Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

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

Mon 11th Feb 2019

A Rod For Its Own Back

Veterinary expertise is confined to a minority. But no expertise is required to wonder if the British Horseracing Authority created a rod for its own back by shutting down racing in response to last week's outbreak of equine flu in Britain.

9.01AM

Fri 8th Feb 2019

Dermot McLoughlin

When you are a small trainer like me, you are up against it but all you are ever trying to do is get the best from the horses you have. You are picking up horses on a budget, you cannot deal in the numbers that the big lads do, where they can go through so many to get to the one good one.

1.09PM

Mon 4th Feb 2019

A Rock & A Hard Place

Racing faces major questions right now, questions that cut to the existential core of the sport even, like the possible existence or otherwise of equine free-will. More prosaic concerns continue about horseboxes queuing up at Dublin port because of a dumb crisis of English nationalism. Disturbing news from Australia raises ethical dilemmas over animal welfare. Despite all that though the question on the lips of most racing fans at the weekend was about Michael O'Leary allowing Apple's Jade line up in next month's Champion Hurdle.

8.51AM

Thu 31st Jan 2019

Jane Mangan

The Dublin Racing Festival is almost upon us and I am in the very lucky position of being paid to witness some fantastic action, as I will be working with RTÉ’s radio team covering it on Saturday and then the television coverage on Sunday.

8.51PM

Mon 28th Jan 2019

The Game No One's Allowed Not Play

Talk of tariffs is rampant at the moment and it's easy to suspect a duty on hyperbole during this weekend's Dublin Racing Festival might generate a considerable yield. Last year's inaugural re-jig of the winter programme was uniformly acclaimed as a huge success. Novelty alone seemed to generate giddy excitement. But the event is up and running now and despite the cheer-leading it is reasonable to ask what actually constitutes success for the Dublin Racing Festival.

8.57AM

Fri 25th Jan 2019

Keith Donoghue

They say jump racing is the greatest leveller there is and I was reminded of that once again over Christmas when I won my first ever Grade One on Hardline in the Matchbook Betting Exchange Novice Chase at Limerick and 24 hours later was sidelined after I broke my eye socket in three places, my cheek bone and my nose after a fall from Burren Life. His head was coming back up as I was going down — he basically head butted me. I got a plate put in my cheek bone and my nose straightened, so I’m actually looking a bit better now.

9.05AM

Mon 21st Jan 2019

It's Still A Whip - Despite Calling It A Love Crop

Cheltenham's overwhelming importance to National Hunt racing, and the sport in general, was underlined once again when Ladbrokes/Coral revealed the festival supplied 25 of their top 40 races in betting turnover during 2018. Six of the top ten were at Cheltenham. Only the Grand National topped the Gold Cup. All seven races on Gold Cup day were on the top 40 list. The festival's appeal continues to expand and emphasises just how much it is racing's greatest asset.

9.06AM

Fri 18th Jan 2019

Robbie Moran

BEING forced to retire from race riding due to injury was a disappointment. I had my last ride four years ago and I’m still only 35. I would have liked to have stayed going for another few years but you just have to get on with things and I’m doing that, looking forward to what will hopefully be successful fixture on Sunday at Thurles.

12.11AM

Mon 14th Jan 2019

What's Another Year

It's the prerogative of youth to be young and foolish. Some of us don't even need to be young. And for a lot of people the impulse to be foolish with drugs contains little direct impact on anyone but themselves. But jockeys aren't a lot of people. Being under the influence of drugs isn't just foolish on the back of a racehorse, it is dangerous. That this is obvious and the rate of positive tests for cocaine among riders is increasing appears like rank irresponsibility rather than foolishness.

9.21AM

Thu 10th Jan 2019

Shane Crawley

I may be in the minority among National Hunt trainers at the moment, but the way things have been going for us lately, I am definitely not in any hurry to see buckets of rain.

