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"The most exciting maiden hurdler we've seen this year"
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.
By Alan Magee - ANOTHER CHALLENGE (6) has struck form this season and can complete a hat-trick. The Oliver McKiernan-trained gelding beat Ladies Well (won twice since) in good style in a Roscommon chase over an extended 2m5f before reverting to hurdles and getting the better of Kazbek on the run-in over this trip at Punchestown. An 8lb rise will make life more difficult, but he can confirm the placings. Colesberg has shown promise this term in handicaps and it will be interesting to see how he copes with this step up in distance, while My Good Pal and Jolly Potter are others to consider.
