#Sam Ewing

We start this weekend's action at Kempton, and I think Chris Honour's Tile Tapper will be able to make amends for his 2 over this course and distance over Christmas. Although a 9yo now, Tile Tapper is still very lightly raced - and he's only had 5 career starts over fences. Following a useful Novice Hurdle campaign he was certainly a slow burner…

IT was just after 9pm last night when the racing world briefly went into meltdown as Davy Russell's astonishing return was confirmed. Only 23 days earlier, after riding one final - final at that time, at least - winner, he was back. A two-time Grand National hero, a man who doesn't suffer fools gladly, a man Elliott still needed. Russell released a…

Kilmaley native, Richard O'Brien, came in for lavish praise following the success of Paul Nolan's well-fancied newcomer, Cut The Rope (5/1), in the concluding four-year-old bumper at Naas on Sunday. O'Brien is a very successful trainer based in Ballingarry, County Limerick and it was on his advice that the Nolan camp purchased Cut The Rope, before…

Jack Kennedy: took a heavy fall from Top Bandit at Naas on Sunday X-rays have confirmed that Jack Kennedy has broken his leg for a fifth time following a fall from Top Bandit at Naas on Sunday, but Gordon Elliott is hopeful his number one jockey will be back in time to ride at the Cheltenham Festival. The 23-year-old leads the Irish jump jockeys'…

Consistency had been a notable trait in A Plus Tard's star-studded career before bombing out in the Betfair Chase, and Henry de Bromhead is optimistic the scintillating Cheltenham Gold Cup winner is back to himself. Cheveley Park Stud's dual Cheltenham Festival winner had never finished out of the first three in his 19 starts before pulling up at…

28 races over four days of action inside Cheltenham Racecourse will come to an end on Friday afternoon, with the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle concluding the 2022 Festival. The Martin Pipe was established in 2009 in honour of the master trainer who saddled 34 Festival winners and is the only hurdles race at the Festival restricted to conditional…

Punchestown's John Durkan Memorial Chase card, frozen off last Sunday, is set to be run this Monday, eight days later. Thursday's Naas card has been re-scheduled and is set for Tuesday, Fairyhouse's Saturday card, defeat admitted on Friday morning, has been moved to Wednesday, and what was originally a week that was starved of Irish National Hunt…

First up a quick list of our hot tips for Friday's action, with the feature race the Grade 2 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle (1530). You can find more detail on each of our selections further down the page. Selections: 13:10 (Cheltenham) Enki Flacke 13:45 (Cheltenham) The Glancing Queen 14:55 (Cheltenham) Ballyandy 15:30 (Cheltenham)…

THE nights are drawing in, the winter coats are finally coming out and racing really clicks into gear at the November meeting. It was always a meeting I really enjoyed as the real winter horses come out to play. Cheltenham is a testing track, but on the Old course there's more of a speed element to it. After this weekend everything will be on the…

American Mike and Jack Kennedy land the opening maiden hurdle at Down Royal Friday: Down Royal Talk beforehand was whether Gordon Elliott could go through the card on day one of the Ladbrokes festival of racing. That was scuppered early, but a haul of four on the day was more than satisfactory, and featured talented bumper horse American…

SUN Racing hops over to Ireland for a close look at the Guinness Kerry Grand National at Listowel on Wednesday. The betting bonanza takes place over three miles and will be run at 4.20pm. Here, we go through all the runners and riders with a verdict on each - and reveal our tip at the bottom. Hewick Jockey: Reserve Cost just €850, won Galway Plate,…