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Irish Examiner
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Murtagh maintains fine start to season with Tipperary double
Johnny Murtagh has started the season with his team in great form and the Curragh trainer added two more, both ridden by Ben Coen, to his tally on Thursday at Tipperary. Onemoredance sealed the first leg by running out a comfortable winner of the Tipperary Handicap. Drawn quite wide, Coen ensured his mount was well away and in the box seat from an early stage as The Black Stuff set the fractions. The winner, a 2-1 chance, moved up early in the straight and soon had matters in hand. The completion of the 20-1 double had to wait until the final race, and again it was a well-judged ride by Coen, this time aboard Cheeky Wink. Sitting just off the pace, he produced his filly to challenge early in the straight, and she quickened up nicely in the conditions to win in great style. 'She had a lovely draw, and I was hoping that going a mile and a half would bring out another bit of improvement,' said Murtagh. 'I thought she was a miler or a mile and one horse, but she strengthened up nicely over the winter and the mile and a half now, in that ground, is ideal.' Black-type is the focus for the Barnane Stud and Owen Heffer-owned mare. 'She's a home-bred and we thought a bit about her last year, and hopefully she'll get there." Joyful Tidings was a strong market mover in the opening race, the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Maiden, and the Gavin Cromwell-trained and Dunphy Family Syndicate-owned juvenile made a good impression despite patent signs of greenness. Keen through the early stages, he looked to be in trouble with a couple of furlongs to go, but the son of top-class sprinter A'Ali responded well to Gary Carroll's encouragement to see off Arugam Bay, who ran a big race on the far side of the track. It was a delayed debut for the promising sort as he had been an intended runner at the Curragh but had to be withdrawn after an incident going to the start. 'I passed Seamie (Heffernan) but he then bolted and went by me,' explained Carroll. 'Both horses got a fright and got runs on us, that's all.' Of this race, he added: 'He's a strong-travelling horse and there was no real pace on my side, but he is very straightforward, so I did my own thing. It took a while to get organised between the two and the one, but I was strong through the line. 'He is a big strong horse so we weren't too afraid about the slower ground, but he will appreciate nicer ground. He is a nice horse going forward. 'I think Gavin has a nice bunch of two-year-olds, and this is our first runner, so it is nice to get a line on them.' Bravais, who had good form in France in 2023, stepped up considerably on his stable debut when taking the Racing Again At Tipperary On May 8 Race for Ger Lyons, Colin Keane and owners Juddmonte. Hurricane Ivor won the battle for early supremacy and looked in charge for much of the trip, but Bravais, who was always his nearest pursuer, dug in deep to collar him close home. Shane Lyons said: 'Well, we're only finding out about him ourselves, but it's great that the family of Juddmonte give us these horses. It's a pleasure to train them. 'It's going to be a nice fun horse for us, and Colin says that he appreciated that ground — he wouldn't want too much firm in it. Trip-wise, seven furlongs to a mile is ideal for him and he could be a right horse to come back here for the races that we farmed with the likes of Psychedelic Funk.' Andy Slattery's team is in great form and Bobbi Rose gave the Tipperary yard a third winner since Sunday when running away with the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden. The Havana Grey filly took over from favourite Passing Phase inside the quarter pole and pulled away in good style to score under 7lb claimer Sam Coen, a cousin of Ben, and a promising young rider in his own right. A gamble went astray in the Follow @tipperaryraces Handicap as Raising The Flag, backed from double-figure odds in the morning to 11-8 at the off, trailed the field of six runners. Victory went to the Denis Hogan-trained Sarahmae, a Magna Grecia filly who was delivered late by Joey Sheridan to win readily. The Gordon Elliott-trained Combs made a winning return to action in the Tipperary Town Maiden. Sent off in front by Chris Hayes, the three-year-old saw off a late challenge by market leader Treasure Planet and looks just the type to improve with an even greater demand on stamina.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A pint of Guinness in Manchester has just been handed the 'best score a reviewer has ever given'
One of the UK's most popular pint reviewers has just awarded his highest ever score for a pint of Guinness. Schooner Scorer who posts 60 second snippets scoring the best beers across the land has given a Manchester venue an impressive 9.2 out of 10 - his highest ever score - for their pint of perfectly poured Guinness. Alex Hendy, known online as "Schooner Scorer," has gained popularity by posting videos of himself drinking and reviewing pints of beer, typically outside pubs. READ MORE: Owner of £20 cake slice bakery says 'cost of everything is absolutely unbelievable' as he hits out at backlash READ MORE: The canalside bar with a huge beer garden once owned by a famous singer Known for his honest pint reviews and huge following across social media, Schooner Scorer is 'on the search for the best pint', and this latest outing has seen him put Mulligans in Manchester firmly at the top of the table. Already famous for pouring one of the best pints of Guinness outside of Ireland, this latest endorsement is a further boost to Mulligans' reputation among Guinness lovers. "That is smooth, that is creamy, that is pretty bl**dy good," he tells viewers after splitting the G on one of Mulligans' pints. "I tell you what, that is good. The best outside of Ireland? Potentially, you know. "I've had a lot in London recently that have been top tier but this is bl**dy good, I didn't think they could do Guinness in the north of England," he continues. "Look at the cream on the glass, it's absolutely sensational, and in a venue like this, absolutely top tier. "Smooth, creamy, perfect temperature, fast throughput, it's got to be bl**dy high. It's a 9.2." One of Manchester's oldest Irish pubs, the venue dates back to the 1820s with the Waggon and Horses, a name it held up until the 1990s, its most known of former identities. It took on its Mulligans moniker not long after that. Mulligans pours an average of 13,000 pints of The Black Stuff every week, and Pádraig Brady, owner of the venue and a Guinness expert, keeps the trade secrets to his perfected pour close to his chest. However, he previously told the Manchester Evening News that there's a few key ingredients. "There isn't one. You just have to be consistently consistent", Pádraig told us. "There's five or six things you have to do to keep it consistent. We are also fortunate to have a great team of staff led by Peter and Matt who are very aware that you can lose your reputation over a bad pint. "Our pints are good not just 99% of the time, but 101% of the time. And it's got to be consistent from the keg to the customer. 'We are not reinventing the wheel. But I do serve the pints in a tulip glass, and I bring them over from Ireland. It's about a clean glass and clean lines as well." It's not just Schooner Scorer who reckons it's pint is one of the best though. Last month we tasked M.E.N. readers with telling us their favourite spot for a pint of Guinness and it'll be of little surprise that Mulligans came out as one of the top. 'Best Guinness in town by far,' one reader explained of their admiration for the venue. Another said: 'The atmosphere trumps most other pubs.' One other said: 'Best Guinness, great range of Irish Whisky.' Explaining their reasons for why it's their favourite when it comes to the Irish cold stout, another reader said: 'Smooth, perfectly poured, creamy Guinness.' Similarly, one other said: 'It's a proper creamer!'
