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Thu 10th Dec 2020

Patrick Mullins

This has been a good time of the year for me and it will be hard to replicate the Christmas I had last year, when I was lucky enough to have the chance to win Grade 1s on Faugheen in the Matchbook Betting Exchange Novice Chase at Limerick and Sharjah, repeating our Matheson Hurdle success of 12 months previously.

4.25PM
Fri 4th Dec 2020

I can't wait to ride Captain Guinness again on Sunday

It has been another successful week for BetVictor ambassador Rachael Blackmore and she reflects on that here as well as looking ahead to an extensive book of rides at Navan and Punchestown this weekend.

6.45PM
Marin Hassett

Martin Hassett

3.26PM

Fri 27th Nov 2020

I absolutely love riding Honeysuckle

BetVictor Brand Ambassador Rachael Blackmore arrives into the weekend with spirits still high after last week’s win on Minella Indo. It was a lovely jumping performance and it looks like the next stop could be the Savills Chase over Christmas before a tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

6.17PM
A delighted Rachael Blackmore after winning at Cheltenham on Honeysuckle

Kenny Alexander

3.38PM

Fri 20th Nov 2020

I can't wait to get back on Minella Indo on Sunday

BetVictor Brand Ambassador Rachael Blackmore looks set to have a very busy weekend with five rides at Naas on Saturday and another five rides on the BetVictor sponsored card at Navan on Sunday. The rider shares her thoughts on each mount here:

8.37PM
Robbie Power and Lostintranslation

Robbie Power

11.48AM

Fri 13th Nov 2020

I'm really looking forward to this weekend at Punchestown

Safe to say it's going to be a busy weekend and Saturday I have five rides at Punchestown that I am really looking forward to.

7.54PM
Sean O'keeffe

Sean O'Keeffe

2.57PM

Fri 6th Nov 2020

Great day's racing in store at Navan

Navan this Sunday looks set to be a fantastic day racing. It's a galloping track with a stiff finish, horses have to be tough to win around here.

7.36PM
Finny Maguire

Finny Maguire

9.47AM

Fri 30th Oct 2020

Great to have Minella Indo and Aspire Tower back on the track this week

It’s been a busy week but a good week. Minella Indo gave me a great spin at Wexford, if it wasn’t for my mask you would have seen me smiling broadly as we pulled up. He could be out again next month in the Grade Two at Navan which BetVictor sponsor but wherever he goes he is one you would really be looking forward to.

6.38PM
Simon Torrens

Simon Torrens

11.20AM

Fri 23rd Oct 2020

Tough time for Ireland moving to Level 5 but thankfully racing stays going

It’s been a tough week for a lot of people in our country with us moving to level 5 restrictions. There’s a massive amount of credit due to everyone involved in our industry for keeping racing going under a very strict set of protocols. Our Senior Medical Officer Jennifer Pugh has done incredible work and the whole weighing room is very grateful to her.

5.53PM
jack and Rock Chica jump the last hurdle at Tipperary

Jack Foley

9.26AM

Fri 16th Oct 2020

Henry's horses are in great form

So, it's been a good week having had 5 winners. Henry's horses are firing at the moment and it's great to be part of it. It was also special for me to ride a winner for Arthur Moore. I used to ride out for him when I was at UCD. On refection, I think the combination of riding out there and visiting nightclubs in Dublin are possibly the reason why I failed my exams!

8.48PM
Siobhan after riding her first winner aboard Magi Gal at Navan last year

Siobhán Rutledge

10.13AM

Fri 9th Oct 2020

Looking ahead to this weekend's racing

It was great to get Ask Cory’s head in front at Killarney on Monday. It was a first winner for the owners, so obviously a really special day for them. He travelled and jumped much better than the last day at Downpatrick to land his first win after knocking on the door a few times.

5.03PM
Thu 8th Oct 2020

Jody Townend

It was mighty watching Princess Zoe power up the straight in Longchamp under Joey Sheridan to win the Group 1 Prix du Cadran for Tony Mullins, Paddy Kehoe and Philomena Crampton.

11.54AM
Mon 5th Oct 2020

irishracing.com update

For the first time, since its inception 30 years ago, Irishracing.com is no longer a part of the Irish Times Group. The website which began with basic Irish racing fixture information and race cards under the domain name irish-racing.com has developed over the years into the resource you see today.

8.40AM
Fri 2nd Oct 2020

Lorna Fowler

We were delighted to see Colonel Mustard get off the mark at the second attempt in Wednesday’s bumper at Punchestown in such good style, winning by four and a half lengths. It’s a good boost as Lady Heath contests the Listed mares’ bumper at Gowran Park this evening (Friday).

