Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Calum Hogan

I’m 17 and am in Leaving Cert year at Colaiste Na Trocaire in my hometown of Rathkeale. The plan is to stay going with school until the summer and the staff are very good to let me go racing as long as I can manage to do a few classes beforehand. My mam Rose is keen for me to stick with it although, if I had my way, I wouldn’t be there! I’d prefer to kick on full-time with my riding but it won’t be long before I can, I suppose.

9.26AM

Heavier than heavy

In this age of technology where we can split atoms and determine the winner of a race down to one one hundredth of a second you would have to wonder why horse racing perpetuates the use of an archaic system of describing the ground conditions at race meetings.

10.24AM

David Marnane

I was born in Bansha, Tipperary and my parents had a farm here, and originally had a pub and a B&B. My brother Con and I got into ponies when we were very young. My dad always loved the racing and, when he got a chance, he went to the sales and bought a couple of quite cheap horses. We had a local trainer Danny O'Connell and he trained them. I kind of went from riding ponies to seeing the horses running and I really liked the racing. Then Con came back from Australia and America and he started training a few of the horses after Danny, and I started riding out there for him when I was very young especially in the mornings before I went to school and the weekends.

10.41AM

Fairyhouse delivers

After a decidedly shaky start weather-wise Fairyhouse put on two fantastic days of jumping action over the weekend. The mix of old favourites and exciting new talent really does put the national hunt game on a different level to the flat from a fan’s perspective and few places do it better than Fairyhouse.

10.42AM

Conor Owens

I’m from Rathvilly in Co Carlow and am a relative latecomer to raceriding. It was brilliant to get the first winner under my belt on Blossom De Mai at Tramore on Tuesday and the aim is to keep improving and see how far I can progress.

7.13PM

A pattern of improvement

Irish National Hunt trainers are surely missing a trick by not running more of their horses in the UK, particularly at weekends.

8.23AM

Ger Flynn

I'm from Edenderry, Co Offaly and we had ponies at home. Our next-door neighbour was Patrick Gilson who was a Flat jockey at the time. My brother, Michael, was very good friends with him and Michael started pony racing. We used to go every Sunday pony racing all over Ireland right up to the north and down to Cork. That's probably where I got the bug for the ponies. I was really light and they thought I was going to be the next jockey. My dad passed away in 1986 when I was 16 and I probably lost interest in the ponies, and my brother-in-law got me a job when I left school in the local mushroom factory up the road. One Saturday morning my brother was riding out for the great John Mulhern at the time and brought me over just to have a look around. Tommy Carmody was there and they had a really great team for such a small yard. They put me up on a pony and I rode out with Tommy Carmody, who was a legend, and the bug was back.

11.43AM

How can the small yards survive?

The concentration of all the quality National Hunt horses in less than a handful of stables has been a bugbear for the last number of years, but as it has coincided with unprecedented success for Irish-trained horses at Cheltenham it has often seemed a price worth paying.

10.49AM

Oisin McSweeney

I’m 22 and from Athgarvan on the Curragh. I didn’t start riding until I was 16 and didn’t do pony racing or go to an apprentice school so I’ve had a bit of catching up to do with some of my contemporaries but I’ve worked hard and been very keen to learn wherever I’ve gone.

3.18PM

Far from satisfactory conclusion to Yuften case

Last week I wrote about the farcical carry on with the IHRB and the case of the Dundalk Claiming Race from March 2020 where Yuften was beaten by his stablemate.

10.55AM

Aidan McGarry

I'm from Naas originally and there was no background or connection with horses within the family as such. I suppose I would have got my first interest maybe from my dad just as a general follower of the sport. Back in those days, being in Naas, the schools would have closed for the week of Punchestown and you'd head out for the Festival every year. I suppose I just got the bug and the interest from the general area, and Punchestown would have been the first Festival I went to regularly as a kid.

11.47AM

3 years, 7 months and 13 days for nothing

The shock news last Thursday that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) is throwing in the towel on their own Referral case 3 years, 7 months and 13 days after they started investigating, and only a matter of days before the Referral Committee was due to hear the evidence, is hard to fathom.

10.54AM

Joseph Murray

I’m based in Donaghpatrick between Navan and Kells and I have the licence about eight or nine years now.

