Seriously Ryan, what the hell were you at?

Kidnappers who took a star greyhound from his kennel demanded a ransom, the trainer has revealed.

One of the country's top greyhounds stolen in a robbery which was likened to the infamous kidnapping of champion racehorse Shergar, has been found safe and well.

On an overcast Kilkenny afternoon about this time last year a seemingly bog standard two-year old maiden race was run at Gowran Park. Of the sixteen starters, most were unexposed types and although they represented many of our high profile training operations it didn’t quite feel like one of those golden maidens that hid unrevealed secrets for a sparkling future. Looks can sometimes deceive.

Almanzor won a thrilling race for the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.

New Bay is on course to take on the best of this year’s Classic generation in what promises to be a fascinating renewal of the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Ken Condon feels there is more to come from Success Days after his all-the-way win in the Royal Whip at the Curragh on Sunday.

Hawkbill, winner of the Coral-Eclipse, is among 55 entries for the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot on October 15.

Faugheen could potentially be stepped up in trip in order to avoid clashing with reigning Champion Hurdle heroine and stablemate Annie Power.

Not only did Hee Haws Sheriff claim the scalp of kennel companion Quietly in the opening quarter-final of the Greyhound & Petworld Supersprint on Saturday night at Curraheen Park, the Ian Reilly-trained runner also knocked nine spots off the track record which his kennelmate set just seven days previously.

One of the most successful coursing seasons for many years comes to an end at Limerick Racecourse this weekend with the running of the three-day Irish Cup meeting, the opening session of which commences this morning (11am).

Cirrus Des Aigles will race on this year, said trainer Corine Barande-Barbe.

Duarigle Darwin, winner of the Ballyarthur Stakes at Fermoy and Grange meeting at the beginning of the season, collected the all-age Agnes O’Brien Cup at Blarney, yesterday after being declared the winner when Young Dilemma was withdrawn from the decider.

It was great to get confirmation from Declan Dowling that GMHD.ie Insurances will continue their association with the Juvenile Classic at Tralee in 2016.

Golden Horn signed off in defeat as Found spoiled the Derby and Arc hero’s swansong in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Saturday night.

Aidan O’Brien tossed the toys, at least some of them, out of the cot in Tuesday’s Racing Post.

Jockey Chris Hayes feels Sole Power has a good chance of breaking his Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye hoodoo should conditions continue to dry out at Longchamp.

Top-class middle-distance performer Eagle Top will bid to open his account for the campaign in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup at Newbury today.

It was billed as a potential classic and Saturday’s Qipco Champions Stakes certainly lived up to the hype. Before, during and after.

Fastnet Rock, West Cork’s emblematic lighthouse, casts a little of its long thin shadow over Ireland’s finest flat racing extravaganza this weekend.

Golden Horn and Gleneagles head a star field of eight horses declared for the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown tomorrow, a race that will have an earlier start time due to weather concerns.

Multiple Classic-winning trainer Clive Brittain has announced his intention to retire at the end of the season.

Aidan O’Brien has nominated dual Guineas hero Gleneagles for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in which he could take on American Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

Herald The Dawn, impressive when winning his maiden at Naas earlier this month, produced a sustained and very game effort to overcome soft ground and exciting filly Now Or Never in the Group 2 Galileo EBF Futurity Stakes yesterday afternoon at the Curragh.

Rastafari Vic hasn’t been seen in action at Curraheen since his exploits in the Laurels earlier in the year, but he should make a winning return in race nine, which is the last of six heats of the Greyhound & Pet World A1 525, which has a winner’s prize of €5,000.

Cirrus Des Aigles could have a first run in Ireland next month ahead of his intended outing in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Golden Horn’s owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer has given the strongest indication so far his champion three-year-old is likely to retire at the end of the season.

The Juddmonte International and the Irish Champion Stakes are the next races being considered for Royal Ascot hero Free Eagle.

You’d imagine that just about anything is now possible as far as Dermot Weld’s Free Eagle is concerned for the rest of the season.

Dermot Weld has had winners in big races all over the world, from America to Australia and from Cheltenham to Galway, but few have given him greater pleasure than guiding Free Eagle to victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot yesterday.

Pat Smullen could not be happier with Free Eagle ahead of today’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes despite it being his first outing of the year.

A statue of five-time Ascot winner Frankel was unveiled by the Queen of England on the opening day of this year’s meeting.

Ken Condon’s stable star Success Days faces a spell on the sidelines after X-rays revealed he suffered a stress fracture in the Ivestec Derby.