Kings of the Turf

Ireland has always been at the heart of horse racing, but increasingly its horses and trainers have come to dominate at the highest level, both on the flat and in National Hunt. Top owners like John Magnier (himself an Irishman) choose a top Irish trainer like Aidan O'Brien. The Cheltenham Festival, highlight of the jumping year, has in recent years become a remarkable Irish festival, as tens of thousands of punters come over for the craic and to see the best horses of trainers like Willie Mullins, Jessica Harrington and Dessie Hughes - Hedgehunter, Moscow Flyer and Hardy Eustace - triumph in the biggest races.Now Michael Clower, author of successful biographies of jockeys Mick Inane and Charlie Swan, and of the Champion Hurdler Istabraq, has profiled the 12 most successful racehorse trainers in Ireland at the moment. As well as those mentioned already they include Michael Hourigan, trainer of the great steeplechaser Beef or Salmon, flat trainer John Oxx, and the distinctly larger-than-life Edward O'Grady.