Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Racing Correspondent

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column.

Willie Mullins in unusual position of hoping for a festive upturn in stable form

King George hopes Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File head champion trainer’s St Stephen’s Day hopes

JP McManus aiming to break King George duck through Fact To File

Top owner twice finished runner-up in Kempton feature with Jack Of Trumps

Tracks report ‘weather gods’ behaving in advance of busy Christmas schedule

Harry Cobden takes over from James Reveley aboard King George hopeful Il Est Francais

Honesty Policy leads hopes of a first Irish success in Ascot’s Long Walk Hurdle

Horse Racing Ireland announces record prize money of €74.7 million for 2026 despite stalled Government funding

IHRB’s top investigative and security officials have left racing’s regulatory body

Both Chris Gordon and Declan Buckley finished working at the IHRB last Sunday

Cutting the Derby trip is the real way to rejuvenate Epsom Classic’s flagship status

British racing’s blue riband event is no longer racing’s ‘Holy Grail’ due to breeding fashions

Professionals are ‘very small percentage’ of overall attendees at racecourses

Crowd figures during busy Christmas period will include trainers and jockeys

Hearing into jockey’s unseating by Redwood Queen at Wexford in May set for Monday

Bumper champion Bambino Fever makes her debut hurdles at Naas

Joseph O’Brien aiming for big-race success in both Cheltenham and Hong Kong

Los Angeles and The Lion In Winter give Aidan O’Brien a shot at equaling world record for top-flight wins

Gordon Elliott aiming to continue red hot Sunday form at Navan

Jockey Club boosts Derby prize-fund as part of measures to boost flagging attendance levels at Epsom

IHRB faces big task in untangling knotty problem of Redwood Queen unseat

Hearing into controversial unseating of jockey Philip Byrnes at Wexford in May due to be held on Monday

Dead heat as two of Willie Mullins’s horses share HRI award

Galopin Des Champs and Ethical Diamond share Horse of the Year prize; Rachael Blackmore honoured at awards

Joseph O’Brien has big race weekend targets on both flat and over jumps

Al Riffa ‘the ideal type’ to take on Hong Kong Vase challenge in Sha Tin

Found A Fifty highlights another Gordon Elliott four-timer in Hilly Way victory

Trainer does not rule out supplementing Brighterdaysahead for Grade One Hurdle at Leopardstown

Majborough bids to establish Champion Chase credentials in Cork’s Hilly Way

Il Etait Temps in pursuit of more Grade One glory when returning to Sandown for Tingle Creek

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