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Cheltenham Festival 2026

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Cheltenham Festival 2026

Days

Hrs

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Vincent Finegan

Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

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

Rain required for Laurina

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

Mon 26th Nov 2018

Picking Up The Tab

News that the Minister for Finance Pascal Donohue will review his decision to increase the rate of betting tax from one per cent to two per cent looks a shrewd political two-step. It's no doubt a reaction to the political implications of 1,500 job losses in betting shops. But if the bookmaker lobby's argument, which includes taxing gross profits rather than turnover, is persuasive enough then it looks good for both betting shops and Horse Racing Ireland. Racing's ruling body doesn't care how the money is raised so long as it benefits. So there's a potential win-win all round.

9.15AM

Wed 21st Nov 2018

Colin Keane

It is nice to have a trip to Hong Kong to look forward to next month, after getting an invitation to participate in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley on December 5.

11.17PM

Mon 19th Nov 2018

Blackmore Continues To Be Season's Big Story

The National Hunt trainers championship doesn't appear like providing a winter long narrative this season. Willie Mullins looks to have got too big a jump on his rival Gordon Elliott for that. It's our good fortune then that Rachael Blackmore's pursuit of the jockey's title can provide an alternative winter hook. Not only is it keeping racing enthralled but it offers an opportunity for a truly landmark sporting story to unfold before us.

8.45AM

Thu 15th Nov 2018

Georgie Benson

It was great to see Apple’s Jade return to her best form when winning the Lismullen so well last Sunday. It was what we are used to seeing, her wanting her own way and taking control. She was really good, is definitely back to her old self and we were really happy with her.

9.08AM

Mon 12th Nov 2018

Getting The Start

The depth of racing talent this country produces can be gauged by the most successful Irish Group One jockey in the world right now being John Allen. Some of you might recall Allen as a former jump jockey who couldn't get arrested here. His career fortunes got so bad that seven years ago he moved to try his luck in Australia. On Saturday he beat the Irish Derby winner Latrobe in the $2 million Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington. The previous Saturday Allen landed the Victoria Derby. It's special stuff for a guy who looked to be on a one way ticket to obscurity back home.

8.42AM

Thu 8th Nov 2018

Aidan Howard

No-one was more surprised than I was when Frank Berry told me a couple of weeks before the Galway Festival that I would be holding onto Winter Escape.

9.40AM

Mon 5th Nov 2018

The Vision Thing

On the back of the Breeders Cup action in Kentucky, more proof the world has got smaller will be stamped all over tomorrow morning's Melbourne Cup. Ten of the runners in the race that famously stops a nation are trained in Ireland and Britain. There's a Japanese contender as well. Much of the home team are European imports. A race run at the other side of the world has become another international pit-stop live on telly. All of which still qualifies the big idea that originally opened it up in the first place to be the finest 'vision thing' world racing has ever seen.

9.02AM

Wed 31st Oct 2018

Donagh Meyler

I have been lucky enough to get the chance to ride regularly for Alan Fleming and Barry Connell in in recent months and it was great to ride a winner for them when Barwell won his maiden hurdle by 10 lengths at Wexford on Sunday.

12.45PM

Mon 29th Oct 2018

No Percentage In Nostalgia

Someone wise once described nostalgia as memory without the pain. Many within National Hunt racing's will probably hark back to the past during what's set to be another winter of success for some and discontent for others. It's jump racing's current contradiction that it has never been more successful yet more people feel more excluded from it than ever before. Nostalgia is deceptive comfort though. It presumes a halcyon time which in all likelihood never existed.

9.02AM

Thu 25th Oct 2018

Robert Power

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of New York City last weekend but I was the first to see the winning post in the American Grand National so that was enough!

8.17PM

Mon 22nd Oct 2018

Landlord & Tenant

If people do what they say they will do then racing at Down Royal can continue. The track's owner, Merrion Property Group, has stated racing is at the centre of their plans. Those still spooked can take reassurance from comments by local politicians of their opposition to any prospect of the 300 acre site being used for building. Nevertheless significant uncertainty remains which in turn must mean a bitter taste of 'if only' for a lot of passionate racing people in the North of Ireland.

9.14AM

Thu 18th Oct 2018

Andrew Slattery

This time of year is the changeover period for me in some ways — the end of the Flat season and the start of the school season!

9.15AM

Mon 15th Oct 2018

Taking Refuge In The Little Picture

We're all going to hell in a handcart, either because the planet's turning into a microwave, or a moron flimflam merchant in the White House, not to mention the benighted lunacy that is Brexit. It's a big picture to make racing's tiny self-absorbed bit seem especially trivial. None of which will stop those of us in thrall to the thoroughbred feeling the simple joy of pondering how Too Darn Hot might transform from exceptional two year old into the real classic deal next year.

