Britain and its prime minister, Theresa May, have been granted a Brexit extension by the EU until October 31, which is Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, depending on where you live.

The race was overshadowed by the fatal injury sustained by last year's Epsom Derby runner-up passing the post for the first time.

Visitor numbers at one of the country’s newest and most original visitor attractions have more than doubled expectations during its first year in operation.

September is long gone now. The last strains of ‘The West’s Awake’ have petered out on the cold winter winds as a New Year clears its throat but still the hurlers from Galway continue to rack up the prizes.

"I started training at 42 with a six-month-old child, so it was total madness!"

As the Melbourne Cup unfolded, shortly after 4.00 on Tuesday morning, you’d imagine the Australian handicapper was starting to feel decidedly uneasy.

Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling is set for a short break in Australia before returning to Europe with next year's Gold Cup at Royal Ascot a possible target.

It was on board Australia he claimed his first Derby winner and it was in the country of the same name on its grandest of racing days that Joseph O’Brien announced himself as a trainer to be admired and feared given his potential.

It must be hoped, for the sake of politeness at least, that Australian minister for consumer affairs Marlene Kairouz, who apologised last week for suggesting that anyone with an Irish accent calling to a home in Melbourne should be turned away, did not allow her bias get in the way of backing Irish runners in the Melbourne Cup.

Joseph O'Brien bettered his father Aidan as Rekindling outpointed Johannes Vermeer to lead home an Irish clean sweep of the Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Aidan O'Brien said it is "more likely" Order Of St George will run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe rather than the Emirates Melbourne Cup.

Willie Mullins has had to shelve plans to send Cheltenham Festival winner Penhill to Australia for the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne has been stood down from riding after she tested positive for a banned substance at a meeting at Swan Hill racecourse on June 11.

Thanks to its attention to detail, the K Club is a five-star hotel like no other, says Marie Toft.

Mark Walsh is rapidly developing into one of the unsung heroes of Irish National Hunt racing.

It was a little surprising that Nina Carberry didn’t find herself before the stewards, following the bumper at Wexford on Monday.   

Tony Martin is already plotting a return to Australia next year after Heartbreak City was agonisingly denied by Almandin in the Emirates Melbourne Cup yesterday.

Anyone else looking forward to getting up at 3.45am next Tuesday to watch the Melbourne Cup?

Still waiting for the season to get into full swing, but I’m a little bit busier on the track this weekend than in recent ones, with five rides at Wexford tomorrow.

William Buick has lodged an appeal against the 30-day suspension he was given by the Chantilly stewards after an incident in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly last weekend.

Champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa has been handed an 18-day suspension by the British Horseracing Authority over his use of the whip, six of which have been deferred.

While Aidan O’Brien is not afraid of using superlatives to describe his horses, his comparison of Order Of St George to a Rolls Royce was not far off the mark after he turned in a display of sheer class to land the Gold Cup In Honour Of The Queen’s 90th Birthday.

Pallasator emerged a worthy winner of a tactical renewal of the Group Three BetVictor Henry II Stakes at Sandown yesterday.

Willie Mullins is looking to see Max Dynamite recapture the brilliant form which saw him narrowly miss out on winning the Melbourne Cup when he reappears in Sandown’s BetVictor Henry II Stakes this evening.

Our expert racing columnist Ruby Walsh picks his 10 horses to watch for 2016.

According to Forbes magazine, the highest earning female model in the world is Gisele Bundchen.

This Australian girl found out the hard way.

Work continues apace at Willie’s yard as the load on the winter horses increases but, as anticipated, it’s still relatively quiet with regard to entries.

Golden Horn “felt good” yesterday morning as he worked at Keeneland in preparation for the final race of his career in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.