way to the line." Jockey Alan O'Sullivan felt his late brother Michael "would be proud" after he piloted Filey Bay to the feature Connacht Hotel Handicap 📺 Watch The Galway Races live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer now #GalwayRaces — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2025 Mullins said: "It was meant to be and I'm a bit lost for words. It's just magic. "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. "It's been a long enough road with the horse. We had him last season and I sent him home twice as I just wasn't happy. Thankfully with JP the patience has paid off. "Alan was keen to ride him, and I was keen to claim off him as well. For 7lb claimers you don't need to look any further than Alan." Davy Crockett lived up to his regal breeding with a comprehensive victory in the Galway Bay Hotel & The Galmont Hotel Novice Hurdle. The Willie Mullins-trained four-year-old is a son of dual Derby hero Camelot out of Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power, making him a half-brother to dual Grade One victor Mystical Power, who landed this Galway Festival curtain-raiser two years ago. Easy winner of a Punchestown bumper on his debut in early June, the 1-2 favourite to make a successful transition to the jumping game raised brief concerns for his supporters two out, but knuckled down well for Mark Walsh in the straight to beat Mick Collins by two and a half lengths. Mullins said: "I was very happy with how efficient his jumping was except, for the mistake at the second-last. For a horse having his first run over hurdles and just the second run of his career, I was very pleased with him. "We'll just keep going down the novice hurdle route and hopefully he might make into a Royal Bond horse. He could go to Listowel before then." JP McManus reacts to Davy Crockett winning the opening race and pays tribute to 'amazing trainer 'Edward O'Grady' who saddled his 1978 Galway Plate winner Shining Flame, purchased from Wexford hurling legend Nicky Rackard 📺 Watch #GalwayRaces live on @RTE2 and @RTEPlayer now — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2025 Mullins also paid tribute to training great Edward O'Grady, who died on Sunday at the age of 75. He added: "Edward was someone that back in the day we looked up to. 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. "People forget how difficult it was for Irish trainers to bring horses across and win and Edward had fantastic horses. He had a great Galway connection of course with Golden Cygnet, owned by Ray Rooney who was chairman here in Galway. "He'll be sorely missed in Irish racing." Constitution River confirmed the promise of his debut run to land the Eventus Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden with real authority. Contrary To Law attempted to keep tabs on Aidan O'Brien's runner up front, but he was shrugged off with some ease, as were the rest, as the imposing Wootton Bassett colt powered to a three-and-three-quarter-length triumph under Wayne Lordan, as odds of 1-5 suggested he would. A €400,000 purchase as a yearling, the winner – who is out of a sister to the top-class racemare Wonderful Tonight – just missed out to the Charlie Appleby-trained Distant Storm at the Newmarket July meeting, when the pair were nicely clear of the third. O'Brien's representative Chris Armstrong said: "He had a very good run in a nice maiden in Newmarket and with normal improvement coming here you'd think he'd put up a good display. "He was very green and Wayne said he was looking at the camera on his inside, but he went to the line with plenty still left in him. The experience around here will do him the world of good. "He's a colt with a touch of class and is one to look forward to going into the second half of the season. I suppose he puts himself into the Futurity mix with the rest of them and the lads will divide them up and see where they go."
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Jim McGuinness: We were pushing a boulder up a hill for large parts of the game
In the decade between his first and second stints as Donegal manager, Jim McGuinness claimed there was barely a day when the 2014 All-Ireland final defeat didn't flash across his mind. This time around, he's urging a different response on his players. "I said to the players in the dressing room, it's not a game you should think about for a long time," McGuinness told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "We didn't deserve to win the game. That's the reality of it. "We didn't do enough to win the game. You have to let it slide. Sometimes you just have to let performances slide. And this is one of them." Afterwards, the Donegal manager was unsurprisingly resistant to the idea of conducting an in-depth post-mortem in public. The question of how the Ulster champions under-performed on the big stage will linger for a while though. They certainly seemed to be rocked by the force and intensity of Kerry's quick opening to the game, alongside the hammer-blow of David Clifford's succession of two-pointers. Many of the strengths that characterised the side in previous games - their ability to mind the ball and avoid turnovers and their capacity for gathering breaking ball in midfield - deserted them in the first half in particular. It was only their decent scoring efficiency that kept them in touch in an opening 35 minutes where they struggled to get their hands on ball. "We didn't perform, Kerry did perform, that's the bottom line. They started very early in the game and they got a foothold in the game. "I thought we responded quite well in the first half on our attack. We were good, we were clinical, but I think they might have scored in the first six attacks, so we were struggling to deal with them in that period. They went for a lot of twos and they hit a lot of them as well and that was big. "David Clifford coming on to those balls on a loop. We did a lot of work on him and we did a lot of work in terms of managing him. I thought Brendan (McCole) did actually quite well on him for periods, but obviously it does take more than one person to try and close down David and he kicked some brilliant twos. "Was it six or seven scorers we had? I think we've have 12 in the last two games. Why did we not get the same traction in terms of threats all over the pitch and different people popping up at different times? That's all things that probably come into the mix. "Kerry had a very aggressive press on. We were trying to do the same. They won a lot of breaking ball. We would pride ourselves on that aspect of it. They won a huge amount of breaking ball. Gavin White, in