Experienced Soldier slays expensive Ballydoyle colt

Lars Soldier ran well here the last day. I told Wesley (Joyce, winning jockey) going out to keep him fairly forward as he had a bit more experience than the other horses and I think that’s what won it. The other horse (Confucius) was very green and the penny didn’t drop until late on. It’s nice to win a Curragh maiden as a two-year-old at the start of the season. I don’t know where we’ll go from here. If some lad comes with a big cheque this fella (brother Laurence, winning owner) might sell him! He’s a good honest little horse.

Slattery secures early lead in trainers’ championship

out horses are fit and well and often you’d look at the program book but there wouldn’t be the right races for your horses. It has all fallen right as there are races for my horses who go on the ground and that’s basically it. They have been running well, are all in good form but the races are there for them. Staysound Susie loved that trip and had finished third over five (furlongs) here recently, which is too short. She was in the Listed race in Cork tomorrow but I said to the lads that she might only finish fifth or sixth in that but that she had a chance of winning a 30 grand pot here. We’ll try and nick a bit of black-type with her as she’s going in foal this year because she’s starting to resent the stalls and things like that. She loves that ground, six furlongs and by putting her in foal, it might improve her a bit over the coming weeks. My other filly (fourth-placed Bint Majestic Roi) ran a cracker. She was the sleeper that I had in the pack, who was starting to work very well over sprint trips. She’s not bred for it, she’s bred to be a mile-and-a-half or mile-and-a-quarter filly but she’s just been working well. Andrew (jockey son) got off her and said he thought she’d make a good sprinter.

Irish Oaks-entered Chasing Paradise wins on reappearance

Celestial Orbit pays immediate dividend on O’Brien switch

Flynn gets off the mark with progressive Key Witness

This is a very nice horse. Myself and my wife Catherine were in Newmarket (at the sales) looking at all the horses and the next thing this one passed by, and I said to Catherine ‘that’s a racehorse’ so we went in and bought him. He’s by a very good sire and we’re delighted. This is his first run of the year and he did it the hard way, from a bad draw. He’ll probably get a few pounds for that and we’ll go for the big-ish handicaps with him over seven furlongs to a mile.

A fantastic Friday for Fiver Friday

Galileo Noir gets off the mark on third start

Galileo Noir is a good horse and it’s easier when they are good! At Naas the last day, he arrived into contention going really easy, but blew up and just got tired. I was a bit worried that the trip (1m1f) might be too far but they went steady. He has loads of boot and Colin said we could bring him back to a mile, but I’d say a mile-and-a-quarter will suit him well. He has quite a nice pedigree and he’s a good looking horse who probably likes that ground as well. It’s great to win and we’ll just take one day at a time with him. We’ll enjoy that and see where we go from there.

Cheltenham winners collect again with Curragh double

I had him in the 1m2f handicap today but lately he’s been jumping (from stalls) so slowly and travelling very lethargically early in his races. I’ve had to change his whole training regime and now he does a lot of his work on his own. We sent him off to our second gallop, which is five furlongs round, which he canters around and then breezes up the hill. He also leads the two-year-olds sometimes or works with something he can beat, which he seems to be absolutely delighted about - you can see him laughing at them! . I wondered would he get today’s 1m6f trip but he did and Colin said he’d probably get two miles, but that you’d have to play with him. We’ll trick along and I think I’ll keep him at longer trips. He's been a great horse but unfortunately his owner Paul (Hunt) died a couple of years ago so he runs in his wife Patricia’s name. We had a good few horses for the family but we’ve only two left now, this fella and Tell Nobody Nothin.