Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

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

Fri 19th Jun 2020

Gary Carroll

It has been great to be back racing and to be back among the winners. It was such a relief to be given an exact date after being in the dark for so long.

10.46AM

Mon 15th Jun 2020

Locked & Loaded

When he wasn't making exceedingly good cakes Mr Kipling came out with a decent line or two, one of them being that a man can never have too much red wine, too many books or too much ammunition. Any trainer will tell you the quality of bullet is crucial to success, a reality underlined once again when Ger Lyons arrived at the Irish 2,000 Guineas locked and loaded to deliver a classic bulls-eye with Siskin.

9.12AM

Wed 10th Jun 2020

James Byrne

The Irish 2000 Guineas takes place at the Curragh on Friday and we will always remember the race fondly in Ballygallon Stud, after Irishcorrespondent ran a great race to finish third in 2017 behind Churchill.

12.06PM

Mon 8th Jun 2020

The Start

At last racing behind closed doors resumes in Ireland today. Naas gets the honour, and the responsibility, of kicking off a crammed and improvised programme as the task of making up for a barren eleven weeks begins. Much of it will be a sterile exercise in functionality rather than any image we have of normal race meetings. But it's a start and as Joey The Lips maintained in The Commitments once you have the start the rest is inevitable.

9.05AM

Fri 5th Jun 2020

Jessica Harrington

Our English 1000 Guineas hope, Millisle will leave in our lorry for Newmarket at lunchtime Friday. My son-in-law Richie Galway will do the driving. I have people there to look after her once she arrives so I don’t have to send any of my own staff. Being out of action for two weeks in quarantine on their return isn’t worth it.

9.42AM

Mon 1st Jun 2020

The Marmite Test

It is a conceit common to most sports that all they require to grow in profile is greater exposure. More coverage will equal more public appreciation if only the media would play ball. It's a theory that usually comes up against the problem of most people preferring to decide for themselves about what they like and dislike. But it's going to get put to the test with racing's return and having the major live competitive sporting stage to itself for a while.

9.17AM

Fri 29th May 2020

Jerry Hannon

To say I am looking forward to racing getting back under way in Ireland at Naas on June 8 is an understatement but I know I am not alone in that.

12.22PM

Mon 25th May 2020

The Survival Stakes

There is a lot of doom and gloom about the outlook for Ireland’s 26 racetracks on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic. Closures have been forecast as racing faces into an uncertain future behind closed doors with little certainty about the public being allowed return anytime soon. Amidst talk of crisis, though, will a period of behind closed doors racing really be such a bleak financial proposition for the majority of tracks?

8.58AM

Fri 22nd May 2020

Shane Jackson

There were a lot of good things about winning the Grand Annual Steeplechase on Ablaze at Warrnambool a fortnight ago last Tuesday, and high on the list is the reaction back in Ireland.

11.35AM

Mon 18th May 2020

Half A Loaf

So June 8 it is then. Whether that's a good outcome depends on whether or not you're a glass half full or empty sort of person. Apparently some major names are privately seething about racing not being allowed resume behind closed doors today. June 8 is three weeks away. But it's three weeks earlier than June 29. Overall it looks an acceptable compromise that not so long ago looked odds-against. So half a loaf really does look better than no bread.

9.05AM

Wed 13th May 2020

Mick Mulvany

These are very strange times and normal rules don’t apply. The only thing I would like is if the government would come out and tell us when exactly we are starting back. That is the biggest drawback for us now. You just need a little bit more clarity.

2.17PM

Sun 10th May 2020

Limbo

What a treat it is to anticipate live racing. Admittedly it's in France. However in such abnormal times even the prospect of Longchamp rather than Listowel feels like a reassuring nod to normality. It's not totally familiar but familiar enough for now until racing can resume here. With that in mind, it's noteworthy how the French racing authorities are approaching the question of prizemoney.

9.19PM

Fri 8th May 2020

Emma Connolly

We are still actually quite busy at Tu Va Stables, with more than 40 horses in, but it is obviously different not going racing. As Noel Meade’s travelling head lass (and assistant trainer), I would normally be going non-stop.

