Latest news with #Willie Mullins
Irish Times
2 days 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 .
ABC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Trump moves up deadline for Putin to reach ceasefire with Ukraine
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.' 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.' Davy Crockett is owned by JP McManus, who also paid tribute to O'Grady, with whom he had a long association. McManus said: 'No doubt he was an amazing trainer. I went to him in '78. 'I remember Jack Of Trumps won in Punchestown as a five-year-old carrying 12st in the Jameson Gold Cup which was a handicap then. 'We went on to win the Galway Plate that year in '78 (with Shining Flame). 'We had many great days with the likes of Bit Of A Skite, Mucklemeg and Time For A Run. 'Edward was always very good to his staff and very kind to everybody. 'When Edward fancied a horse you didn't need to have money, all you needed to have was credit because they nearly always delivered. His record was second to none at that time. 'He was a great judge of a horse and he will be missed.' Elsewhere, 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.'
The Sun
3 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.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
McMonagle goes into Galway festival top of the jockeys table after Gowran hat-trick
Donegal's Dylan Browne McMonagle goes into the Galway festival top of the pile among Ireland's flat jockeys and has a trio of Day One rides to look forward to. The former champion apprentice enjoyed a 29-1 hat-trick at Gowran Park on Saturday which shot him to the top of the jockeys standings. McMonagle is now on 52 winners for the year, two ahead of Colin Keane who is suspended. Chris Hayes is third on 44 while Billy Lee, out injured with a broken collarbone, has 40. It puts the 22-year-old rider from Letterkenny in an enviable position to try and pick up a first senior title. READ MORE Emit's success in the Listed Marble City Stakes was the highlight of McMonagle's Gowran three-timer which opened with another success for his boss Joseph O'Brien on Alibah. Adrian Murray's Crypto Force completed the day. All three McMonagle rides at Galway are for O'Brien including the newcomer Spangled Sands in the two-year-old maiden. Dermot Weld has won the race 24 times including with stars such as Grey Swallow in 2003. He relies on the newcomer Masaban this time although the one to beat looks likely to be Constitution River. Aidan O'Brien's colt was beaten just a short head on his debut at Newmarket earlier this month and that experience could prove crucial. It could also tee up Derby winner Wayne Lordan for another successful festival. He was top flat rider last year with five winners. Galway's top trainer Willie Mullins kicks off the week with a couple of intriguing runners. Davy Crockett is a half-brother to Mystical Power who won the opening hurdle in 2023 before graduating to top-class status. His younger sibling is by Camelot and won a bumper easily at Punchestown last month. The runner-up there has been beaten since and goes in Monday's finale. But Davy Crockett could still have too much quality for these. Mullins gives the 105-rated Rakki a first start in the following handicap hurdle. Formerly in the care of Alan King, the half-brother to St Leger winner Masked Marvel ran 12 times without success, including three times over flights. The third of those was in Newbury last December. Rakki hasn't looked straightforward at times but is an interesting recruit to the Mullins team. He carries the colours of the syndicate that landed the 2016 Galway Hurdle with Clondaw Warrior. He also won at the 2015 festival and at Royal Ascot that year.
The Sun
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
My ‘one-of-a-kind' jockey dad died in a fall just days before I was born – now I'm riding winners for Willie Mullins
A JOCKEY whose dad died in a tragic fall just days before he was born is rocketing up the ranks - banging in winners for Willie Mullins. Sean Cleary-Farrell has three winners from just four rides for the all-conquering Irish trainer this year. 2 He notched his first career double aboard Mullins ' odds-on hotshots Spanish Harlem and Keep Up at Punchestown on Sunday. Mullins' right-hand man David Casey was full of praise for Cleary-Farrell after. And he hinted he could get the leg up in some big-money races aboard Spanish Harlem - who was fourth in the bet365 Gold Cup - when the new season gets going properly. He said: "Sean is in Willie's full-time and is a good rider and works hard. "He took a couple weeks off and rode a winner on the Flat in France. "These days are for lads like him. He's getting his chance and he's taking it with both hands. "Sean gave Spanish Harlem a good ride and he kept galloping well. "I'd say nicer ground suits him and obviously those extended trips. He ran a real good race at Sandown. "I'd say he'll be looking at races like the Kerry National and Munster National." Cleary-Farrell's rapid success is doubly impressive given the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding his father's death aged just 22. Sean Cleary was one of Ireland's 'leading young riders' and described as a 'one-of-a-kind' talent when he was killed in a race at Galway in October 2003. Tragically, Sean Jnr was born just two months after his father passed as a result of severe head injuries suffered in the spill. Describing his father, Cleary-Farrell said on The Irish Field: "My late father Sean died tragically following a fall at Galway, a couple of months before I was born. "Unfortunately, there are very few videos or DVDs of his rides but photos of his winners still adorn the walls of my grandparents' house. "Growing up I was always aware of who he was and what an accomplished jockey he had been during his short career." Mullins took Cleary-Farrell under his wing at Closutton and the conditional jockey says he loves it there. The Irish handler has also started giving more rides to the hugely promising Anna McGuinness, who had another winner under the Mullins banner last weekend. Given the superstars they ride out at Mullins' HQ every day, it's no surprise they're finding it relatively easy work on the racecourse proper. Speaking after his latest win, Cleary-Farrell said: "I can't describe how I feel, it will take me a while to come down off this cloud. "A big thank you to Willie for giving me the opportunity to ride these horses, he's looking after me." Sounds like they'll be looking out for each other in the winner's enclosure for many months, and hopefully years, to come. . Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who:
