Kilbeggan Sun, 31st May, 2026  Mento It was a lovely start over hurdles and it’s nice to get my first winner for Paul Byrne,. He was a bit disappointing in his bumpers, I thought he was a bit better. I did say to Paul to give him one more chance as he loves jumping. He said ‘he’d want to improve a good bit’ but it’s amazing what a jump can do to a horse. He dossed a bit in front but he’s only four and was taking on older horses there so it was a fair performance. There are some lovely novice races over a bit of a trip and he could even end up in Galway.

Leopardstown Tue, 3rd Mar, 2026  Joyau De Thaix He got up on the line to win in Limerick on bottomless ground as well, he just stayed at it really well. I thought when they came around him he was going to be third. I knew he’d stay at it, but I didn’t think he’d catch the winner. He was an unlucky faller in a beginners’ chase before. He jumped well today. He said he was grand and idle in second place the whole way around. He hit the line fairly well. It was a chase for horses rated 120 or less, so it was grand for him and it’s nice to get off the mark over fences with him. Hopefully he’ll make into a nice staying chaser on soft ground. We might try him with a light weight in better races and see how we go. I thought the ground would be a bit quick today but they went a good gallop on it. He definitely wants three miles, that’s not going to happen very often where they stop like that and come back to him. He stays at it well and jumped an awful lot better today. I thought for a big horse he was maybe lacking a bit of scope, but he jumped well today.