9.12AM

Keith Donoghue’s hard work is paying off

Last week Willie Mullins opened his doors to the racing press as the new National Hunt season was launched and as always it was fascinating to hear him talk about how himself and his team came up with their plans for each horse. With an unrivalled array of talent at his disposal, Mullins’ job of deciding which of his novice stars will stay over hurdles and which will go chasing would give any ordinary mortal sleepless nights, but Willie Mullins appears so relaxed and comfortable in his role.

10.31AM

Heather Heffernan

I am from Vicarstown in Co Laois and I started riding when I was four. We had ponies and my brother and sister rode. I evented and we did the pony club right the way up and I got all my exams. I competed in the inter-schools for Kilkenny College and Danny Mullins would have been on one of our teams. I will hold my hands up - if it wasn't for my dad, I probably wouldn't be in horses. He gave up everything and went over and above for all of us. We always had really nice horses underneath us. I started racing through Liam Cusack. I evented and his partner, Jane Tiffin, was my dressage trainer. I used to go to Liam at the weekends and any time I could get out of school. He was very good to me and taught me a helluva lot. I used to ride out in the mornings, three or four lots in the morning. I would brush down and rug up and I would get lessons with Jane. He brought me up to Johnstown Gallops and I got to work a few as well, although they worked me more than I worked them! I loved it - Liam was very easy to work for, you put your head down and you did what you were told. If he spoke, you listened to him.

11.16AM

Farewell Frankie

Like most people I watched a lot of rugby over the last few weeks and while I do know the basic rules (I wasn’t previously aware that a player can charge down a conversion, but not a penalty) and would be familiar with many of the stars of the game, I’m probably what would be described as a casual fan of the sport.

10.13AM

Tom Kiely Marshall

I’m 19 and from Emly in Co Tipperary and I’m based with Joe Murphy in Fethard. I’m full-time with Joe and most of what I have learned about racing has come from him. He has a wealth of knowledge and is very adept at planning which races to go for with his horses.

10.27AM

Jim Martin

I was born and reared in Dundalk. I've lived in Ardee for the last 30 years which is only 12 or 13 miles away. I am an accountant by profession and my involvement with Dundalk started when I became a director of the old greyhound track in Dundalk upon the death of my father in 1978. My grandfather was a founder director of the original greyhound track in 1930. In the late 1990s, the old greyhound track and the old horse racing track were both in similar situations as they were in danger of closing because of lack of investment. Dundalk had come through the Troubles and it had been a tough time. The directors of both companies started talking to each other and wondered if we could perhaps combine resources and build something that would be a top-class facility for both sports.

10.45AM

Thomas Reilly

I’m from Stamullen in Co Meath and I work in John McConnell’s yard which is only a few minutes down the road. I’ve been there 12 years and am part of the furniture at this stage.

9.13AM

Noel Kelly

I used to be a farmer and would have kept trotting horses. My father would have been in horses at the time and would have had a broodmare. He brought foals to the sales for years. I always looked after the foals because nobody else was really interested in it and I went racing with him as well. I was always too heavy to be a jockey, so I started breaking a few horses in. My dad passed away and I took out the licence about 18 years ago. I have always trained on my family land in Draperstown, Co Derry. At that stage, I only had a small gallop and two horses that belonged to my dad. I bought a wee horse off Noel McParlan called Native Guide, and he came out and won three point-to-points (in 2005). That was probably the worst thing I ever did as it got me going!

10.36AM

Racing’s Silver Bullet

The Luke Comer steroid case is set to rumble on for a while longer following news last week that the trainer has lodged an appeal against the withdrawal of his licence for three years and at the same time the IHRB has lodged a separate appeal against the leniency of his sanctions.

10.48AM

Brian McMahon

I'm a proud Clare man but my yard is just across the border near Tubber in Co Galway.

10.10AM

Comer has licence to train withdrawn for 3 years

Luke Comer and his brother Brian are self-made men. From humble beginnings their Comer Group employs over 500 people worldwide and the pair have combined assets of a “conservative” £2.25 billion, according to Luke.

10.40AM

Anna McGuinness

I'm from Brackaville, Coalisland, Co Tyrone and I started riding ponies from a young age. I spent my holidays and weekends riding ponies and my parents were good at taking me and giving me the time to do it considering I come from a non-racing background. We had a holiday home in Donegal, so I would have spent all my summers riding ponies on the beach and that. I finished school when I was 16 and then I went and did an equine course in CAFRE, Enniskillen, for two years and they had point-to-pointers. I went there just to get a bit of a start into it. It was a Level 3 Diploma in Horse Care Management from 16 to 18. My parents were keen on me staying to do a degree, but I had other ideas - all I wanted to do was be a jockey and give it a go.

