Paul Townend

Rich Ricci, an owner synonymous with Cheltenham Festival success for the best part of two decades, finally has his hands on the prize that he coveted above all others after Gaelic Warrior (Maxios) produced a coming-of-age performance under Paul Townend to win Friday's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup. The race had a tragic postscript, however, when another Festival mainstay in Envoi Allen (Muhtathir), making his eighth appearance at the meeting, sadly collapsed and died after finishing ninth on what was intended to be the final start of his illustrious career before...

CHELTENHAM, UK -- Craig Kieswetter has been a top-class sportsman in his own right but the former England and Somerset cricketer was emphatic in his assessment of what mattered most to him after his family's Il Etait Temps (Jukebox Jury) won the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase.  "I'd rather win at Cheltenham than win a World Cup," said the South African-born Kieswetter, who, with his parents Wayne and Belinda and brother Ross, owns Ridgemont Stud in South Africa's Western Cape as well as Barnane Stud in Ireland.  Il Etait Temps,...

The annual Treo Eile Christmas Show was held at the Emerald Equestrian Centre near Enfield on Thursday, with Team Randox, captained by multiple champion jockey Paul Townend, lifting the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) perpetual trophy as the winners of this year's Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic Cup. The feature class on the night, the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic is designed to showcase the very best of Ireland's retrained racehorses. Teams of four took part in a timed competition, followed by a jump-off to decide the winners. The tense conclusion saw...

Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell, Henry de Bromhead, Gordon Elliott and Ger Lyons' Glenburnie Racing are among the team captains confirmed for the Treo Eile Christmas Show on Thursday, December 11 at Emerald Equestrian Centre near Enfield. Also stepping up to the plate for the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic team event are a number of past or present jockeys, including Paul Townend, Jack Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, Jody Townend, Mark Walsh, Colin Keane, Nicola Burns, Robbie Power and Kevin Manning. The HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic, the feature class on the...

The six 2024/25 Irish National Hunt season champions were confirmed at Punchestown on Saturday afternoon. JP McManus was named the champion owner for the 22nd time, and he said, "To be crowned champion owner is a huge honour for my family and me. Huge thanks to all the trainers, jockeys and stable staff and all who play a huge part in our success." Other season-end leaders were: Willie Mullins, who was winning the champion trainer title for the 19th time; Mullins's son Patrick, who earned his 17th champion amateur title;...

I Am Maximus (Fr) (Authorized {Ire}) produced one of the most impressive Grand National-winning performances in some time to propel Willie Mullins to the head of the British Trainers' Championship. Owned by JP McManus and ridden by Paul Townend, last year's Irish Grand National hero represented winner number two in the Aintree showpiece for Mullins, who sent out Hedgehunter (Ire) (Montelimar) to success in 2005. Returned the 7-1 co-favourite, I Am Maximus stormed clear of Delta Work (Fr) (Network {Ger}) in second with former Gold Cup winner Minella Indo (Ire)...

CHELTENHAM, UK--Believe it or not, Willie Mullins drew a blank on day three of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, with Capodanno (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) and Jade De Grugy (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr}) faring best of their trainer's 11 runners on that card when finishing fourth in their respective races. Twenty-four hours without a winner at the Festival is a long time in Willie's world, the one in which he hit the target six times across the first two days of the meeting. Thankfully for him after Thursday's 'drought', there was a...

There are few more respected figures in French National Hunt racing than Nicolas de Lageneste.  It seems as though everything de Lageneste turns his hand to, be that breeding, training or simply owning racehorses, it is a success. Last year he completed the rare achievement of being crowned champion National Hunt owner and breeder in the same season. Nobody has ever done that before.  Fewer still would be capable of nurturing a horse like Il Est Francais (Fr) (Karaktar {Ire}). Not only did de Lageneste breed the superstar chaser, who...

Irish Racing Yearbook 2024, an annual chronicle of horse racing in Ireland, the achievements of Irish people on foreign soil while covering the entire spectrum of the sport of racing and thoroughbred industry in the form of interviews, profiles, analysis and more, is now available for purchase. The collection is a collaboration of the best writers and photographers with the leading protagonists in all spheres from breeding to sales, from point-to-point tracks to the racecourse. The cover story is written by Donn McClean, providing insight from three-time Gold Cup winner...

Six Irish National Hunt champions, including Willie Mullins, will be presented with their end-of-season awards at Punchestown on Saturday. Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, will be on hand at the course to distribute the honours. Trainer Willie Mullins was named the Irish NH Champion Trainer for the 17th time. He saddled his 4,000th career winner in January and sets a new record for the number of winners in a NH season having surpassed his previous best of 212, set in the 2017/2018 season. The trainer of...

CHELTENHAM, UK--Resplendent in bright green on St Patrick's Day, Audrey Truly clasped the Cheltenham Gold Cup as she chatted with Princess Anne while her face bore a look of disbelief. The owner could be forgiven if the enormity of the relatively smooth victory of her 7-year-old Galopin Des Champs (Fr) (Timos {Ger}) in jump racing's most prestigious race was yet to sink in.  Exactly a year ago the sleek dark brown gelding appeared to be about to back up his first Cheltenham success in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle...

The 2021/2022 Irish National Hunt Champions were announced at Punchestown on Saturday. Of the six, five were repeat winners, with Jack Foley named the Champion Conditional Jockey for the first time. Ireland's NH champions are as follows: Champion Owner: JP McManus (19th win) Champion Trainer: Willie Mullins (16th win) Champion Jockey: Paul Townend (fifth win) Champion Conditional: Jack Foley Champion Amateur: Patrick Mullins (14th win) Champion Lady Amateur Rider: Jody Townend (second win) Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive, Suzanne Eade, said, "This is the first time since May 2019 that...