Ballyandy

Regarded for being the sire to Thistlecrack, Carruthers, Ballybolley, No Planning, and many others, Kayf Tara was bred with Megalex in 2011 to produce Ballyandy. Nigel Twiston-Davies owned the horse up until 2015, where he sold Ballyandy to Options O Syndicate while continuing to train the bay gelding at his stables at Grange Hill Farm, Cheltenham.

It was a benefit to Ballyandy that Nigel Twiston-Davies was involved with him since birth, making it easier to judge all of the horse’s positives and negatives in preparation for competitive race meetings. Ballyandy currently possesses a record of six wins, three seconds and two thirds from sixteen races, with a view to sealing more wins over future years.

Kicking off proceedings with a run in the Visit Worcestershire In Autumn & Winter Newcomers Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race ended in victory for Ballyandy, and he continued this form into Cheltenham’s November Meeting with a win in the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire’s Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race with an 8/1 starting price. He found his first defeat at Ascot when he could only reach second in the Neptune Investment Management Championship Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race, bouncing back immediately after with an ambitious win in his first entry into the Cheltenham Festival through finishing first in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

Running at Aintree for the first time didn’t see the dominance expected of Ballyandy, as he could only reach fourth in the Weatherbys Private Bank Champion Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race, then finishing second in the Racing Post Readers Award Novices’ Hurdle at Perth, third in the Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham’s November Meeting, and second in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown. He returned to winning ways two months later in winning the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, but then could only reach fourth in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Despite winning the 2017 Timothy Hardie Jewellers Novices’ Chase at Perth, he failed to get anywhere at Cheltenham Racecourse once again, finishing fourth out of five in the Bet Bright Dipper Novices’ Chase, pulling up in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase, and pulling up a second time at Cheltenham during the November Meeting in the 2018 BetVictor Gold Cup Handicap Chase. The only consolation for a disappointing 2018 was a third-place finish in the Bobby Renton Handicap Chase at Wetherby.

Often used as a way of assessing a horse’s standard, how Ballyandy would run at Cheltenham Racecourse was always likely to be decisive. He first featured in Cheltenham’s November Meeting, appearing in the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire’s Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race with a starting price of 8/1, and winning in convincing style. The second appearance at Cheltenham was in the prestigious festival, where he won once again, this time in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper. Despite holding a 100% record at this point, he wasn’t able to hit the same heights in the next few entries at Cheltenham, finishing third in The Sharp Novices’ Hurdle, fourth in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, fourth in the Dipper Novices’ Hurdle, and pulling up in both the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase and the BetVictor Gold Cup Handicap Chase.

Many punters have become more interested in Ballyandy odds for future races, so we’ve made it possible to track upcoming race meetings he’s involved in on this specialised page. You’ll find Ballyandy’s next race, information on the race itself, and the best bookmaker price for backing Ballyandy below:

When is Ballyandy running next?

Ballyandy currently has no races scheduled. We will update this page as soon as he’s entered for another race meeting.