10.24AM

Your word is your bond

The Irish Champions Festival weekend has finally bedded in as a major sporting event in the calendar. The twin meetings at Leopardstown and the Curragh along with the Dublin Racing Festival in February have been welcome innovations to the Irish racing fixture list in recent years.

11.21AM

Sarah Kavanagh

I'm with Colm Murphy full-time and am in there every morning. Wednesdays I get a day off so I go into Pat Foley's. I'm in Colm's every Sunday. I don't venture around too many yards, Colm's very busy at the minute, and we'll see how things click. I had a lot of nice rides for him last season and I was just unlucky. I should have really rode four or five winners for him but I was just unlucky that I bumped into a better horse on those days.

10.49AM

A puzzling week

Last Monday was the anniversary of the famous Gay Future gamble at Cartmel and it wasn’t lost on punters who spotted many similarities with the carry on at Downpatrick on the same date.

10.38AM

Matthew Smith

I'm from Kilmessan, Co Meath and my father always owned racehorses throughout the years. I did a little bit of hunting as a teenager. I did my Leaving Cert in 2001 and I started working on buildings for a good few years. I always had an interest in racing, but no actual involvement. Then around 2006/2007 I started working for John Carr for a little bit, then I was with Robbie Hennessy for a couple of years and then with Michael Mulvany. I was riding out for them and going racing, leading up and working in the yards. I really got a taste for it then. My father had two point-to-pointers and I started messing around with them and learning, basically.

12.22PM

Racing is a perfect vehicle for fundraising

Horse racing and its fans spend far too much of their time on the back foot trying to explain, defend and rationalise a myriad of bad news stories associated with the sport so it was nice to see some respite last week as the industry rallied round to support deserving causes.

10.24AM

Harry Sexton

I turned 18 in February and will be getting my Leaving Cert results on Friday so hopefully it's good news.

1.12PM

Keeping the show on the road

It has been another difficult week for the IHRB’s clerks of the courses with dramatic changes in ground conditions on not just a daily basis, but an almost hourly basis.

10.29AM

Philip Rothwell

I was born in Tinahely, Co Wicklow and my dad is a dairy farmer who brought me to point-to-points every Sunday. From there the interest grew, I guess. I started off riding ponies in a local riding school when I was probably six or seven but basically, I was mad into all sports. My mum became a full-time taxi driver and brought me everywhere - pony riding lessons, swimming, rugby and soccer. Then I went to secondary school in King's Hospital in Dublin and played a lot of rugby there. While I was there, I did my work experience in Willie Mullins' at 14 and loved it. As soon as I left secondary school I went to agricultural college then in Kildalton down in Kilkenny. When I was down there, I spent most of my time in Aidan O'Brien's when he was champion jumps trainer. I'd go in there every morning and ride out a few lots before college. My college work experience was spent then in Jessica Harrington's, so I think it was obvious where my interest lay.

11.42AM

Is free entry the answer?

I cannot understand why so many racing fans have no issue with jockeys who break the whip rules. Jim Crowley’s recent winning ride on Hukum in the Group One King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is a case in point.

10.59AM

Patrick Magee

I'm from Shercock in Co Cavan and am based on the family farm there. We've 150 acres and my father has beef cattle there. He built the yard for me there and is a great backer of mine. I've great support from the local community as well and there are plenty of people looking to get involved in owning horses.

1.12PM

Galway delivers despite the weather

Crowds at Galway were up on six of the seven days when compared to 2022 which is some achievement considering how bad the weather has been. In total 122,362 people attended across the week, an increase of 5,642 on last year’s total of 116,720. The biggest day crowd-wise was Galway Hurdle day on Thursday when 25,924 showed up.

11.32AM

Yudish Geerdharry

I'm originally from Mauritius. I wanted a pony for my sixth birthday and I started going to riding school over there. I started riding ponies, doing showjumping and all that. Mauritius is a small population and most people follow the racing. There is only one track, but is the crowd there that makes the racing out there. It is usually the same temperature and weather. The likes of Frankie Dettori and Johnny Murtagh all went out there and the racing is good enough. I saw Christophe Soumillon riding out there. I went to watch racing there, but never rode racework.

8.24PM

A tough week in store at Galway

Galway and Cheltenham are my two favourite racing weeks of the year, but in so many ways they are polar opposites.

