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Cheltenham Festival 2026

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Cheltenham Festival 2026

Days

Hrs

Min

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Vincent Finegan

Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Mon 5th Aug 2019

That Friday Feeling

Disappointing attendances have been just one stick used to beat the new Curragh in the last incident-packed three months. Less than 12,000 was the official Derby day crowd. A 4,295 attendance for the Oaks has been described as not good enough. But in some ways it will be crowd-size during the coming four 'Awesome August' Friday evening fixtures at HQ that prove most critical.

9.20AM

Fri 2nd Aug 2019

Jody Townend

What unfolded in Galway on Monday evening, when I won the Connacht Hotel Handicap on Great White Shark, still hasn’t sunk in properly yet. I don’t think it will hit me until I get home and sit on my own bed to think about it, and meet the rest of the family.

10.11AM

Mon 29th Jul 2019

No Excuses Required

It's been a given for as long as a lot of us can remember that Galway's summer festival is Irish racing's most popular fixture of the year. John B Keane famously described it as a state of mind. Galway's crossover appeal means even those who don't know their Plate from their elbow go to Ballybrit. But this week's 150th celebration renewal sees popularity presumptions under threat.

9.10AM

Fri 26th Jul 2019

Mark Enright

It’s great to be back after a long time out with injury and to return with two winners in my first three rides was just what the doctor ordered, heading into Galway, where I had such a great time last year by winning the Plate on Clarcam for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown.

11.11AM

Mon 22nd Jul 2019

The Lone Ranger

Leopardstown's chief executive Pat Keogh is to be given the task of lifting the siege at the Curragh. His precise role has yet to be defined although it probably means juggling roles for a while at Ireland's two premier flat racetracks. But in many ways he's in an enviable position. Expectations are so low at the Curragh that most anything he does will look like he's riding to the rescue.

8.49AM

Fri 19th Jul 2019

Conor McNamara

Killarney is a place I have fond memories of, having ridden my first winner there for my dad Eric last August, so it was great to boot home a winner around there again yesterday (Thursday) on Lucky Road for Gavin Cromwell, who has been so good to me.

10.43AM

Mon 15th Jul 2019

Logic Must Apply

The announcement by Curragh chief executive Derek McGrath that he's leaving the post in October sees a lightning rod figure depart the equation at Irish racing's controversial HQ. Many, it seems, within racing won't weep at his departure, just as one suspects few tears will be shed by McGrath himself. What remains though is the quandary of getting people to engage with the Curragh.

9.23AM

Fri 12th Jul 2019

Jack Davison

The vibes are good from the camp ahead of Black Magic Woman taking in the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse on Sunday. I think a course and distance winner is worth a few pounds and she’s just had a nice four-week break since her win at Fairyhouse the last day. We put her out for a week and then tuned her back up again, the break’s been good. It’s a big day, she does need to progress and step up but she’s given every indication that she has.

4.36PM

Mon 8th Jul 2019

The Money Hose

Behind the sound of unease within Irish racing about the apparently bleak outlook for UK betting shops it's possible to hear chickens coming home to roost. The media rights deal negotiated last year was fundamentally rooted in betting shop demand for pictures. Now betting shops are closing. Uncertain financial times look to be ahead for a sport which has profited from a cross-channel business model that ultimately had little or nothing to do with sport.

9.13AM

Wed 3rd Jul 2019

Niall McCullagh

Racing is a funny old game. It is great to have been on the run I have been on lately and to be getting a bit of attention for it, though having turned 50 this year, it’s hardly going to go to my head! But it isn’t too long ago that I was wondering if it might be time to hang up the boots.

1.04PM

Mon 1st Jul 2019

Upstairs Downstairs

The black and white bottom line is that Saturday's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby pulled a crowd of 11,957. That's less than half the official attendance returned just four years ago. On the face of it, after an €81 million revamp - €36 million of which was state money - that's a dire outcome on an occasion the redevelopment was mostly designed for. Curiously though it didn't feel that bad.

9.07AM

Wed 26th Jun 2019

Johnny Murtagh

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby was always special for me and I have been very lucky to win it four times as a jockey.

