Aidan O’Brien believes the upcoming Classic trials over the next two weeks will be crucial to connections as they map out the next move for 1000 Guineas winner Minding.

A sense of both joy and relief could be detected in the smile on the face of Aidan O’Brien after Minding destroyed her rivals to confirm superiority over her peers when leading home a remarkable one-two-three for the trainer in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket yesterday.

The Dermot Weld-trained Harzand earned quotes ranging from 16/1 to 25/1 for the Investec Derby in Epsom following his workmanlike victory in the Group 3 P W McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes in Leopardstown yesterday.

Leading Classic contenders Air Force Blue, Hit It A Bomb and Minding were among those to work after racing at the Curragh as Aidan O’Brien put 50 horses through their paces.

It’s 30 years since the release of Crocodile Dundee. To mark the anniversary, Isabel Conway visits Australia’s Northern Territory, home to Mick Dundee.

A man accused of killing a woman whose bones were found in an Australian forest has been charged with the murder of her two-year-old daughter, whose body was discovered in a suitcase 750 miles away.

Identity Thief made all to land the Grade 2 WKD Hurdle in Down Royal, part of doubles for trainer Henry de Bromhead and rider Bryan Cooper and middle leg of a treble for Gigginstown House Stud.

A man has been arrested for the killing of a woman, whose skeletal remains were found in an Australian forest 750 miles from where her daughter’s body was discovered dumped in a suitcase.

A man was arrested over the killing of a woman whose skeletal remains were found in an Australian forest 750 miles from where her daughter's body was discovered dumped in a suitcase.

Aidan O’Brien was the dominant figure on day two of the second renewal of Champions’ Weekend, the Ballydoyle maestro taking all three Group 1 contests on yesterday’s card at the Curragh.

Richard Manning gives the Irish Examiner  a look around his Baby Austin.

Santa Monica gets the nap to earn an overdue maiden success this evening at Tipperary. There is a concern she isn’t proven on the likely testing ground, but her dam secured her sole victory on good-to-soft going, and this lady has shown plenty of class in three outings to date.

Tanaza made it two wins in as many starts as she claimed Group Three honours in the Jockey Club of Turkey Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown last night.

Five-time champion-jockey and four-time Irish Derby winner, Johnny Murtagh savoured his first Derby success as a trainer when 20/1 shot Jocular proved best in a blanket-finish to the Done Deal Apprentice Derby at the Curragh last night.

Drawing on 40,000 years of his tribe, Frank Yamma has had a storied career, writes Áilín Quinlan

MUSIC NEWS: The big issue among the music world’s chattering classes this week has been the announcement of Metallica’s headline slot at Glastonbury.

Burglars in Australia cooked themselves a huge meal and watched adult material at a house they broke in to.

A BIRD and a bolt of lightning were the latest problems to strike Qantas, the airline said yesterday, causing the fourth flight turnaround since an engine blowout on an Airbus superjumbo caused a global safety scare.

A bird and a bolt of lightning have struck two separate Qantas planes and caused more problems for the Australian airline.

SUNWAY has special deals on flights from Cork to Lisbon, with options of accommodation for the month of June. Flight only is priced at €299 and a week’s accommodation at either three or five star accommodation is between €599 and €999.

Four baby pythons escaped from a container aboard a passenger plane in Australia, leading to a search that forced two flights to be cancelled.

Violent storms have torn across Australia’s east coast, sweeping one man to his death, blowing roofs off houses and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of buildings.

An Australian driver who secured a carton of beer in his car with a seat belt but left a five-year-old child unrestrained has been fined €447.

Pope Benedict XVI has called on Australians to address the social divisions that have left hundreds of thousands of Aborigines living in dire poverty.

The first image from a film depicting the ordeal of the girlfriend of a British backpacker murdered in the Australian Outback more than five years ago was released today.

The drug-runner who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio will serve at least 28 years in prison before being considered for parole, a court heard today.

THE girlfriend of Peter Falconio yesterday urged his killer to reveal what he has done with the British backpacker’s body.

Drug-runner Bradley Murdoch was today found guilty of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio on a remote stretch of desert highway in the Australian Outback more than four years ago.

A man accused of shooting to death British backpacker Peter Falconio on a lonely Outback highway tried to sell a woman a gun a month before the alleged murder, the woman told a court today.

The man accused of killing British backpacker Peter Falconio was filmed by a fuel station security camera within hours of the tourist disappearing in an Outback ambush, a forensic expert told a court today.

THE man accused of killing British backpacker Peter Falconio laughed in the dock as a detective denied contaminating evidence.

The handcuffs allegedly used to tie up the girlfriend of a British backpacker during an attack in the Australian Outback were put in the same room as property belonging to the accused, a court heard today.

AN Aboriginal woman yesterday said she saw a “big white vehicle” pull on to a remote desert highway on the night a British backpacker disappeared more than four years ago.

THE girlfriend of a British backpacker murdered on a desert road more than four years ago told a court yesterday she was “very positive” she had identified his killer.

The girlfriend of a British backpacker killed in the Australian outback more than four years ago identified her attacker to police in the year after her attack, a court heard today.

We’ve all heard of novelty Christmas records, but it looks like serious musician Chris Martin is toying with the idea of weird and wonderful festive records.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin hopes to record a duet with Celine Dion in the near future, because he wants to push the band's sound to the limit.

British construction group Mowlem warned on profits today for the second time in as many months and said its finance chief was quitting.

A British tourist who went missing this week in the Australian Outback after visiting Ayers Rock was found dead by Aborigines today.

The girlfriend of a British backpacker believed murdered in the Australian Outback underwent hypnotherapy to try to dredge up more evidence for police hunting the killer, a policewoman told a court today.

THE girlfriend of missing British backpacker Peter Falconio has left Australia after telling the hearing of the man accused of murdering her boyfriend that she had a sexual relationship with a man in Sydney while she was living with Mr Falconio.

Defence lawyers in the Australian Outback hearing into the death of Briton Peter Falconio today attacked the credibility of Joanne Lees claiming she was having another, perhaps secret, relationship when her boyfriend disappeared three years ago.