9.46AM

Dean Curran

I'm 22 and from Kildare town. Lots of my extended family are involved with horses and racing so the whole game was drilled into me from an early age.

10.48AM

Waterlogging in July

Irish horse racing really could be doing far more to promote its premier fixtures. One of the chief reasons that Cheltenham gets so much media coverage so far in advance of the Festival is the early entry system that British racing has in place.

10.06AM

Amy Jo Hayes

I'm from Fethard, Tipperary and we always had horses at home. My grandfather bred a Grand National winner in 1986 with a horse called West Tip, so there was history going back long ago. I always had ponies at home and I did pony club, hunting with the Tipperary Foxhounds and showjumping. I always wanted to be a jockey. Any time we had to dress up for primary school I was in my gear! It was the same for my confirmation, we had to pick a name of who inspires you and everyone was picking their mother or grandmother or someone they looked up to. Of course, I picked Ruby Walsh and the name I chose then was Ruby! I can say that Ruby inspired me to grow up and be a jockey.

11.24AM

Gambling Advertising

It is finally beginning to dawn on horse racing that the proposed Gambling Regulation Bill could have dire consequences for the industry if it gets passed into law in its current form.

10.18AM

Shane Ryder

I train in Laurencetown Co Galway which is my home place and it’s located about halfway between Ballinasloe and Portumna. I’ve had my licence since 2007 and have trained about 30 winners. We've had some good horses along the way including some smart point-to-pointers that went on to do well on the track.

12.38PM

Voice of the punter

When I first started working at Irish race meetings David Power was the undisputed king of the ring. This quiet unassuming pipe-smoking layer was in a different league to the other bookies on the circuit. He had an unrivalled list of private clients and all the biggest punters gravitated to him.

9.57AM

Claire O'Connell

I'm from Ashbourne, Co Meath and my dad actually bought the farm off Mick Dreaper who would have been Tom Dreaper's older brother, so we train here in the original Dreaper home. I would have been at home with my dad helping in the yard riding ponies, pony club, and helping him at the point-to-point where he was a steward. From a very young age, I was always working with the horses. My most memorable day in racing was when Classical Charm was second in the Champion Hurdle (of 1988 trained by my father Al O'Connell). My dad bought him as a yearling and he was a pet horse around the place. He probably gave us our greatest memories.

11.05AM

Don’t shoot the messenger

Last Thursday morning’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing into the circumstances that led to Denis Egan, the former CEO of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), receiving €142,000 more in early retirement payments than the maximum allowed under the scheme he availed of was overshadowed by new revelations from his successor, Daragh O’Loughlin.

11.01AM

Killian Hennessy

I’m from Youghal and I’ve been working in Ballydoyle for around four and a half years at this stage.

10.28AM

Vets and Barristers are the real winners

Royal Ascot turned into some bookies’ benefit. Just 8 favourites managed to win out of the 35 races and the average SP of the winners across the week was a staggering 17/1. Over half the winners returned at double figure odds and of course we saw a three figure winner courtesy of Adrian Murray with 150/1 scorer Valiant Force in the Norfolk Stakes on Thursday.

10.34AM

Niall 'Bubba' Amond

I'm from Ballygowan just outside Carlow. My father and uncle worked in Milford Stud, it was a big commercial stud in the 60s, 70s and 80s. At its height, they had six stallions there. The interest is from there, obviously. I always had an interest in horses. My granny on my mother's side only lived a couple of hundred yards from Paddy Mullins. My brother Ian was an amateur jockey, so he was interested in riding. I was always too big. We were down there when we were 14 or 15 and you would have been delighted to be handed a brush to brush one over. We were creosoting fences and painting stables. Ian would have been put up riding a quiet one. Ian went to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education) when he was 16 and I was in school along. Then it was summers with Pat Fahy in Leighlinbridge and Willie Mullins. I had a summer job in Willie's mucking out and brushing over and putting horses on the walker.

10.54AM

Stronger together

Last week the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) issued a statement announcing that the apparently toxic split within its ranks over Media Rights had been resolved and all 26 racecourses will now sign up to the deal brokered on their behalf by Horse Racing Ireland’s Media Rights Committee.

11.48AM

Charlie O'Dwyer

I’m 20 years of age and am delighted with the way things are going in my riding career. I’ve had four winners this season and had my claim reduced to 5lb after winning on Goodnightngodbless for James Motherway at Wexford last month.

9.19AM