Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

'Seconds Out' For Heavyweight Curragh Clash

Saxon Warrior doesn't look the great white hope anymore. The greats don't need excuses made for them. But if Saxon Warrior isn't what some of us more excitable types thought he might be there's still reason to believe he's up to getting revenge on Masar in the Irish Derby at the end of this month. Fingers crossed it happens because either way the real winner of a Ballydoyle-Godolphin superpower clash will be the Irish Derby itself.

8.51AM

Colm O'Donoghue

It was around the Killarney July Festival last year that I left Ballydoyle after 21 years there and it was certainly a big move but it was a decision that I didn’t take lightly.

6.23PM

It Doesn't Get Better Than The Derby

The Epsom Derby is a concentration of obscene wealth, elitism and hard-eyed calculation. It's as far from grassroots as it is possible for sport to get. It's also the greatest day of the racing year. Despite everything the romance of the whole thing enthrals. The Derby is racing's essence summed up in just over two and a half minutes. Prince or prole, you either get it or you don't: and if you don't get the Derby then your heart really isn't going to be racing this Saturday.

8.43AM

Ryan Treacy

I was thrilled to get back among the winners at the weekend and get the ball rolling for the season. Dusty Sheehy, who gave me the ride on Grey Mountain Mist, Eric McNamara and Lesley Young have been good to me so it’s great to be able to repay them when I can.

8.48PM

Cultivate The Committed

Walk into any betting shop and racing's greatest fundamental threat is in front of you - Portman Park. The impact of the British government's stake reduction on 'Fixed Odds Betting Terminals' has dominated racing coverage with regard to levy impact there and in terms of picture rights here. But it's a symptom of a deeper issue for the sport. Because Portman Park proves people really will bet on anything.

8.46AM

Richard O'Brien

When I was growing up I always had a real fondness for racing and I tried my hand at riding but wasn’t very good at that and those closest to me felt it would be best if I did something else. They landed on dentistry so I went with it and qualified as a dentist!

5.07PM

Health Warning

Given the way society's going it can't be long before gambling comes with a health warning. Akin to alcohol or sugar there will be societal acceptance that its fine in moderation but can be harmful. And inevitably that's going to provoke attitude changes. People still drink to excess and gorge themselves to obesity but no one pretends its trendy. That has had a major impact in perception terms. Racing's links to the betting industry could represent a similar image problem down the line.

8.08AM

Mark O'Hare

Three bumper winners in three days is beyond any expectation I ever had, especially given that I was going to retire a few years ago, so it would be fair to say I’m loving racing at the moment.

9.37PM

Is 'Warrior' A Crowning Glory?

Think about it. Aidan O'Brien has won 300 Group 1 races in almost 22 years. And it's treated almost casually, like part of a checklist ticked off: yeah it's a superb landmark figure but he does this stuff. It's Ballydoyle and Coolmore and probably the finest bloodstock empire ever assembled. There's never been anything like it because there's never been anything like it. As always with O'Brien the results are indivisible from the ammunition he gets to fire. But no one can ever argue with his aim.

9.15AM

Richie Galway

You couldn’t have made last week, it was too far-fetched to believe. From Tuesday’s mishap with Paul Townend to him going out the following day having a treble and then the two greatest female jockeys of all time bowing out with winners in professional races, there was just stories, highlights and incidents across the week that made it a festival that we will remember for a long, long time.

10.02PM

Start Of An Era

There will come a time when gender is irrelevant when it comes to jockeys. People will look back and shake their heads at how dumb prejudices about female riders weren't just tolerated but widely accepted as fact. The story of that change is going to fascinate countless generations. And since Nina Carberry and Katie Walsh are fundamental to the tale it means their place in racing history is assured.

9.02AM

John Gleeson

Having a winner at the Punchestown Festival was the realisation of lifetime’s ambition, that’s for sure. I had been making the journey a long time and ironically won the same race, the Kildare Hunt Club Fr Sean Breen Memorial Steeplechase as a jockey many years ago, only to lose it in the stewards’ room. So it was very sweet to get there at last. And to do it with the young fella Billy riding was great because that’s what I got Just Wait And See for, for him to be riding.

