Blandford Stakes
The Blandford Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September. History The event is named after Blandford, a successful sire in the 1930s. It was formerly open to horses of either gender, and used to be contested over 1 mile and 4 furlongs. The race was held in mid-October during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its distance was shortened by a furlong in 1994. It was relegated from Group 2 to Group 3 level in 1999, and from this point it took place in mid-September. The Blandford Stakes was cut to its present length and restricted to fillies and mares in 2001. It regained Group 2 status in 2004. It is currently part of the Irish Champions Weekend meeting. Records Most successful horse since 1947 (2 wins): * Nemain – ''1985, 1986 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Curragh Racecourse
The Curragh Racecourse -- usually referred to as simply the Curragh -- is one of Ireland's most important Thoroughbred racecourses. It is situated on the Curragh plain in County Kildare, between the towns of Newbridge and Kildare. History The name "Curragh" comes from the Irish language word ''Cuirreach'', meaning "place of the running horse". The first recorded race on the plain took place in 1727, but it was used for races before then. The first Derby was held in 1866, and in 1868 the Curragh was officially declared a horse racing and training facility by act of parliament. Racecourse redevelopment Redevelopment of the Curragh grandstand and racecourse facilities began in 2017 with completion due in time for commencement of the 2019 Irish Flat season. A truncated racing fixture list continued to be held at the course during this period with temporary facilities in place for the public. Racing The Curragh is a right-handed track, horseshoe and galloping in nature wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horse Trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which may include contests and other riding purposes. The level of education and the yearly salary they can earn for this profession may differ depending on where the person is employed. History Domestication of the horse, Horse domestication by the Botai culture in Kazakhstan dates to about 3500 BC. Written records of horse training as a pursuit has been documented as early as 1350 BC, by Kikkuli, the Hurrian "master horse trainer" of the Hittite Empire. Another source of early recorded history of horse training as a discipline comes from the Ancient Greece, Greek writer Xenophon, in his treatise On Horsemanship. Writing circa 350 BC, Xenophon addressed Horse training, starting young horses, selecting older animals, and proper Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest flat racing jockeys of all time and the originator of a much imitated style. Popularly called "The Long Fellow", he was known for his competitive personality, restricting his weight and, on occasion, not sparing the whip, such as in the 1972 Derby. Piggott was convicted of tax fraud in 1987 and sentenced to three years in prison. He served just over one year. Early life Piggott was born in Wantage, Berkshire, to a family that could trace its roots as jockeys and trainers back to the 18th century.p45, David Boyd, A Bibliographical Dictionary of Racehorse Trainers in Berkshire 1850–1939 (1998) The Piggotts were a Cheshire farming family who from the 1870s ran the Crown Inn in Nantwich for over 30 years. Piggott's grandfather, Ernest Piggo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Bolger (racehorse Trainer)
James S. Bolger (born 25 December 1941) is a thoroughbred racehorse trainer and breeder based in Coolcullen in County Kilkenny. For many years, he has been recognised as one of the racing greats in Ireland. Aidan O'Brien, Tony McCoy and Paul Carberry were all apprenticed to him before gaining professional recognition in their own right. During the 2006 flat season, Bolger trained Teofilo to go unbeaten at the age of two. This five-race unbeaten streak included victories in the Group 1 National Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes. Talk of an English Triple Crown bid was imminent, but Teofilo suffered a career-ending injury in the lead up to the 2,000 Guineas and never saw a racecourse again. Bolger was criticized for his handling of this situation. 2007 saw another Bolger-bred star emerge in the shape of New Approach. He followed the same path as Teofilo during his two-year-old career and was unbeaten. In 2008, Bolger informed the public that New Approach would go to Newmarket for the G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl Of Huntingdon
William Edward Robin Hood Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon, (born 30 January 1948), is an English hereditary peer and former racehorse trainer to Queen Elizabeth II. He was a member of the House of Lords from 1990 to 1999. Early life Hastings-Bass was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is from an equestrian family: his father Peter Hastings-Bass and grandfather Aubrey Hastings were horse trainers; his mother, Priscilla Hastings, was also a racehorse owner and among the first women admitted as members of the Jockey Club. He started in horse training as an assistant to Noel Murless and later worked in Australia with Bart Cummings and Colin Hayes. Career He gained his trainer’s licence in 1976. Outside the world of racing, he took part in charitable work, driving a lorryload of supplies to Bosnia and taking part in a bicycle ride across Borneo and a safari in the Australian outback. In August 1990, the 16th Earl of Huntingdon died withou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Indian Queen
Indian Queen (25 February 1985 – July 2000) was a British thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Ascot Gold Cup on her final racecourse appearance. Background Indian Queen was a chestnut mare bred by her owner Sir Gordon Brunton at the North Munstead Stud. She was sired by Electric out of Taj Princess (Taj Dewan). She was trained by the then Royal trainer William Hastings-Bass, 17th Earl of Huntingdon, at West Ilsley in Berkshire. Indian Queen died at age 15 after an accident in the paddocks at North Munstead Stud at Godalming, Surrey, in July 2000. She was two weeks in foal to Hector Protector when she died. Racing career Indian Queen earned a reputation for winning over long distances. She began her career in France and won a victory at Cagnes-sur-Mer. She was the winner of a number of Group class races including a dead heat with Braashee in the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp in 1990, and gained outright victory, as a rank outsider at 25–1, in the 1991 As ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Reid (jockey)