particular, won a huge amount of breaking ball. Every possession was crucial. "Getting the hands on the ball from our own kick-out was crucial. Both kick-outs and turnovers, that's what shapes attacks. We didn't get enough." One moment which McGuinness did cite - and one which clearly annoyed him on the sideline - occurred late in the first half, when Donegal had brought the game back to a five-point margin after points from Conor and Shane O'Donnell. Daire Ó Baoill sought to float a ball into Michael Murphy at full-forward but it was mis-directed and the Glenswilly player wasn't even in a position to contest it. Kerry came away and nursed possession themsevles until the hooter, the Cliffords combining for a two-point score to push the lead out to seven again as the teams raced down the tunnel. "We did things that we don't normally do," says McGuinness. "We made decisions that we don't normally do and we had just too many turnovers, that's the bottom line. "We had too many turnovers and some of them were clutch moments. We were chasing our tails, a couple of moments before half-time. A five-point game and then we lose possession, we give possession away and then it ends up a seven-point game. That was a tough one to take. "Had we been able to work that and got a score, we would have probably ended up going in at four down at half-time. I think it might have been a very different dressing-room at that stage, very different dynamic in terms of going out for the second half." After 2014, McGuinness spoke of the flatness he sensed among the squad on the day of the final. He detected none of that this time around, insisting that the mood was good and relaxed on the weekend of the game. Rather it was just a case that "Kerry came hard and they came hard early. "They set the terms of the game. Then you're trying to manage that and you're trying to claw your way back in. We tried to respond to that, but at the end of the day, they were still keeping the scoreboard ticking over. "We were pushing a boulder up a hill for large parts of it." Among those who fancied Donegal to win, McGuinness's reputation as a managerial savant was a significant factor. However, Donegal's defence struggled to cope with the range of options in Kerry's attack, with Paudie Clifford given relatively free reign. "I suppose no more than the Cork hurlers. It'll be a fairly heavy post-mortem after this one. "We'll go in, we'll think about the game, we'll reflect on the game. You try to get as many things right as you can. "Sometimes you just have to take your hat off and say, the better team won and we made too many mistakes to win the game. Just make peace with that. Over the coming weeks, those types of conversations will probably start."
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Enya Breen: Eight-year wait makes World Cup special
Enya Breen was there at one of the lowest points in Irish rugby and that makes the upcoming World Cup all the more special for the Cork woman. The Ireland centre was injured for the qualifier play-off defeat to Scotland in Parma in 2021 but was among the extended squad who cut stunned and dejected figures strewn across the pitch when the final whistle blew that evening, the team losing to a last-minute converted try. There was to be no trip to New Zealand for the 2022 World Cup. Some of the pain many of the players felt came from knowing that was their last chance, while others knew their time would come; seven of the 15 starters that evening have retired or are injured this time around. But the gap to the last time Ireland ran out for World Cup action will be eight years by the time they face Japan on 24 August in Northampton. A third-place finish in the 2024 Six Nations, after a winless 2023 campaign, meant that Scott Bemand's side avoided a potentially tricky play-off route and qualified automatically for the tournament, where they will also face Spain and New Zealand in Pool C. "It's huge. We didn't make it in 2022 and that was devastating at the time, but it probably put a bit more importance on this one," Munster centre Breen told RTÉ Sport's Michael Corcoran. "We've been building for this for eight years now at this stage since the last one was held here. "It's really important to us as a group, we know it's really important for the country. "It's the pinnacle of the rugby calendar for us and we're loving the build-up, we're loving every second of it." Ireland have been training all summer with an extended preparation squad named last May. Most of the work is being done at the HPC in Blanchardstown, Dublin, while they also decamped to Ennis for a two-day stint. It's all building up to two 'Summer Send Off' warm-up games against Scotland in Cork on Saturday week and against Canada in Belfast seven days later as Bemand and his fellow coaches whittle the squad down to 32 players. "We're not rugby players to be training, everyone is buzzing to get into games now," added the 26-year-old, who has 29 caps, speaking at the Canterbury and Elverys launch of the new Ireland kit. "It'll probably show what we've done over the last few months. We've been training hard but you never know what's going to come out until you step into a Test game, into that cauldron. "Once the pressure is on, we'll see how it goes. "It's important to put ourselves in a good light, but everyone is putting the team first. "We back everyone to put in a shift and do the job the best they can. "It's going to be tough, the squad is smaller and selection is tight. It's been a tough summer but it's been great as well. "It's the longest block we've had together as a team without games so to be able to bring that intensity through the summer and bring that intensity that we need building into a World Cup. "We've hard some really hard sessions and we're pushing each other bloody hard. "There's been plenty of bite to everything. "Everyone is blowing all the time but we are chasing quality as well. We are growing every day and taking small steps in the right direction." For second row Fiona Tuite, it will also be a maiden World Cup campaign. The Dubliner, who plays with Ulster, made her Ireland bow at the victorious WXV3 tournament against Colombia in 2023. "Playing in a World Cup is absolutely huge, one of the best competitions in the world, in any sport," said the 28-year-old, who has been capped 15 times. "It's absolutely phenomenal. "Some of our girls have gone through heartbreak before and not qualified for the World Cup so this is huge. "This is massive for us and really exciting, a huge competition and we're looking forward to continuing the success that we've been building the last couple of years."
