Tipperary Racing Scene

Trainer Joseph O’Brien took the opening races, both juvenile maidens, at Listowel on Monday on Tuesday.

Declan McDonogh took his opportunity on newcomer Magna Victoria in the mile maiden on Monday. A strong pace enabled the 9-2 chance to come from behind midfield and win going away by just over a length.

Joey Sheridan was the man in the saddle on Tuesday when Loughrea And Roll took the seven-furlong maiden in the colours of Michael Burke.

Backed into the 11-10 favourite, he raced close to the speed and led with about half a furlong to race, half a length up at the post.

Trainer and jockey bookended Tuesday’s meeting with a winner when Count Bezukhov made it two wins from four runs in the staying handicap over 1m6f. Sheridan positioned his mount close to a steady pace and had just enough in reserve to hang on by a neck as the 15-8 favourite.

Cloughjordan trainer Denis Hogan captured the 2026 GAIN The Advantage Series title at Listowel as Majestic King (7-2) won the mile handicap on Monday.

Daniel King, better known for his exploits over the jumps, made virtually all the running on the gelding to win by over three lengths.

Hogan’s experience in Kerry got even better a day later when his remarkable filly Meriden took the Listed Edmund and Josie Whelan Memorial Listowel Stakes. Chris Hayes partnered the 9-4 favourite, a decisive winner by about two lengths.

It was the sixth success of the year for Meriden and second at Listed level. She won five on the spin between May and July, starting from a mark of 57 at Down Royal, which seems barely credible given she won off 104 last week.

Hogan added: “When we got her first, she was weak and needed time. We didn’t see her going this far, but she kept improving from run to run. I almost felt greedy entering her for this race, but she was so well at home. She is entered in the mares’ sale at Newmarket and we will see what becomes of that. But she has improved so much this season, I think she could come back better after a little holiday. I do think she is a Group filly.”

Hogan capped a brilliant week by adding the mares’ bumper on Friday with 15-8 favourite She Was The One ridden by Harry Swan. Placed in her opening two starts, she opened her account by a tidy four lengths.

Lauderdale King made it back-to-back wins in the closing event at Listowel on Monday for trainer Andy Slattery with his son Andrew in the saddle.

The 5-2 favourite stepped up to 1m6f at the Kerry track where he dictated matters out in front, coming home the winner by three-quarters of a length.

The win came three weeks after a first handicap victory over 12 furlongs at Cork. Lauderdale King is owned and bred by brothers-in-law Pat Morrissey and Rory Brennan from Thurles.

The Killenaule stable registered another success on Friday when, making his first start since May, Ebony King (11-2) ran out a handsome four-length winner of the 1m6f race for amateur riders.

Adam Ryan was on board and the trainer and jockey clicked again in the final race of the week when Iron Sword (4-6 fav) proved too strong in the ‘Slan Abhaile’ bumper on Saturday.

Juvenile fillies Big Negotiator and Livenka dominated both the betting and the finish to the featured race at Fairyhouse, the Castlebridge Consignment Blenheim Stakes.

Trainer Paddy Twomey’s hardy girl came out on top, however, winning the second Listed race of a busy young career by half a length at odds of 9-4. Twomey added Big Negotiator may next run in the Legacy Stakes at Dundalk on October 2.

Despite drifting in the betting out to 25-1, Let Me Entertain You did well to snatch the mile race for juveniles at Listowel on Tuesday.

Nathan Crosse found a decisive turn of foot between the final two furlongs and came home just shy of two lengths clear. Bansha’s David Marnane trains this colt for his brother and owner, Con.

Marnane enjoyed another nice result on Friday at Dundalk when San Giulio, back in distance from a mile on debut, sprang a 40-1 surprise in the opening claiming maiden over six furlongs. Luke McAteer was the man in the saddle.

Fire Coral, placed in three races since July, gained due reward for her consistency by landing the staying handicap hurdle for mares at Listowel on Friday.

Trained by Sam Curling near Cashel, the seven-year-old was ridden by Kerry National winning jockey Danny Mullins. She won by three lengths as a 10-1 chance.

Templemore trainer Leslie Young was back in the winners’ enclosure at Dundalk on Friday when his 40-1 outsider Highway Sixty One popped up in the concluding handicap over 12 furlongs. Apprentice Mel Sheridan was on board for his third victory of the year to date.

