The burgeoning battle to be Ireland’s champion jockey moves to Bellewstown on Tuesday where Colin Keane has six chances to narrow the gap to Dylan Browne McMonagle in the title race.
Keane, the reigning champion and six-time title-holder, trails his rival by four winners (67-63).
Browne McMonagle, who has four spins at Bellewstown, stretched his lead with a near 94/1 hat-trick in the first three races at Naas on Sunday. At the same time, Keane was in action in Goodwood for his Juddmonte bosses and secured a Group Two success on board Jonquil.
He is back on domestic duty now, but overseas commitments mean bookmakers reckon he faces an uphill battle to emerge on top once again when the season ends at the Curragh on November 2nd.
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Browne McMonagle is a heavy odds-on favourite with Paddy Power to be crowned champion for the first time this year. Keane is an 11/8 shot.
Every winner counts and Browne McMonagle has the power of Joseph O’Brien’s powerful string behind him. One of them is Tswalu, who has been frustrating but whose 84 rating still makes her the one to beat in a mile and a half maiden.
Earlier, Tofino looks up to defying an 8lb penalty for narrowly wining at the Curragh earlier this month. Gavin Cromwell’s charge did well to overcome a less-than-clear passage on that occasion.
Jessica Harrington runs Fiona McCoul in that race and the Co Kildare trainer has revealed that her one-time classic contender Green Impact is finished for the season.
Placed sixth in the Newmarket 2000 Guineas and the Irish Derby, Green Impact was last seen finishing fourth in a Group race at York, only to emerge from the race with an injury. Harrington plans to get him back to action in 2026.
Harrington’s Group One Futurity winner Hotazhell will be in action again, although ideally with an ease in the going.
“We’re waiting with Hotazhell and he could run at the Irish Champions Festival, he could go to France and there is also British Champions Day,” said Harrington. “We’ll run him when we get suitable ground.”
In other news, trainer Richard Hannon was left disappointed by Rosallion’s performance when only fourth in Saturday’s City Of York Stakes. But he feels the Breeders’ Cup Mile could be the best bet for the colt to land that elusive Group One this season.
A top-flight winner as a juvenile, Rosallion won last year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes but has failed to add to that tally in three starts in 2025.
“We’ll have to dust ourselves off and look at where we are going to go next. I’ve always thought he would be very adaptable to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, with the way he travels and his speed.
“I honestly think he would go round there like Scalextric. But then again you’re relying on getting a good draw and if he does that, he would have early speed and with two bends he’d be able to kick off the last bend. I’ve always thought he’d be very hard to beat in a Breeders’ Cup,” he said.
