Irish legend Michael Hourigan - trainer of Beef Or Salmon and Dorans Pride - announces his retirement

Michael Hourigan, one of Irish racing's most enduring stalwarts, has announced his retirement from training at the age of 77 after more than half a century with a licence. 

Hourigan, who started training in 1973, is best known for his handling of the 1995 Stayers' Hurdle winner Dorans Pride and the exceptional chaser Beef Or Salmon, both of whom, like all of his top horses, were campaigned with great abandon. 

Beef Or Salmon made a successful chasing debut in what was then the Morris Oil (now Clonmel Oil) Chase in 2002 under Paul Carberry. In his next three starts under Timmy Murphy, he added emphatic victories in the Hilly Way Chase at Cork and the Lexus (now Savills) Chase and the Irish Gold Cup, both of which he won three times in a spectacular career that included ten Grade 1 triumphs.