Seamie Heffernan

Justify had the favourite for Thursday's Listed Chesham Stakes Aix La Chapelle withdrawn at the start, but remarkably still filled the first two places with his sons Nola Soul and On Just Terms. Bred by John Gunther, the Fozzy Stack-trained TDN Rising Star Nola Soul was always prominent under Seamie Heffernan and stayed on to gain the advantage approaching the furlong pole en route to a half-length verdict over the Joseph O'Brien-trained newcomer On Just Terms. Aperoll (Ghaiyyath) was a head back in third. "From day one, he had the...

Emerging on top in an eventful renewal of Leopardstown's G3 Ballylinch Stud Red Rocks Stakes on Sunday, Cayton Park Stud and Susan Magnier's Thesecretadversary (St Mark's Basilica) got the Fozzy Stack stable off to a flyer in 2026. "He had been working well this spring and the form was in the book," his trainer said. "We always thought he'd get a mile and although he was a bit keen there, I'm hoping it was just exuberance. He's in all the European Classics bar the Italian and I also entered him...

One of the early flagbearers for his first-crop sire St Mark's Basilica, Thesecretadversary became the landmark first black-type winner for Ballydoyle's former brilliant runner on Friday when breaking his maiden in the Listed Coolmore Stud Churchill Stakes. Expected to shed that tag when long odds-on at Ayr last month, Cayton Park Stud and Susan Magnier's Chesham runner-up put that blip firmly behind him with a length verdict over Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star Brussels (Wootton Bassett) in the Tipperary feature. "I'm glad I got another chance after getting beaten at Ayr...

Retirement is not on the agenda for multiple Group 1 and Classic-winning jockey Seamie Heffernan who, after partnering six winners so far during a winter stint in Bahrain, joked that he has 'a few scores to settle' back home in Ireland before hanging up the boots. It is nearly a year since the 52-year-old announced that he would not be returning to Ballydoyle to ride for Aidan O'Brien, as a result bringing the curtain down on a 30-year relationship that yielded countless big winners across the globe.  Heffernan has ridden...

Multiple Classic winner Seamie Heffernan, Royal Ascot-winning teenager Billy Loughnane and French Group 1 scorer Marie Vélon are among the 12 jockeys today confirmed to ride in Saturday's Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot. Nine countries will be represented across the four teams, while new ground is broken this year with an equal number of male and female jockeys for the first time in the history of the Shergar Cup. Vélon, the first French female jockey to win a French Group 1 race with her victory in the 2022...

Airdrie Stud's first-crop sire sensation Complexity (by Maclean's Music) continued the barnstorming start to his second career with a first winner in Europe on Wednesday as Eleanora Kennedy's Black Forza captured Fairyhouse's six-furlong Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden. Breaking smartly from his wide stall, the Michael O'Callaghan-trained 6-1 shot who had been fifth on debut in The Curragh's hot Barronstown Stud Maiden at the Irish Derby meeting closed powerfully to take control a furlong out under Seamie Heffernan. Readily asserting from there, the dark bay who was a £220,000 Goffs...

Relishing the testing ground at Leopardstown on Sunday, Amo Racing's Dallas Star (Fr) (Cloth Of Stars {Ire}--Agathe Rare {Ire}, by Sadler's Wells) sprung a 50-1 upset as he dominated the G3 P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax S. Taken straight to the front by Seamie Heffernan, who recently announced his freelance status, the Adrian Murray-trained 50,000gns Tatts Book 2 graduate accepted a lead before forging ahead again passing two out. Staying on strongly to the line, the former Dominic ffrench Davis trainee who was last seen finishing a distant third in Newmarket's...

For the first time since 1996, Seamie Heffernan will not be based at Ballydoyle--but Aidan O'Brien's long and trusted ally has revealed that he still hopes to be riding big-race winners in the Coolmore colours in the future.  It has been one of the worst kept secrets in Irish racing for some time that Heffernan, one of the constants at Ballydoyle for almost three decades now, would not be returning to the fold.  And on the eve of the opening day of the Flat season in Ireland, Heffernan lifted the...

Willie Browne's unbeaten Port Augusta (GB), who racked up wins over six and seven furlongs at Dundalk over the winter, has been sold for "proper money" to Hong Kong. The legendary breeze-up handler has described his recent upsurge of form on the track as "a breath of fresh air" and, while the 77-year-old admitted to being sorry he couldn't hold on to a horse as talented as Port Augusta, he revealed the son of Zoustar (Aus) fulfilled what he was bought to do by getting sold.  A 75,000gns Book 1...

There had already been two TDN Rising Stars during Saturday's action at Leopardstown by the time the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden came along, but in that mile contest Ballydoyle's Ocean Of Dreams (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}--All For Glory, by Giant's Causeway) categorically made it a third as he annihilated the opposition to suggest he could be one of the stable's big Derby players next summer. Settled in mid-division early by Seamie Heffernan, the Coolmore homebred from the heralded dynasty of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire) made gradual...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Insights features a Ballydole Book 1 star and son of Frankel (GB). 13.55 Killarney, Mdn, €15,000, 2yo, 8f 30yT THE EUPHRATES (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is one of two Ballydoyle representatives and the newcomer of the pair, with Seamie Heffernan on the 800,000gns Book 1 graduate who is a...

The Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE), which has produced luminaries of the saddle like Johnny Murtagh, Seamie Heffernan, Chris Hayes and Shane Foley, has been forced to cull two thirds of its workforce in order to save the institution's future. A massive 21 of the 31 staff have been told they are no longer needed at RACE and the decision is understood to have come as a major shock to the workforce. The 10-month residential trainee jockey course, which has also been completed by top-notch jump jockeys such...