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Cheltenham and Aintree options for Empire

Mon 1st Feb 2016, 10:44

Empire Of Dirt winning at Leopardstown
© Photo Healy Racing

Trainer Colm Murphy is targeting the spring festivals with Empire Of Dirt following his big-race triumph at Leopardstown earlier this month.

A faller in last season's Irish Grand National, the nine-year-old was a good winner of the valuable Leopardstown Handicap Chase on his latest outing and could be part of what is likely to be a formidable team for owners Gigginstown House Stud bound for Cheltenham in March.

Murphy said: "He's in very good form and came out of Leopardstown bouncing.

"I'm not 100 per cent certain where we'll go with him at this stage.

"He'll get a few entries in Cheltenham - that and Aintree would look the obvious targets for him.

"I'd say it's very unlikely he'll run before then (Cheltenham), with the way the ground is."

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My Racing Story. Eoin Staples

I'm from a little village in Wexford called Duncormick. My dad didn't ride horses, but he had a keen interest in pedigrees and watches a lot of racing. I probably started riding horses through my brother Sean who started before me. I saw Sean riding horses and enjoying it, and then he went on riding racehorses. I started riding and I broke into racehorses then with a local trainer down the road called John Walsh. Sean went away down to another trainer Michael Murphy. I was at my local riding lesson school and John Walsh came over to me and asked me if I wanted to come down on a Saturday. I went down and I loved it, so I went back and I went racing most Sundays when I was 11 or 12. The first day I went in there I was probably about 10 and I rode a horse that day. Her name was Mandy Carroll and she actually won a couple of point-to-points and a hunters chase on the track at Cork as well.