11.31AM

Mon 24th Jun 2019

Any Resemblance Is Purely Coincidental

It's ironic how part of the rationale for the new Curragh was as an international showpiece and yet the country's biggest race, this Saturday's Irish Derby, looks like being a distinctly local affair. So local in fact that perhaps the most important runner will be from a couple of miles down the road.

9.07AM

Fri 21st Jun 2019

Jarlath Fahey

We have our sights trained on the weather round the clock at the moment and seeing the rain cascading down at Royal Ascot has not had us jumping with joy.

8.58AM

Mon 17th Jun 2019

The Trump Diplomatic Playbook

Given the firepower he's bringing to Royal Ascot Aidan O'Brien might be accused of bringing a howitzer to a gun fight. Only O'Brien and the legendary Henry Cecil have ever trained seven winners at a single Royal Ascot. Come Saturday evening it would be no surprise to see the Irishman hold that particular record on his own.

9.25AM

Thu 13th Jun 2019

Tom Madden

It was a nice thing for the family when Niall and I both rode winners at Roscommon on Tuesday, me on Pipers Bomb for Ado McGuinness, and him on De Name Escapes Me for Noel Meade. A lot of people wouldn’t know it but Willie McCreery is my mother’s first cousin and he trained a winner too, Faerie Laws, making it a momentous occasion for the clan.

10.06AM

Mon 10th Jun 2019

The Twilight Zone

A focus on Friday evening racing is perhaps the most notable feature of this year's programme at the new Curragh. The first Friday evening fixture was held last week. According to some who were there the attendance was unremarkable. Those who've already written this off as a bad idea will feel vindicated. But Friday evening programmes are still a punt worth taking if targeted correctly.

11.47AM

Fri 7th Jun 2019

Robert 'Nuggy' Rusk

The positive reaction to my announcement that I would be conducting my duties as a jockeys’ valet for the last time at the Curragh on Friday has taken me by great surprise. It has been very humbling and lovely and has come from all different parts of racing. I appreciate it so much.

9.33AM

Mon 3rd Jun 2019

Clicking With The Crowd

Just imagine the Derby post-mortem had Madhmoon not lined up. Yes it's a bit 'if my aunt had balls.' But only Madhmoon's gallant runner up effort to Anthony Van Dyck stopped Aidan O'Brien having the first five. That's Michael Dickinson - Cheltenham Gold Cup stuff in the world's greatest flat race. A lot of lotion would have been required for all the handwringing.

9.12AM

Wed 29th May 2019

Natalia Lupini

It is hard to put into words just how exciting it was to have a winner at the new Curragh Racecourse on Tattersalls 2000 Guineas day. This is a big day on the calendar and Blairmayne was so good in the Heritage Hotel & Spa Handicap.

2.24PM

Mon 27th May 2019

Next Stop St Stephens Green

There's a lot more than sentiment to fuel the hunch that Madhmoon can win this Saturday's Epsom Derby for his 86 year old trainer Kevin Prendergast. There needs to be too. The world's greatest classic doesn't really do fairytales. But it's a poor world that can't allow a dash of romance sometimes and it will be one of racing's greatest stories if Madhmoon wins for the veteran trainer.

8.52AM

Wed 22nd May 2019

Johnny Allen

It is unreal the way my life has unfolded since I left Ireland to try and find more work as a jump jockey in Australia.

2.01PM

Mon 20th May 2019

A Graceful Exit

It's a big stretch to suggest that little in Michael O'Leary's racing life has become him more than the manner of his leaving but while the Ryanair boss's shock decision to wind down his Gigginstown Stud operation caught most everyone on the hop it looks like being carried out honourably in the circumstances.

8.49AM

Fri 17th May 2019

Leigh Roche

When you are starting off as first jockey, you need a horse to take off or to get some early winners and luckily enough, Michael O’Callaghan’s horses are in great form. We hit the ground running. It was a big help banging in a few early winners and two more last week keeps the ball rolling. I am so grateful to Michael and the owners for giving me this opportunity.

9.10AM

Mon 13th May 2019

The Public Interest

A quick and very unscientific straw poll at Leopardstown yesterday came up with a figure of 8,000 being a satisfactory attendance target for each of the upcoming classic days at the new Curragh. No one expressed confidence about hitting that target. Eight thousand is about a quarter of capacity. Positivity is all well and good. But the dispiriting reality is that even that figure might be optimistic.