12.33PM

Theatre Sport

There's only one story at Punchestown 2018. The prospect of watching Douvan, Samcro, Laurina & Co is great. Acclaiming Davy Russell as champion jockey again will be great too. But everything about the season finale fits into a narrative about Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott slugging it out to be champion trainer. Inevitably some will crib about too much being made of it. Ignore anyone with such a woeful lack of occasion. This is momentous stuff. Everyone's got a hunch, and should have too. Mine is Mullins is going to do it again.

9.13AM

Keith Donoghue

Tiger Roll has made all the headlines this week and he has been an incredible horse for me as he’s given me the best day of my career and the second best day of my career.

10.30PM

'Mulliott' Anyone?

As Tiger Roll and Pleasant Company flashed past the post in Saturday's epic Aintree Grand National finish the thought struck home that Irish racing has never seen a rivalry to compare to that of their trainers - Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins. Lots view their duopoly either positively or negatively. But the scale of their accomplishments is indisputable. Theirs is a rivalry to compare with anything in sport. Familiarity though means we forget to acknowledge how special it actually is.

8.36AM

Emma Connolly

I started riding horses when I was 11 and I just couldn’t see myself ever doing anything else. I’m in Noel Meade’s nine years now and have been lucky to be associated with some brilliant horses over the years and have got some great memories.

9.41AM

Best National Outcome For Racing

The Aintree Grand National retains enough of a lottery element to encourage followers of each of the 40 runners this Saturday that they can win. From a more altruistic point of view though one outcome would surely be the greatest result for racing generally. It's surely only a matter of time before the winner of racing's most high-profile event is ridden by a woman. But sooner's better than later and now would be perfect.

9.12AM

J J Slevin

Winning the Irish Grand National probably hasn’t really sunk in yet, I got home last night and looked at the replay with my mother and father and I went to bed then as I’d to be up to go to work in Joseph O’Brien’s this morning so I’d say I’ll watch it a few times again this evening!

7.50PM

Waiting For Perfection

The day after Sea The Stars won the Arc he was paraded in front of a media throng at John Oxx's yard. An unaware news reporter asked me what we were looking at: I told him it was the nearest thing to perfection either of us would ever get. He looked at me like I was high. But the finest horse of a generation was the exception proving the rule that waiting for perfection in racing involves waiting forever.

9.27AM

Denis Hogan

Pulling up after winning the Grade 2 Charleville Mares Chase on Youcantcallherthat last week I knew that it was the biggest winner of my riding career but it was only afterwards that it dawned on me that it was also the biggest winner of my training career.

8.42PM

Jack Kennedy

Last week was pretty unreal if I’m honest. Anyone would be happy with one winner at Cheltenham so to have four was just a dream come true to be honest.

9.27PM

Trust & Reputation

The British Horseracing Authority is technically entitled to drug test horses entered to run in Britain, just as the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board - formerly the Turf Club - is entitled to do the same vice versa. A good argument can be made for such tests being routine. There can hardly be too much out-of-competition testing. But no one it seems can remember Irish authorities ever going into yards in Britain. So it was a pointed call by the BHA to take it upon themselves to inspect the festival runners of Irish racing's two biggest trainers the week before Cheltenham.

9.16AM

Philip Reynolds

I’m just delighted to be going to Cheltenham with a couple of very nice horses, Presenting Percy and Mall Dini, trained by a very good friend Pat Kelly, and both are the head of their respective markets although in a sense I would probably prefer if they were outsiders as there wouldn’t be as much hype about them!

9.42AM

Brits Need To Bite Back

Last year Irish trained horses won a record 19 Cheltenham festival races. There's 6-1 floating around about Irish trained horses beating that haul this time. No doubt more ridiculous bets than that will be made over the coming four days. But short-term gratification about this unprecedented period of Irish dominance needs to be tempered by longer term considerations. The health of National Hunt racing's greatest showpiece event really needs the Brits to bite back this week.

8.37AM

Ross O'Sullivan

They were saying that was the worst snow since 1982, the year I was born, and I hope it is another 35 years before we have anything like it again. If you talk to anyone in racing they’ll tell you how hard the last week was but everyone was in the same boat.