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'I am buzzing' - Lara Gillespie part of history-making Irish trio at women's Tour de France
Lara Gillespie has been in a race against time to make it to the Tour de France Femmes but, following her recovery from a bad injury, she will make history in the race on Saturday afternoon. The women's Tour de France begins in Vannes, Brittany and, for the first time ever, there will be an Irish presence. In fact not one but three Irish riders will take part: Gillespie, current national champion Mia Griffin and last year's title holder Fiona Mangan. This is the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, but Irish women were also absent from the previous women's race run by the Tour organisers between 1984 and 1989. The event is the biggest race on the women's calendar, and has greatly helped the growth of the women's side of the sport, and gives Gillespie a lot of satisfaction be lining out in it. "I am buzzing to be one of the first Irish girls to be at the Tour, so that is really exciting to be part of," she told RTÉ Sport on Friday. "I'm happy to see Fiona and Mia in there and we can experience this whirlwind together." Gillespie has long shown her talent on the track, taking European championship titles at junior, under 23 and Elite level. The Enniskerry rider was, along with Griffin, part of the Irish team pursuit squad which finished a fine ninth in last year's Olympics. She is an accomplished road race rider too, and secured a contract with the UAE Team ADQ WorldTour-level squad last summer following victory in the Antwerp Port Epic Ladies race, plus the Giro Mediterraneo Rosa. This season has been a very promising one for the 24-year-old, with strong results in a number of races. She was runner up in the Fenix Omloop van het Hageland, and third in both Le Samyn des Dames and the Danilith Nokere Koerse. In May she was fourth on a stage of the Vuelta España Femenina, one of the biggest races in the sport. "I am super grateful and feel really privileged to be part of the team," she said of her selection for the Tour de France Femmes. "It is a really great opportunity and a great team we have here." However, she almost missed the chance. In mid-June, Gillespie fell in the Elmos Dwars door het Hageland race. She remounted and was able to sprint in 12th, but after the race it became clear that something was amiss. "I had an unfortunate crash over a month ago where I landed on my sacrum," she said. "I had fluid in the bone. I didn't break anything, but I had to really rest a lot from the races." Trying to get ready for the Tour, she went to Spain with her first coach, Martin O'Loughlin. They worked hard together and she quickly built form. "I had a really nice ten days in Majorca, with Martin motorpacing me," she said. "That was really cool. I knew if I left that camp sprinting good, doing high intensity, doing high volume then I could get through to the team. "So that is what happened, and so I am here with a really strong team, really good energy. We are ready to fight for some stages, so that is really cool." The 24-year-old is a strong sprinter and will relish the opportunity to square up against the world's best such as the Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes. Stages one and two are lumpy and feature uphill finishes which may favor different types of riders, but days three and four are predicted to end in bunch gallops. From there things get progressively more mountainous, meaning sprint specialist Gillespie's best chances of high placing will be in the first half of the race. Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy) and Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal) will also be looking forward to those early stages, with aims of helping their teams but also trying to show their own strength too. There is an additional goal for the trio; building up vital experience in the sport's top event in order to grow as competitors and to become even stronger. And making history for Irish cycling? That's a significant motivation too. Tour de France Femmes schedule: Stage 1, Saturday 26 July: Vannes to Plumelec, 78.8 km (49 miles) Stage 2, Sunday 27 July: Brest to Quimper, 110.4 km (68.6 miles) Stage 3, Monday 28 July: La Gacilly to Angers, 163.5 km (101.6 miles) Stage 4, Tuesday 29 July: Saumur to Poitiers, 130.7 km (81.2 miles) Stage 5, Wednesday 30 July: Chasseneuil-du-Poitou to Guéret, 165.8 km (103 miles) Stage 6, Thursday 31 July: Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert, 123.7 km (76.9 miles) Stage 7, Friday 1 August: Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry, 159.7 km (99.2 miles) Stage 8, Saturday 2 August: Chambéry to Saint François Longchamp – Col de la Madelaine, 111.9 km (69.5 miles) Stage 9, Sunday 3 August Praz-Sur-Arly to Châtel Les Portes du Soleil Pré Lajoux, 124.1 km (77.1 miles)
