Dundalk riders lodge appeals

APPEALS have been lodged by 10 of the 12 riders who received five-day bans from the Dundalk stewards last Friday for failing to make a timely effort to achieve the best possible placing in the qualified riders’ handicap won by Wrecking Ball Paul. The appeals will be heard on March 20th.

Neill McCluskey loses appeal

NORTHERN trainer Neill McCluskey has lost his appeal against a six-month training ban he received last December. Based in Dromara, Co Down, McCluskey was fined €3,250 and lost his licence when his winner I Don’t Get It tested positive for anti-inflammatories.

Capital Stud

stallions off mark

CAPITAL Stud new recruits Castle Star and Authorized have both had their first mares scanned in foal since they began covering at the Co Kilkenny farm.

Castle Star, a Group 3 winner by Starspangledbanner, has had his first five mares scanned in foal.

Ger O’Neill of Capital Stud said: “We’re delighted with how Castle Star has been received and he is proving exceptionally fertile. Fast sons of Starspangledbanner at stud are a scarce commodity and one of the few others there has been, The Wow Signal, only sired a handful of foals but managed to get a classic winner in Coeursamba among them.

“We’re very excited about Castle Star, providing access to the Danehill line, which is becoming more and more scarce, and we think he offers tremendous value standing at €5,000.”

Authorized, sire of Tiger Roll, Echoes In Rain, I Am Maximus, Nichols Canyon and Readin Tommy Wrong, was recently repatriated to Ireland and has had his first Irish mares scanned in foal.

“Authorized has settled in great,” O’Neill reported. “He’s a very quiet horse, and is lovely to deal with. We had been told he’s slow in the shed, and it’s taking him about an hour to cover one mare, but he’s doing it well. He’s getting his mares in foal, that’s the most important thing.”

Price increase

THE cover price of The Irish Field rises by 4.4% today to €4.70. The sterling price has increased by a similar percentage. This is the first increase in 12 months and is attributable to increased production costs and inflation. This modest increase will allow The Irish Field to continue to invest in high quality coverage of the racing, bloodstock and sport horse sectors.

Maxwell buys Thyestes winner

DAVID Maxwell, the amateur rider and significant racehorse owner, has bought Thyestes Chase winner Ain’t That A Shame with a view to riding the horse in the Aintree Grand National. Aint That A Shame was previously owned by Brian Acheson’s Robcour.

A total of 81 horses remain in the Grand National following this week’s first scratching stage and 55 of them are Irish-trained. If the top 36 in the weights were all declared to run it would mean there were only six British-trained runners.

Escaria Ten sold for 30,000gns

ESCARIA Ten will run for trainer Martin Keighley in next Wednesday’s Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham, having been sold for 30,000gns at this week’s Tattersalls Online March Sale. The 10-year-old was originally trained by Gordon Elliott and has been racing in France this season.

The sale was topped by Credrojava, a seven-year-old mare by Presenting who won all three of her starts for trainer Harry Fry in 2022, including a listed hurdle.