2.14PM

Sun 3rd May 2020

Failure To Communicate

Should signs about the fight against Covid-19 continue to be encouraging it would be foolish to cancel Irish racing until the end of June. As things stand that would make for a resumption behind closed doors almost 50 days later than France. There is optimism British racing might start later this month too. All this prompts questions such as how is Irish racing facing into such a scenario? How was it allowed happen? And how come no one can say if it's actually true or not?

8.22PM

Fri 1st May 2020

Vanessa Maye

I am lucky to be going to work at Jack Davison’s every morning and riding horses but there is no doubt these are strange times.

12.10PM

Mon 27th Apr 2020

The 'C' Word

During the successful High Court defamation case taken by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's head of security Chris Gordon against the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association last month, it was said in evidence by the Trainers body's chief executive, Michael Grassick that Gordon once said to him about trainers and jockeys that \"they are all corrupt.\" Gordon has denied making that statement and says he has never held that view.

9.05AM

Fri 24th Apr 2020

Brian Hughes

Becoming champion jockey in Britain after so many years’ graft, after starting off at Kevin Prendergast’s from RACE and 12 years after winning the conditional title, is something I will always treasure, although the way it all finished was unusual due to coronavirus.

11.12AM

Mon 20th Apr 2020

Pushy

In the overall context of Covid-19 it means little but one home truth this emergency has made plain is just how instinctively hostile public attitudes can be to racing in this country. What might have been once regarded as indifference has been revealed to be something much more vehement. This has long-term implications. In the short-term though it means racing needs to play its hand very subtly when it comes to resuming the sport.

12.33AM

Fri 17th Apr 2020

Gearóid O'Loughlin

These are difficult times for trainers but we know racing is only a blip in the ocean compared to what is going on around the world and in the context of health, you can’t complain.

10.04AM

Mon 13th Apr 2020

Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste

It's debatable if Churchill ever actually said never let a crisis go to waste but the old chancer gets credited with it anyway so it's getting a good airing during this global public health emergency. Economically what will probably happen is that companies will take the opportunity to slash and burn. But as racing waits to return with some curtailed version of itself it could be interesting to examine if stewarding is at least one area ripe for more constructive change.

9.18AM

Thu 9th Apr 2020

Peter Fahey

It was no surprise when racing behind closed doors came to an end and the rest of the National Hunt season was cancelled. You were wondering if they might put it on at a later date but with the way things are at the moment I think they had to make the call.

3.47PM

Mon 6th Apr 2020

Donkey's Screech

In 2012 Department of Agriculture inspectors raided Philip Fenton's yard and found unlicensed medicines, including an anabolic steroid. That year they also found unlicensed medicines, including an anabolic steroid, when raiding Pat Hughes's premises. Now, in 2020, we're told the department won't assist the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) with random inspections. Racing's fight against doping has always struggled for credibility. But it looks like the situation is getting worse.

9.19AM

Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Ray Hogan

Legacy

Andrew Slattery

Champions Weekend Cost

Shane Foley

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Johnny Murtagh

Reset

Johnny Feane

Hold Your Whisht

Nikita Kane

Strange Times

Dylan Browne McMonagle

Bi-Monthly Awards

Gavin Ryan

Broad Brush Business

Tony Mullins

A Galway State Of Mind

Denis O'Regan

Keep Calm & Carry On

Killian Hennessy

Golden Generation

Joey Sheridan

No, After You

Eddy Greatrex

Coronation Or Competition

Andy Slattery

'Gas-Gas-Gas'

Gary Carroll

Locked & Loaded

James Byrne

The Start

Jessica Harrington

The Marmite Test

Jerry Hannon

The Survival Stakes

Shane Jackson

Half A Loaf

Mick Mulvany

Limbo

Emma Connolly

Failure To Communicate

Vanessa Maye

The 'C' Word

Brian Hughes

Pushy

Gearóid O'Loughlin

Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste

Peter Fahey

Donkey's Screech

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