RETIRED racehorse Thousand Stars may have been less visable on our television screens but he had a special visitor zat Katie Walsh’s stables in Kill, Co Kildare, this week.

Katie and the great grey gelding are pictured here with Mary Murphy, one of the many people who use Alone, the national organisation which supports older people living at home.

The photo-shoot was arranged to highlight that Leopardstown Racecourse will be raising money for Alone at the Christmas Festival. Leopardstown will have a number of ‘tap to donate’ locations throughout the enclosure, QR codes in the racecards and on the racecourse CCTV network.

OVER the past 20 years or so, the Lucky Shoe Syndicate has raced a horse on the flat or over jumps with a number of trainers including Johnny Murtagh, Gordon Elliott, Michael Halford and the late Dessie Hughes.

For the 2024 flat season, the syndicate plans to lease two two-year-old fillies. One is a Churchill half-sister to Group 1 winner Ventura Storm and will be trained by Paddy Twomey. The other is a Profitable filly and is a half-sister to Royal Ascot and Group 3 winner Create Belief.

The syndicate is organised and administered on a not-for-profit basis. “Our aim is to strike a balance between keeping the cost per member as reasonable as possible and yet ensuring that the individual racing experience is not significantly diluted,” says Laurence Kennedy, who acts as agent for the syndicate.

“We generally have 12 to 15 members but, for this latest and more ambitious version, the members took the unanimous decision to extend the membership. We are now looking to double the number of syndicate members. Anybody interested can contact me at 087 2247314 and I will send them a prospectus.”

GWEN Browne from Tullow, Co Carlow, and University of Limerick graduate Shane Loughnane are the latest recipients of Irish National Stud scholarships from the Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation. The award includes fully-paid tuition and accommodation at the Irish National Stud for the 2024 breeding programme.

A Kildalton College graduate, Gwen has gained experience with trainers Jessica Harrington, Mags Mullins and Pat Foley, as well as spending time in Segenhoe Stud in Australia. Shane has worked with Luke Lillingston at Mount Coote Stud and with Paul McCartan at Ballyphilip Stud.

The scholarships are named after Co Clare man Gerry Dilger, who came to Kentucky aged 19 and went on to establish Dromoland Farm, which gave over 65 Irish people a ‘start’ in the business. Gerry died in 2020, aged 62.

A BENCH commemorating the late Eddie Byrne will be unveiled by Johnny Murtagh at Leopardstown on December 29th. Eddie, who died in April 2022, was a very popular member of the racing press who also acted as Johnny Murtagh’s agent for many years.

TALKING of human interest stories, The Irish Field is about to launch a podcast series of interviews with racing personalities. The first episode in the ‘Leading The Field’ series is with Ted Walsh and will be live from 10am next Thursday, December 28th. You can find it on The Irish Field homepage or just search for The Irish Field wherever you get your podcasts.

HERE’S something to look forward to.

Galway Racecourse is organising a black tie ball in aid of injured jockey Graham Lee. It will take place in the Galmont Hotel & Spa on Saturday, August 3rd. More details are expected in the new year.

Email: information@galwayraces.com