Izzi Top, confidently handled by jockey-in-form William Buick, brushed aside the challenge of favourite Sapphire to give trainer John Gosden a third win in the Group 1 Barclays Bank Ireland Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh yesterday.

Irish greyhound racing will have its own Breeders’ Cup this year with the staging of the Night Of Stars at Shelbourne Park on Saturday, December 1.

FOR the first time since 2007 Horse Racing Ireland has posted positive financial figures, a sign the Irish industry’s repeated losses might have bottomed out according to HRI CEO Brian Kavanagh.

WHEN I was asked this week to write about the highs and lows of 2011 my immediate reaction was to focus on the new whip rules brought in by the BHA across the water.

JOSEPH O’Brien became the youngest rider to ever win a Breeders’ Cup race as he steered his father Aidan’s St Nicholas Abbey to a famous success in the Turf at Churchill Downs on Saturday night.

BUSINESSMAN Richard Quirke unveiled his grand vision for what was quickly dubbed a “Las Vegas-style” development in October 2009 — not the most auspicious of times for the start of a €460 million investment in the middle of Co Tipperary.

Aidan O'Brien could send a four-strong team to the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs next month.

Horse racing tips from the Breeders Cup, Ireland and the UK.

MASTERCRAFTSMAN came through his Breeders Cup prep successfully at Dundalk last night, outclassing his ten rivals in the Group 3 Diamond.

Saeed bin Suroor has indicated that a trip to America for the Breeders’ Cup Mile looks to be on the cards for Iffraaj following his impressive victory in the Betfair Cup at Goodwood on Tuesday.

Dermot Weld is acknowledged the world over as a master of his art. Big prizes in Ireland, Britain, Australia, America, the Far East – they all come the same to the training kingpin.

Trainer Jeremy Noseda has confirmed Majors Cast as an intended runner in the Hong Kong Mile on December 11.

HAVING been criticised before for losing ground out of the stalls compared to their better-schooled American rivals, Aidan O’Brien’s team have been working with Bob Duncan - the conditioning starter for the New York Racing Association - in the hope of improving the Ballydoyle runners’ reaction time for their respective Breeders Cup races at Belmont Park today.

Trainer John Oxx, who leaves this morning for New York where he'll saddle Azamour for the Breeders Cup Turf at Belmont on Saturday, received a timely boost at the Curragh yesterday when Lifetime Romance, Artist's Muse and Redstone Dancer provided him with a treble.

I KEY can defy top weight in the Kilmallock Nursery at Tipperary this afternoon.

DAVID WACHMAN’S horses are motoring well and his Shutruk-Nahhunte is napped to land the Tote Ireland 75th Anniversary Auction Race at Galway this afternoon.

JAMIE SPENCER celebrated his first Jockeys Championship by recording a double on Gypsy King and Yehudi on the final day of the 2004 Flat season at Leopardstown yesterday.

Aidan O’Brien is likely to have a crack at the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Powerscourt when the meeting takes place at Lone Star Park in Texas later this month.

GROWTH was evident across all aspects of horse racing in Ireland during the past year, with attendances, betting figures and sponsorship all on the increase.

SOMETIMES it’s what you don’t do that brings the millions, the trophies, the ladies. Bill Shoemaker didn’t try to turn a horse to butter with his riding whip.

All eyes will be on the Aidan O’Brien-trained High Chaparral in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp today.

All eyes will be on the Aidan O’Brien-trained High Chaparral in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp tomorrow following his victory over Ascot winner Falbrav in the Ireland The Food Island Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.

ONE of three men charged with manipulating computerized bets worth $3 million in last month's Breeders' Cup pleaded guilty yesterday to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

THREE former US college friends accused in a betting scam that resulted in payouts of $3m have surrendered to authorities.

THE Breeders’ Cup has hit town for the first time and Chicago intends to put itself on the map as one of the top hosts of an event the Americans call the ‘Super Bowl of racing’.

Johnny Murtagh has lodged an appeal against the two-day ban he received at the Curragh on Sunday.

Nayef is out of the Champion Stakes and Breeders Cup due to respiritory infection.