10.28PM

Willie Mullins

My first visit to the Cheltenham Festival was in 1978 which, funnily enough, was the year of the snow. We woke up on Gold Cup day and the whole place was white and the races were called off. We are now hoping there won’t be a repeat 40 years on but the Cheltenham weather people say it is not going to be like that.

9.13AM

Tone Deaf

With a fortnight to Cheltenham every twist and niggle becomes an issue. A couple of days on the easy list can be a major festival blow for any horse. Then there's final running plans, who rides what, what's blooming in their work. It all makes how information is disseminated to the betting public an even more pressing topic. So it will be interesting to see how much relevant news will be put into the public domain in the next couple of weeks courtesy of bookmakers and betting organisations.

8.21AM

Donnchadh Doyle

Going to the Tattersalls Sales in Cheltenham last Thursday I thought we were going over with a nice horse, Dlauro, and I was expecting him to sell well but I probably didn't think he’d make £410,000 as a five-year-old.

6.14PM

Darren Bunyan

Hit The Bid’s victory in Dubai last week was absolutely fantastic and I am hopeful that the horse can build on that and develop into a Group 1 performer this year.

9.15PM

Derek O'Connor

I left home at 8am yesterday morning with my wife, Carol, and we headed to Ballinaboola in Wexford where I had one ride at the point-to-point on a horse called Appreciate It for Pat Doyle. I probably didn't think that when I got home at 10.30pm yesterday evening that I’d be after winning an Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

9.05PM

Olly Murphy

After four years of working with Gordon Elliott I came home to my family place to start training and I’d be lying if I didn't say that I am thrilled with how we’ve started since July.

9.55PM

I Wouldn't Cross The Road

A lot of those diehard National Hunt fans the country is supposedly full of - the ones who famously wouldn't cross the road to see the Derby - seem to have plans to be somewhere else rather than Leopardstown for this weekend's 'Dublin Racing Festival.' This is a showcase concentration of some of the sport's most valuable races into two days. It's the National Hunt version of 'Irish Champions Weekend.' It's worth €1.5 million. It can hardly get better. And the place won't be full.

9.21AM

Aine O'Connor

Riding Drumcliff to victory at Ascot last Saturday was undoubtedly the biggest kick I’ve got out of racing since the very first day I ever sat on a racehorse.

4.22PM

Declan McDonogh

My time in Australia has been great and really enjoyable and I’ve got a lot of support from a lot of different people including a variety of different trainers. I came down to spend time with Peter and Paul Snowden but trainers like Gai Waterhouse and Anthony Cummins have backed me and I’ve ridden a winner for Godolphin as well down here so it has been a great experience.

5.16PM

Sean McDermott

Being based in America is quite different than here at home - and sometimes not the easiest when you are a homebird like myself - but it was nice to come home for Christmas with my girlfriend and thanks to Ruaidhrí Tierney I squeezed in a winner at Leopardstown too! 

1.56PM

And The Award Goes To...

At this time of year there are no marks for originality in taking a look back at 2017, just as there are no brownie points for pointing out how Colin Keane is a shoo-in for any 'jockey-of-the-year' award floating about. Aidan O'Brien's Group 1 world record has been amply rewarded at various legitimate ceremonies as well, as has Jessica Harrington's towering achievements with 'Horse of the Year' Sizing John. But there's just enough time to squeeze in a few sham baubles too.

3.17PM

Ten Random Christmas Stocking Fillers

First of all, a rallying call: racing is brilliant. It really is - and not just because its cheerleaders say so. The cheerleading actually does the game no favours. After a while it becomes a drone blotting out any sort of criticism. And the thing with criticism of any merit is that it comes from a basis of enthusiasm. It's rooted in a desire to change things for the better. No one wants to be cribbing all the time but all cheerleading does is maintain the status quo. That's no good to anyone.

8.18PM

Dylan Robinson

After a frustrating summer with injury it’s great to be back amongst the winners and I have my boss, Henry De Bromhead, to thank for that. I’m based with Henry full time now and he has shown plenty of faith in me to put me back up on some good horses and it’s thanks to him that I’ve been able to get five winners since I got back.

3.56PM

Thomas Sherry

To get my first winner on the board at Dundalk last month was really a relief more than anything. I’d be looking at the other 10lbs claimers riding winners and it is very competitive out there but you get the winner and it just gives you something more to look forward to.

8.21PM