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Jump Season 26/27: Ante-Post Hurdlers
Who would have thought that an analogy about chaos theory: “If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away” would resonate so well with the situation horse racing finds itself in today?
Last week the British Government announced a rather modest 5% hike in the tax rate on slot machines. It turns out that this apparently insignificant budget measure is predicted to have a dramatic impact on the future finances of horse racing, not only across Britain, but also in Ireland.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from a town called Randalstown in Co Antrim and I grew up with horses all my life. My dad had horses and then my sister Megan rode when she was younger. She was out in Australia for a few years and was the first female to win a jumps race at the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival aboard Lord Pierro in 2022. I followed in their footsteps - it was hunting and pony club when I was growing up.
I started off at Ian Fergusons yard; he was only 20 minutes away from me and Megan worked in the yard at the time. I started there on Saturday mornings and rode an odd horse, mucked out, and generally learnt about racing. Ian was a great man to learn from, and I even went on to do sales work for him. I saw another side of racing through that. My first point-to-point ride was at Farmacaffley in February 2022 for Jamie Sloan. Jamie worked in Ian's yard when I started there and then took over the yard. I worked alongside him.
- Placed in all four previous starts over hurdles, the consistent PORT STATION has shown plenty of promise and is fancied to make a winning debut for a yard which does well with it's procurement from other yards. That said, both Novelista and Joining Force have bags of scope for progression and must also be taken seriously. The hat-trick seeking Gone Country is another must for the shortlist, despite having struggled at this level in the past.