8.59AM

Wed 8th May 2019

Danny Sheehy

Any day you get a double as an apprentice is a very good one and to do it so early in the season at Gowran Park on Sunday was a big boost for me. Winners are hard to come by in Ireland so you have to be very grateful when they come.

12.40PM

Mon 6th May 2019

The Right System Worked Right

There's been a lot going on closer to home but credit where it's due and 4,000 miles away on Saturday night produced reassuring evidence of regulatory spine as the Kentucky Derby winner was thrown out by the stewards. Their actions were made even more laudable by being subsequently criticised by that bluffing buffoon in the Oval Office. For once the system actually worked.

9.20AM

Thu 2nd May 2019

Ray Barron

It was an unbelievable thrill to ride my first ever winner at the Punchestown Festival, and to do it over the banks for Enda Bolger, who has been so good to me, and in the colours of JP McManus is something that will always stay with me.

11.55AM

Mon 29th Apr 2019

Cracking The Ceiling

Punchestown this week hosts the end of a momentous season. It will be remembered for Willie Mullins finally landing the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Tiger Roll winning back to back Grand Nationals, for far too little rain, and way too many positive drug tests. Time is likely to primarily recall it though as the campaign when the glass ceiling finally got cracked forever in regard to female jockeys.

9.00AM

Fri 26th Apr 2019

Shane Doyle

Like many in racing, I am from a farming background. With my father running a butchering business until retiring from that a couple of years ago along with the farm, he had little time to be interested in racing but some members of the family were: his father owning Silver Patch, the horse Frank Oakes referred to winning what would now be the Champion Bumper at Punchestown in his famous Thurles interview with Matt Chapman last November, and his uncle owning Gold Cup winner Glencaraig Lady, in whose colours a family syndicate owned a little horse called Glen Money, who won numerous bumpers and hurdles also for Francis Flood.

1.35PM

Mon 22nd Apr 2019

One More For Luck

The Irish Grand National is probably this country's most coveted jumping prize. With a €500,000 prize-fund it is definitely the most valuable. About nine minutes around Fairyhouse on Easter Monday can define a career. So it's interesting to ponder what kind of suspension or fine might persuade a jockey not to break the whip rules if they felt doing so might let them win.

9.37AM

Thu 18th Apr 2019

Kieran Cotter

It was some thrill to see George Cornelius winning the way he did on his first racecourse appearance at Dundalk last Sunday. We knew our horse would put it up to any of them on what we’d seen at home even though we hadn’t asked any questions and physically, he looked far superior to any of them beforehand.

2.50PM

Mon 15th Apr 2019

Staying In Vegas

Everyone knows the state of the going is fundamental to any race. And since demands differ, providing perfect conditions for everyone is impossible. But the question of what should constitute an acceptable surface, particularly on welfare grounds, is once again under the spotlight.

8.48AM

Thu 11th Apr 2019

Ado McGuinness

We are thrilled to bits with the start we have had to the year. Healthy horses are the most important thing. We have some nice horses and they are just easier horses to train. The most difficult horses to train of the whole lot are the low-grade handicappers. You don’t know when and where you are going to go with them. Some days a low-grade handicap looks a bad race. Then sometimes you could run in a race, and you go into the ring and 10 different owners will tell you they fancy their horses. It is very competitive.

4.47PM

Mon 8th Apr 2019

O'Leary's National Own Goal

Michael O'Leary scored an Aintree Grand National hat-trick on Saturday and followed up a day later with an own-goal by announcing reluctance to allow his wonderful superstar Tiger Roll a shot at a historic National hat-trick of his own.

9.01AM

Thu 4th Apr 2019

Fran Berry

It might take a little time for me to get used to being a retired jockey all of a sudden but I am thankful enough that it’s at 38 rather than in my early 20s, which it might have been 14 years ago when I fractured the C2 vertebra and displaced the C6 in a fall at the Curragh. Luckily, I have a wide spinal column, which meant the displaced vertebra didn’t touch the spinal cord. I was very, very lucky.

5.18PM

Mon 1st Apr 2019

The National Is Now Just Another Race

Considering it is April 1 the idea of a certainty in this Saturday's Aintree National might be regarded as a timely exhibition of foolishness. However that many sound judges reckon it is Tiger Roll's to lose simply indicates how the National has basically become just another long distance handicap chase. For some that's a regret. In fact the one National certainty is that this is a good thing.