Aidan O’Brien plundered a Group 1 and a pair of Group 2 races with juveniles on both sides of the Irish Sea on Saturday.

The exceptional filly Sun Goddess was the unquestionable star of show as she lowered the course record for six furlongs in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.

Sun Goddess was winning her third Group 1 of the season and is as short as 6-4 for the 1,000 Guineas next year at Newmarket. O’Brien indicated she might also run again before the end of the season, pending connections’ views.

The no-nonsense colt Haffner (7-4 favourite) was Ballydoyle’s other success on the Rowley Mile as he came home a length clear in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile.

Back at the Curragh, O’Brien won the Group 2 Beresford Stakes for the 23rd time. Some brilliant horses are among that bunch, and one suspects the latest one to join club, Noble Exhibit, can become a Group 1 winner in his own right before too long.

The 10-11 favourite, ridden by Wayne Lordan, came over a length clear of City Of Dubai, trained by Paddy Twomey.

Noble Exhibit features prominently in the early betting for the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Doncaster on October 24th along with his stable companion, Darkness Falls, already a winner at the highest level.

O’Brien and Lordan bagged three more winners together in maidens over the weekend. Juvenile filly Haven (6-4 fav) won at Dundalk on Friday over seven furlongs, while three-year-old Come What May (5-1) scored on debut at ten furlongs at HQ on Saturday. A day later, Capability Brown (4-1) made all at the Kildare track.

Ryan Moore was on board as Ballydoyle’s Raging Bull (1-2 fav) snuck home by a head in the opening seven-furlong maiden at the Curragh on Sunday.

Hats off to Paddy Twomey who trained the one-two in the hugely valuable Goffs Million at the Curragh on Saturday as his 9-4 favourite Trean defeated Hi Corbett Court.

Trean bolted up at Galway on his third start and subsequently placed at Group level. Offers to sell him abroad were rebuffed with the Goffs Million the target and its €500,000 first prize.

Connections would have been worried halfway through the seven-furlong test at the weekend as jockey Billy Lee found himself bottled up in traffic for about two furlongs. But once a gap presented, Trean shot clear by a length from his 80-1 stablemate.

Valentino Eclipse, the 2-5 favourite, lived up to market expectations in the six-furlong maiden for three-year-olds at the Curragh on Sunday. Jockey Seamie Heffernan disputed the early lead and urged his mount to a comfortable break of about four lengths at the close.

Trainer Johnny Murtagh and his stable jockey Ben Coen will go into the winter months harbouring hopes of some big days next year with Curracloe. Their star juvenile filly, owned by Sheikh Fahad and Qatar Racing, maintained her perfect 2-2 record in the Group 3 Darley Fillies’ Stakes in very good style at the Curragh on Sunday.

Sent off the 13-8 joint favourite after winning on debut earlier in the month at Gowran Park, Curracloe was not unduly taxed to skip about three lengths clear of her rivals.

Chally Chute atoned for a most unlucky defeat in last year’s Friends of the Curragh Irish Cesarewitch by going one better in the 2026 renewal on Sunday.

The eight-year-old is owned by Julie White who bred him with Dominic O’Neill. Trained by Ross O’Sullivan, the 16-1 chance came with a late run at the end of the 2m1f test under leading apprentice Sam Coen to collect by half a length.

Coen is in a three-way tussle for the apprentice jockeys’ title, leading on 24 winners from Paddy Harnett on 21 and Reese Holohan on 20.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Bellewstown – Wednesday, September 30th (first race 2.09pm)

Sligo (NH) – Wednesday, September 30th (first race 2.20pm)

Bellewstown – Thursday, October 1st (first race 1.35pm)

Clonmel (NH) – Thursday, October 1st (first race 1.49pm)

Gowran Park (NH) – Friday, October 2nd (first race 1.56pm)

Dundalk – Friday, October 2nd (first race 5.30pm)

Gowran (NH) – Saturday, October 3rd (first race 1.25pm)

Curragh – Sunday, October 4th (first race 1.20pm)

Killarney (NH) – Sunday, October 4th (first race 1.35pm)

Killarney – Monday, October 5th (first race at 1.25pm)

Fairyhouse – Monday, October 5th (first race 1.57pm)

Galway – Tuesday, October 6th (first race 2.20pm)