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Minstrel Stakes
The Minstrel Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in July. The event is named after The Minstrel, a successful Irish-trained racehorse in the 1970s. It was formerly held at Phoenix Park in late April or early May, and it used to be contested by three-year-olds over a mile. For a period it was classed at Listed level. The race was transferred to the Curragh and switched to July in 1991, and at this point it was opened to older horses. It was promoted to Group 3 status in 1996, and cut to 7 furlongs in 2001. The minimum age of participating horses was raised to four in 2002, and three-year-olds were re-admitted in 2007. It was upgraded to Group 2 level from the 2016 running. Records Most successful horse since 1988 (2 wins): * Ramooz – ''1997, 1999'' * Gordon L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100-120 lb., and physically fit. They are typically self-employed and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings. Jockeys are mainly male, though there are some well-known female jockeys too. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries. Etymology The word is by origin a diminutive of ''jock'', the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name ''John'', which is also used generically for "boy" or "fellow" (compare ''Jack'', ''Dick''), at least since 1529. A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in "Jockey of Norfolk" in Shakespeare's ''Richard III''. v. 3, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Fortune (jockey)
James Joseph Fortune (born 14 June 1972) is a retired Irish thoroughbred jockey who in a 30-year career won over 1,800 races, including 16 Group 1s, and 1 British Classic, the 2007 St Leger. Career Fortune was apprenticed to Mike O'Neill and Luca Cumani. He was first licensed in 1987 and his first win came on 29 July 1988 at Thirsk riding Hitchenstown for Eric Alston. It was O'Neill who brought Fortune over to Britain, and his first major victory was on O'Neill's Joveworth at 50/1 in the 1989 Ayr Gold Cup, while still an apprentice, claiming 5lb. In 1990 he became Champion Apprentice with 47 wins. Later, Fortune became jockey for David Barron, then took a retainer with Jack Ramsden after Kieren Fallon left. This led to him becoming the retained jockey for Robert Sangster in 1998, when Peter Chapple-Hyam was his trainer. His first Group 1 win was on Commander Collins in that season's Racing Post Trophy. Following that, he rode for Paul Cole. For seven years he was associate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kieren Fallon
Kieren Francis Fallon (born 22 February 1965 in Crusheen, County Clare, Ireland) is a retired Irish professional flat racing jockey and was British Champion Jockey six times. Career Stable jockey to Henry Cecil In 1997, Fallon became the stable jockey for Henry Cecil, one of Britain's leading trainers. In May 1997 he recorded his first Classic win when taking the 1000 Guineas on the Cecil-trained filly Sleepytime. Cecil called him "a very hard worker" and a "Group One Jockey" while Richard Edmondson, writing in The Independent, praised Fallon's riding ability while pointing out his poor disciplinary record. Both sides of Fallon's character were soon evident as he was given a ten-day ban for his riding in a race in Italy, which he successfully had postponed to ride in The Oaks, which he won on Reams of Verse for Cecil. Fallon ended the season with 202 wins and his first Champion Jockey title. Fallon retained the Jockeys' Championship for the next tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Johnny Murtagh
Johnny Murtagh (born 14 May 1970) is an Irish flat racing trainer and former jockey from Bohermeen, near Navan, Kells, County Meath. As a jockey he won many of the major flat races in Europe, including all the Irish Classics, all the Group 1 Races at Royal Ascot, The Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and Europe's biggest race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was also Irish flat racing Champion Jockey five times. As a trainer, based at stables near Kildare, he has saddled a winner at Royal Ascot and an Irish Classic winner. Background Murtagh was born in Navan, County Meath. He was a keen amateur boxer as a young boy and was once Irish boy's under-14 boxing champion. He also came close to joining Blackburn Rovers' youth football team. At a boxing fight one evening in his native County Meath, a spectator advised his mother that Murtagh had the attributes to make a good jockey, balance, poise, weight, strength, courage. His mot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Walter Swinburn
Walter Robert John Swinburn (7 August 1961 – 12 December 2016) was a flat racing jockey and trainer who competed in Great Britain and internationally. Biography Swinburn was born in Oxford. He was the son of Wally Swinburn, who won the Irish flat racing Champion Jockey title in 1976 and 1977 and was the first jockey to record over 100 winners in an Irish flat season. Nicknamed the "Choirboy", he rode his first winner, Paddy's Luck, on 12 July 1978 at Kempton Park but gained considerable fame for riding the superstar Shergar to victory in The Derby in 1981 by a record 10 lengths. Swinburn went on to win the Derby two more times. In 1983, he rode All Along to victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe then the filly captured 1983 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year honors with three straight major event wins in North America: the Washington, D.C. International at Laurel, Maryland, the Canadian International Stakes (Rothmans International) at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincent O'Brien
Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish horse racing, race horse horse trainer, trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Post''. In earlier ''Racing Post'' polls he was voted the best ever trainer of National Hunt racing, national hunt and of flat race, flat racehorses. He trained six horses to win the Epsom Derby, won three Grand Nationals in succession and trained the only British Triple Crown winner, Nijinsky II, Nijinsky, since the Second World War. He was twice British flat racing Champion Trainer, British champion trainer in flat racing and also twice in national hunt racing; the only trainer in history to have been champion under both rules. Aidan O'Brien (no relation) took over the Ballydoyle stables after his retirement. The National Hunt years His training career started in 1944. That year, he did the Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA.com is an Irish trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Stables near in |
