John Connaughton

Try as they might - and by golly the good folk at Epsom tried - you can't hold back the rain. A day which should have dawned full of hope and expectation after so much attention to detail in improving the Derby Day experience instead brought black clouds and bluster across the Epsom Downs. Good for the farmers, not so for the frolickers. But no amount of rain could dampen the spirits of Tom and Kathleen Whelan, decked out in pink to support their son Ronan riding in the second...

John Connaughton, the hotel owner who bred Group 1 winner Bay City Roller as well as the Group 3 scorer Dunboyne Express, has died almost exactly a year after he was crowned small breeder of the year at the ITBA Awards. He was 93. Connaughton enjoyed a lifetime of success in business and bloodstock. Dunboyne Express was one of the first big names that shot to prominence for the County Westmeath man while Bay City Roller provided Connaughton with a breakthrough Group 1 success as a breeder when landing a...

Victorious Forever's Bay City Roller (New Bay) went unbeaten in a three-race juvenile campaign, but was winless in six starts this term, and last year's G2 Champagne Stakes victor powered clear off the front end in Saturday's G1 Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern at Munich to cap a banner season for Newmarket-based conditioner George Scott. "It couldn't have gone any better," proclaimed Adrie de Vries, whose previous win in the contest came aboard Campanologist (Kingmambo) in 2010. "The trainer was extremely confident in the horse beforehand and that is why...

More And More is an old ditty that the late singer Joe Dolan, one of County Westmeath's finest exports, made famous back in the 1980s. Well, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association could not have found a more suitable backing track to the small breeder award presentation at The Heritage Hotel, which was won by fellow Westmeath man John Connaughton. For starters, Connaughton has enjoyed a lifetime of successes in business which have been replicated through his bloodstock endeavors. And even at the age of 93, the accolades keep on coming...

KILLENARD, Ireland - At bloodstock's own annual version of Groundhog Day, it's a familiar scene. A flagging British hack shuffles out of the bar at The Heritage, apologising for retiring to bed "so early" at 3.30am while all around Irish breeders great and small are still on the bridle and full of running. Welcome to the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association National Breeding and Racing Awards. They breed 'em tough on this isle, both horses and their minders. Not even the aftermath of Storm Eowyn could deter the 300-plus members of...