John Andrew Reid (born 6 August 1955 in Banbridge County Down, Northern Ireland) is a retired flat race jockey. Reid served as an apprentice in his native Ireland to Leslie Crawford, before moving to England and joining Verley Bewicke. His first Classic victory came in the 1982 1,000 Guineas aboard On The House. His first major Group 1 race win came in the 1978 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Ile de Bourbon. Reid won this race for a second time in 1997 on Swain, when the top-class thoroughbreds Helissio, Singspiel and Pilsudski were all beaten off. His biggest victory came on Dr Devious in the 1992 Epsom Derby for the trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam. He also won the 1988 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Tony Bin. John was also successful in the 1,000 Guineas in 1994 on Las Meninas and in the St. Leger Stakes in 1998 on Nedawi. Reid considered retirement in 1999 after a heavy fall at Kempton Park, but kept going for another two years until announcing his retire ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Oxx
John M. Oxx (born 14 July 1950) is a retired Irish trainer of thoroughbred racehorses. By the end of the 2009 season Oxx had trained 35 Group One winners over his career, including the winners of 11 Classic races. He is best known as the trainer of Sinndar and Sea The Stars. Oxx has been widely praised for the care and undemonstrative authority with which he approaches the training and racing of his horses.McGrath, Chris"The greatest horse of all time?" ''The Independent'', 3 October 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2012. He is particularly known for being highly selective when choosing when and where his horses will run."John Oxx" '' [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cash Asmussen
Cash Asmussen (born March 15, 1962 in Agar, South Dakota) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born Brian Keith Asmussen, in 1977 he legally changed his name to "Cash". From a Texas horse racing family, his parents, Keith and Marilyn "Sis" Asmussen, operate a ranch in Laredo in Webb County, Texas. His brother, Steve Asmussen, is a successful horse trainer in American racing. Career Asmussen scored his first important graded stakes race win at the Beldame Stakes in 1979 and won that year's Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. In 1981, he rode Wayward Lass to victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park (over the 1-5 entry of De La Rose and Heavenly Cause, who ran last and next-to-last), and traveled to Japan where he won the Japan Cup. The following year he won the Washington, D.C. International Stakes and his first of two Turf Classic Invitational Stakes then gained his most success as a jockey racing in France where he went to ride under ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eurobird (horse)
Eurobird (11 February 1984 – after 2005) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. A specialist stayer who was well-suited by soft or heavy ground, she was the third Classic race winner produced by the broodmare Irish Bird. As a three-year-old in 1987 she made steady improvement, winning the Kinderhill Oaks Trial, Blandford Stakes and Irish St. Leger by wide margins as well as finishing third in the Irish Oaks. At the end of the year she was rated the best filly in Europe over fourteen furlongs and further. She failed to win as a four-year-old but ran several good races in defeat. She later had considerable success as a broodmare, being the dam of at least ten winners. Background Eurobird was a "leggy" chestnut mare with a broad white blaze and a long white sock on her left foreleg bred in Ireland by Mrs S Rogers. During her racing career he was owned by Gerald Jennings and trained in Ireland by John Oxx. She was sired by Ela-Mana-Mou an outstanding middle dist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David O'Brien (racehorse Trainer)
David O'Brien is a former Irish racehorse trainer. He was the son of the successful trainer Vincent O'Brien and Jacqueline O'Brien (), author and photographer. His primary successes included Assert, who won the Irish and French Derbies, and Secreto, Derby, defeating El Gran Senor El Gran Senor (21 April 1981 – 18 October 2006) was a champion American-bred Thoroughbred race horse, foaled at Windfields Farm (Maryland). He was the best horse of his generation in Europe at both two and three years of age, ahead of an o ... trained by his father Vincent. David O'Brien remains the youngest trainer to win the Epsom Derby, The Irish Derby and the French Derby. He was also the first foreign trainer to win this race. He retired from training in the late 1980s and moved to France where he purchased a vineyard, Chateau Vignelaure, where he restored the reputation of the vineyard and as the winemaker won many French and international accolades. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Dav ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christy Roche
Christy Roche (born 3 December 1949 in Bansha, County Tipperary) is a retired Irish flat racing Champion Jockey and racehorse trainer. Over his thirty-year career between 1968 and 1998 he won the Irish Derby three times, in 1982, 1992 and 1997. His 1997 victory was on Desert King. In Britain he won the Epsom Derby on Secreto in 1984 and the Epsom Oaks on Jet Ski Lady in 1991. By the time of his retirement as a jockey Roche had already begun a career as a trainer. Amongst the major winners he trained were Like-A-Butterfly in the 2002 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and Grimes in the 2001 Galway Plate. He retired as a trainer in January 2018 and handed over his training licence to his son, Padraig. Major wins (as a jockey) Great Britain * Derby Stakes - ''Secreto (1984)'' * Fillies' Mile - ''Icing (1975)'' * International Stakes - ''Ivory Frontier (1993)'' * Oaks Stakes - ''Jet Ski Lady (1991)'' * William Hill Futurity - '' Sandy Creek (1978)'' * Yorkshire Oaks - ''Sarah Siddons (19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |