Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Andrew Hogan

Having Cork Racecourse being used as a test centre for coronavirus is really positive and as manager of the track along with Tipperary, it was a very easy decision to make the facility available for such vital work in these most testing times.

11.15AM

Hey Presto

Racing's reputation has taken a battering since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic first started to be felt. A lot of the flak has been grossly unfair. But the old political maxim applies about denials meaning you've lost the point already. So now is as good a time as any to proclaim how this is a great game with centuries of tradition behind it and an appeal sure to endure long into the future.

9.26AM

Ben Harvey

Recording my first winner on the track in a race of the status of the Randox Ulster National at Downpatrick hasn’t really sunk in yet.

4.51PM

Tone-Deaf

Irish racing can be an incestuous echo-chamber at the best of times. But its decision to keep going behind closed doors in the face of a national health crisis is appallingly tone-deaf to the wider public mood . The board of Horse Racing Ireland has an official stamp of government approval. But this was their call. Racing is getting its short-term pay-off. What's yet to be calculated is the long-term reputational price of such a crass decision. For everyone's sake let's hope it's not too severe.

10.58AM

Sarah Kavanagh

To finally ride my first winner is something I have been waiting a long time for. I thought it was never going to happen. I have recently turned 24. Thankfully, I work for Gavin Cromwell now and he was good enough to give me the chance on Demophon at Down Royal on St Patrick’s Day and so were the owners. Everything worked out in our favour. I don’t think I will ever forget that day.

1.39PM

Grotesque

The bottom line is last week's Cheltenham festival should have been run behind closed doors. Cramming in quarter of a million spectators over four days turned the side of a Gloucestershire hill into a glorified Petri-dish. Avoiding such a grotesque scenario required a decision to be made the week before by either the BHA or Jockey Club Racecourses. Instead the most basic bureaucratic instinct of all prevailed - cover your own arse.

4.45PM

Rob James

That I am now a jockey that has won at the Cheltenham Festival is something that honestly hasn’t sunk in yet and I’m not sure it will. But I can say it is an unbelievable feeling, something you always dream of as a rider.

3.12PM

Playing The Percentages

Tucked away at the end of Horse Racing Ireland's final priority in its new Strategic Plan 2020-24 is an aim to measure, and report annually, the percentage of turnover on Irish racing in the country's betting shops. It barely rated a mention in the context of the plan's headline items such as an objective to progressively increasing state funding to €98 million in four years time. There will be bigger shocks in store at Cheltenham this week than both targets intertwining in the long-term.

8.40AM

Jessica Harrington

Cheltenham has been good to me and while there are always disappointments, I can’t complain at all, having enjoyed the thrill of victory 11 times and won the Gold Cup with Sizing John, the Champion Hurdle with Jezki and the Champion Chase twice with Moscow Flyer.

4.55PM

Cheltenham & Coronavirus

The World Health Organisation has urged governments worldwide to wake up to the expanding threat of coronavirus. European governments are restricting the sizes of public events. Churches are suspending people shaking hands for the sign of peace. In the midst of all this racing's little parish is counting down the eight days to Cheltenham. Given the rate of spread of this thing a week looks like being a very long time for a spike not to occur in Britain. If that happens the odds on the National Hunt festival being unaffected will only get longer.

10.35PM

Enda Bolger

It is remarkable how much races like the Foxhunter Chase have changed over the years at Cheltenham and it’s great that you have the Cross-Country race now.

11.23AM

It's A Whip

Last week British racing announced its Horse Welfare Board's 130 document titled 'A Life Worth Living.' It has been described as a pivotal moment for the sport as it takes the initiative in proposing a welfare strategy to counter any public concerns about animal cruelty. In terms of language and ambition it's hard to fault. That's the easy part. Implementing it is a different matter.

9.11AM