6.20PM

Mon 7th Jan 2019

Twelve 'Hail Mary' Predictions For 2019

January - Towards the end of this month some muttering will start about how a self-enforced big race lull at the start of the year mightn't be a great idea. It won't be muttered too loudly. Publicly the Dublin Racing Festival is always wonderful. Even if the first day can't hope to compete for attention with the Ireland-England rugby international no one's going to crib about eight Grade One races and €1.8 million of prizemoney.

8.33AM

Thu 3rd Jan 2019

Jim Balfry - Supreme Racing Club

We have enjoyed so many great occasions since getting Supreme Racing Club going, around 130 winners, but to come away from Leopardstown with two Grade One winners during the Christmas Festival, in the same year that Limerick won the hurling All-Ireland, ensured that I will never forget 2018.

10.03PM

Mon 31st Dec 2018

Looking In More Than Out

There will be plenty of focus on New Year's Day when coverage of Irish racing begins on Racing TV. Even those of us who suspect allowing the sport go behind a paywall is a long-term own-goal can recognise it as an immediate expression of commercial reality. The money is in supplying pictures to bookmakers. Concerns that racing's overall profile will shrink as a result don't fit into the bottom-line. Irish racing can afford to dismiss that right now. But the cost of such dismissal may loom sooner rather than later.

9.28AM

Mon 24th Dec 2018

Tom Foley

People always want to talk about Danoli and you could never get tired of talking about him.

9.37AM

Grey Window Dressing

9.02AM

Thu 20th Dec 2018

Patrick O'Callaghan

It was quite a boost to hear that Ruby Walsh was giving strong consideration to a first appearance at Limerick Racecourse on St Stephen’s Day in 22 years, to partner Getabird in our new Grade 1 Matchbook Betting Exchange Novice Chase.

4.26PM

Mon 17th Dec 2018

Enjoy Brexit Responsibly

Even those of us without a pub-patriot 'wrap the green flag around me' bone in our bodies find it hard not to chuckle sometimes at how British politics is fast approaching a no-deal Brexit meltdown over the 'Irish problem.' Irony really can be a bitch. A lot of history is coming home to roost. 'Schandenfreude' may be a provocatively continental word to use in the circumstances but quite a lot of pleasure is floating around at Britain's self-inflicted misfortune. However it's best to keep in mind how, in the event of no-deal, the most appropriate word for racing here will be disaster.

8.37AM

Wed 12th Dec 2018

Pat Flynn

Glorious Forever was a deserving winner of the Hong Kong Cup on Sunday and it quickly brought back memories of Designs On Rome, who won it in 2014 as the reigning Horse of the Year.

6.40PM

Mon 10th Dec 2018

Premature Adulation

The rush to proclaim Altior as one of the all-time greats has begun in earnest. He is certainly starting to look like one of the great two-milers. There were enough elements against him in Saturday's Tingle Creek to make the maintenance of an unbeaten record over jumps far from certain. Un De Sceaux and soft ground is a formidable combination. Still Altior found a way to not only win but win well. It's what makes him a champion. But this rush to all-time great status feels premature.

8.40AM

Tue 4th Dec 2018

Philip Dempsey

Having a winner on a big day like Sunday at Fairyhouse is a great boost for an operation that’s trying to grow because it’s one of those days where more people are taking notice than normal. You’re always looking to make a step forward and a win like that is a big help.

4.23PM

Mon 3rd Dec 2018

Richer But More Irrelevant

Irish racing has a profile problem. It is desperate for wider exposure and has ambitions to broaden its popular appeal. That's because the sport is struggling against an increasing public disconnect which is not helped by sliding coverage in mainstream media. Fears have even been expressed about it veering towards minority status. This is an urgent problem for racing's future. It needs attention. So Irish racing's solution to this Irish racing problem is to stick itself behind a pay-wall.

9.03AM

Wed 28th Nov 2018

Matthew Smith

We have always thought a lot of Warnaq and her win at Navan on Sunday was her fourth in 12 months. She won her three year old maiden at the end of the Flat season last year. She won twice on the Flat this season and then over hurdles on Sunday so she’s been a good servant.

5.02PM