BEFORE racing began at Prestbury Park last week, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) staged a parade of 14 former National Hunt stars including the Ireland-based Cheltenham Gold Cup winners, Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020) and A Plus Tard (2022), whose trip over and back was facilitated by Treo Eile.
Al Boum Photo’s rider Louise Duffy, who is on the board of the Association of Irish Riding Clubs, drove the two horses over, accompanied by dressage rider Emily Kate Robinson, who does a lot of flat work with trainer Henry de Bromhead’s horses, and her mother Geraldine.
They left Dublin Port at 7am but, because of well-documented problems with their ferry, didn’t get off in Holyhead until 6pm. They then drove down to Winchombe where the horses were stabled with former-jockey-turned-racing-presenter Luke Harvey and his wife Charlotte and the humans found their own lodgings.
The next morning, accompanied by Luke on his feet, Louise and Emily Kate rode the two horses up the famous Cleeve Hill for about two hours, providing ample time for a photoshoot and to meet up with Louise’s mother Mary, who had flown over early that morning with Treo Eile’s Anne O’Connor and Melanie Young.
Between the pre-parade ring and the main parade ring, the 14 horses were ridden for about 30 minutes in front of the public at Cheltenham on the Tuesday, with their riders dressed according to the horses’ second careers. Al Boum Photo and A Plus Tard were stabled with the Harveys again on Tuesday night before Louise drove them on to the ferry home on the Wednesday.
Both riders much enjoyed the experience, but are now concentrating on the months ahead. Emily Kate is due to compete A Plus Tard at today’s Dressage Ireland North Munster Region show at Garranemore Equestrian, while Louise has Al Boum Photo entered in the EI100 (Amateur) class at Tyrella 2 on Saturday, April 4th.
Hunting sire
Out on the track, the first race of the 2026 Festival, the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1), was won by the Nicky Henderson-trained, Nico de Boinville-ridden Old Park Star, who was bred by Matthew Fogarty.
The five-year-old is by Europe’s oldest active thoroughbred sire Well Chosen (a son of Sadler’s Wells), who stands alongside Berkshire (by Mount Nelson) and Rich History, a Dubawi half-brother to 10 winners including Kyprios, at Tom and Magette Meagher’s Kedrah House Stud.
“Our policy for buying stallions is that they must be by a good sire, out of a great mother,” said Tom Meagher, who first stood Well Chosen for the sport horse industry and is fond of saying that there are as many good hunters in Tipperary by the sire as there are racehorses. There are no non-thoroughbred sires at the Cahir stud any longer, but semen is available from Cassino, Courage, Lux Z and Ricardo Z.
Riding for his uncle Willie, Danny Mullins made virtually all to win the second race, the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase (Grade 1), on the French-bred Kargese. Danny had the bay mare tight to the rail turning in, reminiscent of the turns he used to take on the 128cm ponies he jumped at Dublin and around the country.
Amateur show jumper, and champion lady amateur jockey, Jody Townend led up the Willie Mullins-trained King Rasko Grey who won the opening race on the Wednesday, the Turner Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1), under her brother Paul.
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King Rasko Grey with Jody and Paul Townend after winning the Turners Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) \ Healy Racing
Long associated with the Ward Union Hunt, Gavin Cromwell saddled three horses in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, where they finished first (Final Orders), third (Vanillier) and fourth (Stumptown, last year’s winner). Final Orders, who gave jockey Conor Stone-Walsh his first success at the Festival, was led up by Caoimhe O’Brien, who hunts as often as she can with the Fingal Harriers - as does Anna McArdle, a member of the CMD Syndicate, who owns the winner and led in the Camelot 10-year-old on Wednesday.
Caoimhe, who does working hunter classes during the summer, actually hunted Final Orders with the Fingals one day in the season just finished, while Stumptown was ridden at the same meet by Paddy McGrath whose father, Seamus, is one of the joint Masters.
Well Chosen sired his second winner of the week when the Noel Meade-trained The Mourne Rambler won the day’s concluding bumper in the hands of six-time champion jockey Colin Keane, who was having his first ride at the track.
In a post-race interview with Lydia Hislop, Colin revealed that he does plenty of hunting during the winter months and used to school hurdlers and chasers for his father Gerry. The Co Meath jockey recently got engaged to his long-term partner Kerri Lyons, who evented up to three-star level. A full-sister to The Mourne Rambler, and to the multiple winners Sixshooter and She’s A Star, was sold for €36,000 in the foal section of the 2024 November National Hunt Sale at Tattersalls Ireland to Alex Butler.
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Home By The Lee and JJ Slevin won the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle (Grade 1) for Joseph O'Brien \ Healy Racing
Home By The Lee prevails
It’s some years now since Joseph O’Brien won individual bronze at the 2009 European Pony Eventing Championships in Moorsele, Belgium with the great Ice Cool Bailey, but it’s good to recall that feat along with the hundreds of track winners he has since ridden or trained. Last Thursday week, he saddled the Sean O’Driscoll-owned and bred 11-year-old Fame And Glory gelding Home By The Lee to win the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1) at his fifth attempt.
The preceding Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle (Grade 1) was won by the Gordon Elliott-trained Wodhooh, who was led up by Holly Peppard, a former member of the Meath Hunt Branch of the Irish Pony Club.
After racing on Thursday, Kedrah House Stud’s name popped up again at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival Sale where, in partnership with Adam Leahy, they sold the home-bred Berkshire gelding Cleverfox for €180,000 to Harold Kirk/Willie Mullins.
The four-year-old, who was eight lengths clear of his rivals when unseating his rider between the final two fences on his only start between the flags at Ballygogue House last month, was the highest-priced Irish-bred horse in the sale. Five lots, including the top-priced Monster Truck, a French-bred four-year-old gelding who made £530,000, were sold by Monbeg Stables - not by Tomás and Marti, but by other members of the Co Wexford Doyle dynasty.
What can we say about the J P McManus-owned, Emmet Mullins-trained, Derek O’Connor-ridden Its On The Line, who finished second at The Festival for the fourth year in a row on Friday, in what is now called the Princess Royal Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase? The nine-year-old Presenting gelding, who has Aintree and Punchestown hunters’ chase wins to his credit, went down by a neck to the British runner Barton Snow. Its On The Line was bred in Assagart by John and Catherine Roche.
The last race of the meeting, the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle, was won by the Henry de Bromhead-trained Air Of Entitlement, who gave his jockey Paddy O’Brien his first win at Cheltenham on his sixth ride. Paddy, who is a brother of the aforementioned Caoimhe, does most of his hunting with the Ward Union.
There was no racing in Ireland on Saturday but, the following day, the turf Flat season commenced at The Curragh, where the first race of the new campaign, a two-year-old maiden over five furlongs, was sponsored by the Co Kilkenny-based Capital Stud, which is owned by Ger O’Neill. This was won by the Luke McAteer-ridden Ruler’s Control, who is trained by former show jumping rider Jack Foley for another of the Monbeg clan, Donnchadh Doyle.