12.44PM
Sun 27th Sep 2020

Sorry About That Chief

I have Writers Block on my mind. If you don't remember, Writers Block was a 50-1 no-hoper in an amateur rider's race at Leopardstown seven years ago. His rider bounced him out, secured a distance lead by halfway and the opposition never got close. The five riders that let him off each got four days for \"not taking reasonable measures to give their horses every opportunity of winning.\" Things have changed since then judged by Costalotmore's win at Listowel.

9.50PM
Fri 25th Sep 2020

Ray Hogan

It was fantastic to return to race riding at Listowel on Monday for the first time in 15 years and while it would have been great to mark it with a winner, and I got very close, you couldn’t give out when Mark O’Hare was retiring off the back of nailing me inside the final furlong on Jesse Evans.

2.02PM
Mon 21st Sep 2020

Legacy

Pat Smullen was one of the good guys. In a game containing more than its share of two-faced, main-chance merchants, the nine-times champion jockey was a transparently decent person. That Pat was a man of integrity has been a common thread as so many have struggled to come to terms with his devastating loss aged just 43. But it's only one part of a colossal legacy.

9.12AM
Fri 18th Sep 2020

Andrew Slattery

I always say a prayer to my grandmother before every race. Wednesday was the first day I had two people to pray to, after Pat Smullen died the night before. No Patience got up to win by a nose for my father Andy. I texted Kevin O’Ryan, who is my agent and Pat’s brother-in-law.

12.07PM
Sun 13th Sep 2020

Champions Weekend Cost

All sorts of facts and figures have emerged from 'Irish Champions Weekend' but perhaps the most stark is the estimated €8 million hole in racing's economy created from it being held behind closed doors. It underlines how these two special days took place under the grim pall of coronavirus and the potential economic impact of this disease on who knows how many days to come.

10.08PM
Fri 11th Sep 2020

Shane Foley

People come into racing from all walks of life and it is great that you don’t have to come from a background in the sport or industry to make a success of it.

10.07AM
Sun 6th Sep 2020

Too Much Of A Good Thing

All bets are off in a pandemic. Just getting the job done is the priority. So the usual parameters can get parked ahead of 'Irish Champions Weekend,' apart from one perhaps. Between 'Champions Weekend,' the Doncaster Leger and 'Arc Trials' day nine Group One races will be crammed into two days. For racing's overall profile that surely smacks of overkill whatever the circumstances.

10.16PM
Fri 4th Sep 2020

Johnny Murtagh

It is really exciting to be looking forward to the Longines Irish Champions Weekend with the horses in good form and hopefully a couple of chances of recording a win which would crown a very good year.

12.33PM
Sun 30th Aug 2020

Reset

Ireland's Covid-19 restrictions are among the most prescriptive in Europe. You can agree or disagree with them and rising infection rates in recent weeks suggest an argument can be made either way. But it is the government stance and doesn't appear likely to change anytime soon. That makes comparisons to other jurisdictions and how they do things largely futile. So it's no bad thing to keep in mind sometimes how racing here continues to be ahead of the game.

9.29PM
Fri 28th Aug 2020

Johnny Feane

2020 will be remembered for a lot of strange reasons, but for me there will be a lot to take out of it, most especially training my first ever stakes winner.

11.50AM
Sun 23rd Aug 2020

Hold Your Whisht

Political fallout from the last few days indicates how offensive any smell of elitism can be to the public. An Oireachtas golf society dinner including a cabinet minister, a Supreme Court judge and an EU Commissioner sounds just the sort of thing to contain 80 people convinced they are exceptional enough to trample on the Covid-19 regulations. But such exceptionalism is a tough sell to the rest of us, a point racing will do well to keep in mind.

10.08PM
Fri 21st Aug 2020

Nikita Kane

People often wonder where I got my first name from, thinking there is some Russian blood in the family or something. The truth of it is that Daddy just loved the Elton John song so much, he named me after it. Everybody thinks I’m not Irish but I’m an Offaly woman true and true, from Birr.

11.53AM
Sun 16th Aug 2020

Strange Times

Covid is turning out to be far worse than we could have ever imagined. The disease itself is bad enough but the way we as a society are dealing with it is becoming increasingly bizarre and illogical.

11.43AM
Fri 14th Aug 2020

Dylan Browne McMonagle

Hamley brought up my eighth winner of the year at Leopardstown last night and you would have to say that things are going well for me at the moment. Hopefully it keeps up.

10.07AM
Sat 8th Aug 2020

Bi-Monthly Awards

That's been some two months since racing resumed behind closed doors. Maybe only time will provide enough perspective for racing to comprehend the full impact of the coronavrus pandemic on its own tiny corner. There's already plenty to reflect on and the new tri-county lockdown that includes Kildare indicates how this 'new norm' might be anything but temporary. Still, let's hope these new Bi-Monthly awards wind up being a one-off.

