Search Results for 'Ruby Walsh'

As I write this look ahead at what in my opinion is the best seven days of the year in our wonderful city, I have one eye on the sky above to see if the weather gods, after an absence of two years, can smile on John Maloney and his team who performed a major miracle 12 months ago to complete all seven days racing after a deluge of rain throughout the week, which for the first time in 20 years saw this scribe don weather-proof clothing on each of the seven days of racing.

Galway punters are gearing up to do battle with bookies again this year with the Cheltenham festival getting under way next week, March 12.

Willie Mullins has won more important races at the Cheltenham festival than the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle. However, I'm sure that very few winners he trains there will give the wider Mullins family greater satisfaction than seeing Sir Des Champs come from an almost impossible position, to secure victory in the final strides, in the second last race of last week's festival. For this observer, it was a fitting finale to what had been a wonderful week for Irish trained horses, and particularly those of Kilkenny man, Willie Mullins.

Horse Racing Ireland held the last of a run of six successful schools education days at Gowran Park Racecourse on Tuesday last. This initiative brought the education days to the following race courses: Dundalk, Navan, Limerick, Naas, Cork, and Gowran.

The greatest party anywhere in the eurozone is almost upon us and whether one deals in euros, sterling, dollars, or the Japanese yen all roads will lead to Ballybrit on Monday next as the seven-day marathon that is the Galway Race Week Festival gets under way shortly after five o clock. With more than fifty races on the menu punters will need to tread carefully through a minefield of tough maximum field handicaps and conditions contests under both Flat and National Hunt rules and with margins tight in all walks of life selective punting is advised.

The Owners

The highlight of the Galway Races, the Galway Plate, proved a winner of No 3 Oslot, the Paul Nicholls-trained horse ridden by Ruby Walsh and owned by stockbroking millionaire Andy Stewart.

Well readers, the 2008 Galway Races are virtually upon us and with the prophets of doom and gloom working overtime for the last two months this year’s festival has taken on the role as a barometer of the country’s financial state as well as being the top racing festival in the fair island of ours.

Well the waiting is over, and the barometer race meeting of the Irish calandar has finally arrived, with €65,000 on offer to the winner of the GPT Amateur Handicap, the feature contest at 19.00. The Tony Martin trained Arc Bleu and the Richard Fahey trained Halla Sun currently vie for favouritism at around 5/1. The pair clashed in the ''Pitmans Derby'' at Newcastle when Arc Bleu got up to deny Halla Son by a head when in receipt of 8lbs, but this time the difference is 6lbs.There may not be much between the pair.

Leading National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins enjoyed a Christmas to remember as he trained an unrivalled 17 winners over the Christmas period. The Bagenalstown based trainer is enjoying his golden spell in the training ranks.