8.54AM

Thu 11th Oct 2018

Tom Ryan

At a track like Naas that goes all year round with Flat and National Hunt racing we’ve no break really and we have the pedal to the metal most of the year.

10.13PM

Mon 8th Oct 2018

Old Habits Die Hard

Politics is about power but maintaining wriggle-room is vital in exercising it. No one becomes Minister for Finance by not being good at keeping their options open and Pascal Donohoe can clearly wriggle it more than a little bit. So it will be fascinating to see what he does in Tuesday's budget in relation to Irish racing's annual plea for an increase in betting tax which always gets represented as some sort of self-financing silver bullet for the industry.

8.48AM

Thu 4th Oct 2018

Killian Leonard

I think it is fair to say that things couldn’t be going much better at the moment.

2.55PM

Mon 1st Oct 2018

Closed On Sunday

Sunday is the day most people are free to indulge in leisure time. It has also become the day Irish racing uses to stage many of its shop-window fixtures. The theory is that Sunday is when most people can go watch racing. Of course practise can differ from theory and there has been very little quibbling about cutting back the number of Sunday fixtures in 2019. It's a move that sends out a notable signal about racing's view of itself as a spectator sport.

8.56AM

Wed 26th Sep 2018

Padraig Roche

Thankfully things have got off to a nice start since I began training and if the horses aren’t winning they’ve been running well and you can’t ask for more than that.

9.22PM

Mon 24th Sep 2018

No Pain No Gain

Announcing the disqualification of five 'winners' for positive drug tests hardly made for good 'PR' last week. They were the latest in a series of uncomfortable headlines about a spike in positive drug tests during 2018. That makes for embarrassment. However Irish racing needs to ensure short-term discomfort doesn't interfere with long-term plans for getting its anti-doping house in order. Embarrassment goes away. It's a symptom. Fretting about symptoms and not causes is a cop-out.

9.16AM

Wed 19th Sep 2018

Seb Vance

There are few more lively topics in Irish racing right now than racing’s TV rights in Ireland.

9.16AM

Mon 17th Sep 2018

That Friday Feeling

Some of you come here for bile and begrudgery so straight off the bat let's simply say all that 'Irish Champions Weekend' action was brilliant. A superb Champions Stakes finish between Roaring Lion and Saxon Warrior was elite racing at its most exciting. Alpha Centauri's defeat and subsequent retirement reflected the emotional sweep of this game. There were a range of winners to make any monopolies accusation seem redundant. Even the weather played ball. This was racing at its best.

8.57AM

Thu 13th Sep 2018

Wayne Middleton

My role within racing is the strength and conditioning coach for trainee jockeys in RACE and also for professional jockeys through Horse Racing Ireland.

10.48AM

Mon 10th Sep 2018

Sending Up A Desperate Flare

Corporate jargon has it that standing still is really going backwards. That is literally bullshit. However there is a figurative context about the importance of maintaining forward momentum in any enterprise. This will be the fifth year of 'Irish Champions Weekend.' It's tough to argue Irish flat racing's showcase event is going backwards. But if its momentum isn't in reverse it still looks to have stalled.

9.04AM

Thu 6th Sep 2018

Ronan Whelan

My aim at the start of every season is to try and better my tally from last year and try to up the quality of horse I am riding and thankfully I’ve had a nice total of winners so far and got a few Group winner as well.

9.22PM

Mon 3rd Sep 2018

Michael D's Sure Thing

The race is on towards next month's Presidential election and Michael D Higgins is a heavy odds-on favourite to win a second term in the Aras. He has been widely praised for his first term in the largely ceremonial and constitutional role. However from a purely parochial point of view it's unsettling that a rare venture into policy territory occurred during the summer when the President declared his distaste for gambling and gambling advertising in particular.

8.46AM

Wed 29th Aug 2018

Shane Foley

I’m just back from Japan where I rode in the All Star Jockeys Challenge and finished fifth and it was a great experience.

2.30PM

Mon 27th Aug 2018

Bye Bye 'Ballydoyle Bug'

The 'Ballydoyle Bug' is receding into the distance if the weekend action is any guide. Half a dozen winners at the Curragh - including a Futurity clean-sweep - indicate an operation approaching full throttle again. Aidan O'Brien has described the illness that swept through Ballydoyle as the worst he's experienced there. But perhaps the greatest perspective came from his rival Ger Lyons when he said \"I'd love my horses to be as sick as Aidan's!\"

9.12AM

Tue 21st Aug 2018

Robbie Colgan

I’ve been working for Sheila Lavery for a few years now and she has been on to me for a while to go on a diet and this year I just said I’d give it a go and it has taken off from there really.

7.59PM

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