Westerner

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...

Champion Westerner has died at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland, Coolmore announced on Friday. The bay was just a few days shy of his 26th birthday. "Westerner was always a pleasure to deal with and was an old favourite of the breeders too," said Castlehyde's Cathal Murphy. "He got you a lovely sort of horse with a good attitude that jumped well. He has been a wonderful servant for us over the years producing so many top-class horses and will be greatly missed by all the team here in Castlehyde." Bred...

Group 1-winning Jumps mare Skyace (Ire) (Westerner {GB}) (Lot 114) brought a record price of £80,000 at Thursday's Tattersalls Ascot March Sale. Consigned by John 'Shark' Hanlon's Court Stud, the 7-year-old will return to her own stable in Ireland after being purchased by Hanlon on behalf of new ownership. "I am delighted to get her back and I have bought her for T J McDonald, who already has horses with me," confirmed Hanlon. "He wants her to go back in training, race her for a year and then put her...

Whichever way you slice it, the green, white and orange of the Irish tricolour ran right through the middle of last year's Cheltenham Festival results. Some 28 races were run during the four biggest days in the jumps racing calendar, and the Irish raiding party won an unprecedented 23 of them. This haul included the four championship prizes, as Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) won the Champion Hurdle, Put The Kettle On (Ire) (Stowaway {GB}) claimed the Champion Chase, Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) took the Stayers' Hurdle and Minella Indo...