8.56AM

Thu 28th Mar 2019

Ross Coakley

Riding out my claim has been a target for so long as it is for every jockey and to hit winner number 95 and get it done on Miss Snossyboots at Dundalk last Friday for my neighbour Michael Halford, who has been such an important supporter of mine, was brilliant.

9.05PM

Mon 25th Mar 2019

Circling The Wagons Is Futile

For debate not to descend into a shouting match it always helps to argue on point. Racing's future isn't tied up in 'appeasing' a tiny minority vehemently opposed to it. Instead it lays is in continuing to reassure a large, silent and mostly oblivious majority that it's not cruel. So a lot of people need to stop being so defensive about steps being taken to ensure that. Simply circling the wagons is futile.

8.14AM

Thu 21st Mar 2019

Gavin Cromwell

It has all been a bit of a whirlwind since Espoir D’Allen won the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham last Tuesday week. Surreal is the word I have been using to describe it all.

9.52PM

Sun 17th Mar 2019

Big Picture Right But Little Picture Wrong

It usually pays to be wary of consensus. But just because there's near unanimity that the British Horseracing Authority had a brain-fart about tired horses being pulled up at Cheltenham last week doesn't mean they're all wrong. In fact taken to its logical conclusion the BHA policy opens up a Pandora's Box.

10.08PM

Tue 12th Mar 2019

Mark Power

We may have what is probably our biggest but definitely our strongest team travelling to Cheltenham this week but as assistant trainer to Joseph O’Brien, I have to stay at home and mind the house on The Hill with the rest of the lads.

1.09PM

Mon 11th Mar 2019

Racing Has To Stand Over What It Is

In the midst of such an anxious political climate there's more than some reassurance about the lure of this week's Cheltenham festival. But in tune with the times Cheltenham 2019 is already shaping like being perhaps the most fraught festival ever.

9.08AM

Fri 8th Mar 2019

Willie Austin

This year will mark the 25th anniversary of Danoli winning the Sun Alliance Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and it was a day to remember for us as his breeders. You’d love to have a winner there as a trainer but that meant a lot and his name still comes up regularly at this time of year.

10.27AM

Mon 4th Mar 2019

The Job Of Regulators Is To Regulate

When it comes to regulation unanimity is desirable but rare. So it is the job of regulators to regulate. Seeking a green light from those they're supposed to be policing shouldn't be part of that job. If drink-driving limits get changed, the Gardai don't ask drivers first if it's OK. So proposed changes to the whip rules in Ireland represent an important test of regulatory authority.

9.06AM

Fri 1st Mar 2019

John McConnell

Bridging a gap of over 12 years between graded wins was particularly pleasing as Go Another One did the business in the Grade 3 BetVictor Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle at Thurles and we then went agonisingly close to a first Grade 2 when Hannon was beaten a nose in the PaddyPower Onside App Novice Hurdle.

9.29AM

Mon 25th Feb 2019

Can A Knob Joke Really Win The Gold Cup?

Way too much is being made of Presenting Percy lining up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup without having raced over fences for a year. That's not the problem. There's a much more serious issue. It's his name. Seriously, how can a knob joke end up on the most luminous roll-of-honour in National Hunt racing - and stop sniggering down the back!

9.09AM

Fri 22nd Feb 2019

Jason McKeown

I had enjoyed some brilliant days riding some very talented horses for a number of great people. There was a Grade 2 winner on Back To Bid, a Land Rover Bumper on Texas Jack who turned out to be such a great servant for connections and even a winner at Cheltenham at the Paddy Power meeting. I was overall Fegentri champion in 2007.

10.00AM

Mon 18th Feb 2019

Come On Ireland!

There's an ad circulating at the moment about how Ireland's rugby side is the 'Team of Us.' It's about the country and the team supposedly all being 'in' position together for Ireland. At the end Rory Best, the captain, says 'that's everyone then' and gives the nod to kick off.

12.41AM

Fri 15th Feb 2019

Roger Loughran

I announced by retirement from race riding last week after more than 20 years with a licence. I loved every bit of it.

10.28AM

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