Rachael Blackmore back today at Galway
RACHAEL Blackmore will return from her injury layoff with one ride at Galway today (Saturday).
The leading jump jockey has been sidelined since July 16th when she sustained a fractured ankle and picked up a hip injury at Killarney. At Galway today she rides Aintree Grand National runner-up Balko Des Flos in a handicap hurdle for trainer Henry de Bromhead.
Meath trainer passes away
FORMER trainer Gerry Cromwell passed away peacefully on Thursday.
From the Skyrne/Ardcath area of Co Meath, Cromwell trained for many years and sent out multiple winners such as Feud, Little Tarris and Banbridge. He is an uncle to current top trainer Gavin Cromwell and was instrumental in his early career. Cromwell also played senior football with Meath from 1957 to 1964 and captained his local club St Vincents in the Meath senior county final against Navan O’Mahonys in 1963.
His funeral Mass takes place tomorrow, Sunday, at 1pm in St Mary’s Church, Ardcath, Co Meath.
Pioneering veterinary surgeon passes away
JOHN Hughes of Williamstown Stud in Clonee, Co Meath, passed away last weekend. A widely respected and pioneering veterinary surgeon, he stood the outstanding sport horse stallion Cavalier Royale. A full obituary will appear in next week’s paper.
Lope Y Fernandez is new stallion in Newmarket
LOPE Y Fernandez will stand at the National Stud in Newmarket next year. Placed in multiple Group 1 races, the son of Lope De Vega was a Group 3 winner at two years and was placed four times at the top level as a three-year-old.
He ended the season as champion European three-year-old sprinter. He ran right up to his best form this season when second to Palace Pier in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Coolmore Stud retains part-ownership of the horse, along with new partners the National Stud, Whitsbury Manor Stud and Nick Bradley Racing.
Joe Callan takes Market Rasen role
JOE Callan is leaving the National Stud in Newmarket to become interim general manager of Market Rasen racecourse. A graduate of both the Irish National Stud thoroughbred breeding course and the Godolphin Flying Start programme, Callan held the position of sales and nomination manager with the National Stud.
Oisin Orr on the mend
OISIN Orr hopes to back in the saddle in a fortnight’s time. The former champion apprentice broke his right hand in a fall at Naas on September 16th. He told The Irish Field: “The horse I was riding slipped up, broke his leg and landed on my hand. I got the cast taken off on Tuesday. It’s still a bit stiff but I should be back in another two weeks.”
Air ambulance support
MOUSE Morris has good news of the staff member who was seriously injured in a fall while riding out at his Co Tipperary yard last week. The rider was taken by air ambulance to hospital in Cork. The trainer reported: “She suffered a few breaks but she is going to make a full recovery. The air ambulance is a great service and I think everyone in racing should support them with a donation.
Web: communityairambulance.ie
AW Finals move
THE £1 million All-Weather Championships Finals Day has been moved from Lingfield to Newcastle from 2022. The Good Friday fixture was first run in 2014.
Newcastle has a Tapeta surface, which was laid in 2016. Enable and Stradivarius won their maidens at the track which, in 2019, hosted the Group 1 Futurity due to waterlogging at Doncaster.
Lingfield will still race on Good Friday, staging a programme for horses who regularly feature on the all-weather but are not rated high enough to run on Finals Day. It will be billed as the ‘All-Weather Vase’ meeting, consisting of Class three and four handicap races, worth a total of £395,000.
Lingfield will also stage the inaugural ‘Winter Million’ fixture which will see two days of jump racing and one day on the flat from January 21st-23rd – with the Coral Winter Oaks headlining Saturday’s card and £1 million on offer over the three days.