Sir Anthony Peter McCoy, commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times, every year he was a professional. He stands 1.78 m (5'10"), far taller than most jockeys.
Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Cashel in County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates.
The Triumph Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and 1 furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is for juvenile novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The RSA Insurance Novices' Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles, and during its running there are twenty fences to be jumped. The race is for novice chasers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Charlie Swan is a former top National Hunt jockey in Ireland in the 1990s. He is associated with the great Istabraq, on whom he won three Champion Hurdles. He was twice top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival and was champion National Hunt jockey in Ireland for nine consecutive years. After retiring as a jockey he spent several years a trainer, based in Modreeny near Cloughjordan, County Tipperary.
Ian Balding is a retired British horse trainer. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Matthews Balding and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Ian Balding was born in the US, but his family returned to the UK in 1945. He was educated at Marlborough College and Millfield school in Somerset. He went up to Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1959 to read Rural Estate Management, where he played Rugby for the University team, gaining his Blue in 1961 at full back. He started training in 1964. Kingsclere became his home at the age of 26 and it is here that earned his reputation as an internationally respected trainer.
The Mooresbridge Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) at the Curragh in early May.
David Nicholson was a British National Hunt jockey and trainer. He was British jump racing Champion Trainer in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons.
Dermot K. Weld is one of Ireland's most successful racehorse trainers. He holds the record for the most winners trained in Ireland.
The Herald Champion Novice Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Punchestown over a distance of about 2 miles ½ furlong, and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Punchestown Festival in late April or early May.
The Chanelle Pharma Novice Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Leopardstown over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year in February.
The Scottish Champion Hurdle is a Grade 2 National Hunt hurdle race in Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ayr, South Ayrshire, over a distance of about 2 miles, and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped. It is a limited handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.
The Slaney Novice Hurdle, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle, is a Grade One National Hunt hurdle race in Ireland. It is run in January at Naas Racecourse, over a distance of about 2 miles and 4 furlongs and during its running there are 11 flights of hurdles to be jumped. The race is often contested by horses who go on to compete at the Cheltenham Festival, such as the 1978 winner, Golden Cygnet, who went on to win the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and 2009 winner, Mikael d'Haguenet, who went on to win the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle.
Noel Meade is a horse trainer from Castletown, Co. Meath, Ireland. He established Tu Va Stables in Co. Meath, Ireland as a place to train his horses.
King's Theatre was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was trained in the United Kingdom and the United States during a racing career which lasted from July 1993 to June 1996, winning five of his seventeen races. He is best known for winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1994, a year in which he was named European Champion Three-year old colt. King's Theatre later became a sire of both flat racers and jumpers.
Dessie Hughes was an Irish racehorse trainer and jockey. He was the father of British champion jockey, Richard Hughes, and won at the Cheltenham Festival as both jockey and trainer.
Granville Again was an Irish-bred racehorse who competed in National Hunt races and recorded his most important win in the 1993 Champion Hurdle. In his early career he won two of his three National Hunt Flat races and was a successful Novice Hurdler, winning the Dovecote Novices' Hurdle and Top Novices' Hurdle as well as finishing second in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle. In the 1991/1992 season, Granville Again won all five of his completed races including the Champion Hurdle Trial and the Scottish Champion Hurdle but fell when second favourite for the Champion Hurdle. In the following season he was beaten in his first three starts but returned to his best form to defeat a strong field in the Champion Hurdle. He never won again and failed to finish in the first three in his last ten races. He was retired from racing in 1996 and died in 2003 at the age of seventeen.
Dance Design is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She competed in five different countries and won seven times from nineteen starts in a track career which lasted from August 1995 to November 1998.
Definite Article was a British-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old in 1994 he won a maiden race on his debut and then won the Group 1 National Stakes on his second and final start of the year. In the following year he won the Silver Stakes and was narrowly beaten in a strongly contested edition of the Irish Derby. As a four-year-old he added victories in the Mooresbridge Stakes and the Tattersalls Gold Cup. After being retired from racing at the end of the 1996 he became a successful breeding stallion, enjoying particular success as a sire of National Hunt horses.