1.47PM
Fri 7th Aug 2020

Gavin Ryan

It has been great to keep the momentum of a good season going through an unforgettable Galway, and an equally memorable week to date.

9.27AM
Sun 2nd Aug 2020

Broad Brush Business

People have learned to be grateful for small mercies in recent months so this week's government announcement about a potential increase in permitted outdoor crowd sizes is eagerly awaited. Any assumption it was a done deal vanished with news of increased coronavirus numbers in recent days. An increase in attendance from 200 to 500 doesn't sound much. Crowds of up to 5,000 have been permitted in parts of France for weeks. But the impact on Irish racing's morale would be significant.

10.03PM
Fri 31st Jul 2020

Tony Mullins

Galway has been a lucky place for me and Paddy Kehoe has been a lucky owner so it was great that it came together there again for the two of us on Monday, when Princess Zoe won the Connacht Hotel Amateur Handicap on Monday evening.

12.45PM
Sun 26th Jul 2020

A Galway State Of Mind

The 2020 Galway races will be the most dysfunctional ever held. If Galway is about anything it is about the social. A distanced behind-closed-doors festival is a contradiction in terms. Everyone's got their Galway state of mind around how the coming seven days will be an exercise in functionality. What no one can know is if it's going to be once-off or a sign of things to come.

9.28PM
Fri 24th Jul 2020

Denis O'Regan

Galway has always been one of my favourite tracks and festivals. It will be different this year of course but I have many happy memories and hope to create a few more.

12.37PM
Sun 19th Jul 2020

Keep Calm & Carry On

There is a 'P' word that's anathema to a lot of racing people and that is perception. Usually it's in relation to the whip although hardly exclusively. But racing doesn't exist in its own air-tight incubator. You've got to be able to afford your hauteur towards those peering in from the outside. And if Irish racing indulges its instinct for exceptionalism at this time of Covid-19 it could prove to be a very expensive exercise.

9.33PM
Thu 16th Jul 2020

Killian Hennessy

It was fantastic to ride my first group race winner in the Group 3 Woodford Reserve Ballysax Stakes at Dundalk last Sunday on Nobel Prize. I started with Aidan O’Brien a year and a half ago, just as a work rider, not expecting anything. I was only delighted for him to put me up. To give me a horse like that was fantastic.

4.26PM
Sun 12th Jul 2020

Golden Generation

And then there was Davy Russell. Barry Geraghty's retirement means another member of a peerless generation of Irish jockeys exits the saddle. This vintage crop of riders born within five years of each other - also including McCoy, Walsh and Carberry - transformed their profession, casting an enormous shadow over those in their wake. There's always a new generation. But time and perspective seems sure to make this one seem only more remarkable.

9.58PM
Thu 9th Jul 2020

Joey Sheridan

Sceptical goes into the July Cup with a very big chance of winning, and it would be unbelievable for trainer Denis Hogan, owners Jim Gough and James McAuley, everyone in the yard and of course Sceptical himself if he could win a prized Group 1 in Newmarket.

12.05PM
Sun 5th Jul 2020

No, After You

There is no contradiction in acclaiming Emmet McNamara's superbly judged Derby winning ride on Serpentine and pointing out how his rival jockeys seemed to have a collective brain-fade. Winning rides invariably get portrayed in glowing terms. But by any standard, and on the biggest day of all, the largely unheralded McNamara was outstanding. What much of his opposition were doing while he was riding them to sleep is hard to know.

9.48PM
Fri 3rd Jul 2020

Eddy Greatrex

Ireland has provided me with a lease of new life as a jockey and I am loving every second of it since starting out with Joseph O’Brien. They’re all just very easy-going and good to work for.

12.33PM
Sun 28th Jun 2020

Coronation Or Competition

Another Irish Derby clean sweep by Aidan O'Brien has got plenty people not feeling too great about Ireland's premier classic. Dominance is frequently explained in cyclical terms. But 14 wins, 11 of them in the last 15 years, including filling the frame seven times, is a particularly durable cycle. None of which obviously is O'Brien's fault or problem. But it presents something of a dilemma about what fans want the Irish Derby to be about - coronation or competition.

9.25PM
Fri 26th Jun 2020

Andy Slattery

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby will be the biggest race I will have been involved in as a trainer by some distance but I am not running away with myself. I’m treating it like any race. I think you can overthink it and that’s when you make mistakes.

9.48AM
Mon 22nd Jun 2020

'Gas-Gas-Gas'

The logic of running the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on its original date this Saturday is that it allows for a resumption of some normality sooner rather than later further down the line in what is a singular season due to Covid-19. The consequence for Ireland's richest race is that the 2020 renewal shapes like simultaneously being both an Irish Derby like no other and very much business as usual.

9.01AM
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