Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Jump racing at its best is hard to beat

It was great to see Fairyhouse attracting good crowds over the weekend for their Winter Festival. 4,000 on Saturday and over 7,000 on Sunday. High quality National Hunt racing tends to do that and the Sunday card at Fairyhouse was one of the best we have seen for quite a while.

10.28AM

Ben Harvey

I've just turned 22 and things have gone really well this season with 14 winners on the board so far.

9.58AM

Dare to dream

I’ve been supporting the same football team for over 50 years but have never worn their shirt. Maybe that’s because the team is West Ham or maybe it says more about me. There have been times when I’ve thought I’d have been better off supporting the likes of Liverpool or Man Utd as down the years they’ve had a lot more to cheer about.

11.03AM

Lisa O'Connor

My first experience with Dundalk Stadium was actually in 2007 when I worked in the Tote. It was thrilling and I really enjoyed it. There weren't a lot of hours in the Tote, but I enjoyed that side of it so I ended up in Bar One Racing. I worked in the shops and I did the on-course shop at Dundalk Stadium. I worked for Bar One Racing until I left there in August 2014. I loved the work in the bookmakers, but it was long hours and weekends, and I have a family, so I actually got into business insurance. I worked my way up there and I enjoyed it. It was a stressful environment and I thrived on it, but nobody growing up says they want to sell insurance! I was in charge of sales and marketing and that is where I learned a lot of my business knowledge.

11.09AM

To run or not to run

It’s difficult to understand how two of the most successful trainers in the UK can have such differing views when it comes to running their horses on unsuitable ground.

12.50PM

Alana Insole

I grew up in Billericay in Essex and there weren’t many horses in that area but myself and my brother Jamie spent a lot of time in Ireland when we were young. My grandfather Vivian Kennedy was a jockey and then trainer on the Curragh and we always helped out in his yard when we went to Ireland on our holidays. He was a real inspiration to us and we both developed a passion for racing from that time.

9.31AM

Jump Racing - weather permitting

I love my National Hunt racing, but it can be very frustrating. Almost every day another top horse is ruled out of some race or other due to a setback. Then you have the weather issues that are becoming more and more of a problem for the sport with each passing season.

11.06AM

Ross O'Sullivan

I was born and bred on the Curragh and my parents were involved in racing all their lives. My father rode as a jockey and then worked for Mick O'Toole and also Con Collins before going to Kildangan Stud. My dad rode Height O'Fashion - she was second to Arkle in a photo finish in the Leopardstown Chase (in 1966). She had 9st 7lb and Arkle had 12st 7lb and that picture is still on the wall at home. My mother also worked for Mick O'Toole back in the heyday when he was having plenty of Cheltenham winners in the 1970s into the 80s. I suppose that is where the interest in racing probably started off. There were always ponies around at home.

10.58AM

A memorable week for horse racing

What a week it has been on the racing front, The Melbourne Cup, The Breeders’ Cup, top class jumps action at Down Royal, the end of the Flat season at Naas and of course Shark Hanlon bringing Hewick into a pub for a pint of Guinness.

10.18AM

Sean Davis

I’m excited to be going into a new business venture with my weighroom colleague Gary Halpin. We have rented Ulundi Lodge on the Lumville side of the Curragh from Kathleen Kennedy. Her late husband Vivian used to train from there and my former boss Michael O’Callaghan used it as a second yard in recent years.

10.04AM

Jamie Powell

I'm from Kildare Town, just outside the Curragh and I turned 20 in September. I have a family background in racing - my dad and both my grandads were jockeys. My grandfather, Peadar Matthews, won a couple of Classics and my dad, Anthony Powell, won the Irish Grand National on Maid Of Money in 1989. I got into racing through the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE), actually. I had no racing background, as in riding, as I had never ridden racehorses or anything like that as a child. I sat on ponies a bit at a riding school as a child, but I had never sat on a thoroughbred or been in a racing yard and ridden racehorses until I was 16 or 17.

9.46AM

Adam Ryan

I’m from Killenaule in Co Tipperary and I turned nineteen just last month.

9.31AM

Hewick steals the show

Racing can be such an unpredictable sport and I’m not just referring to the action on the track.

11.54AM

Sarah Lynam

I'm from Dublin originally and my dad (Eddie Lynam) was a trainer when I was growing up. My mam (Aileen Lynam) was actually an apprentice jockey before I was born. I spent a lot of my youth in the yard playing around and getting in everyone's way! My parents really didn't want me to be involved. I was more or less barred from the yard and then, when I left school and went to college, I finally wore them down and was allowed to ride out. So, I rode out later than other people as my parents were worried that I would catch the bug. I was quite academic, and they hoped that I would use my brains in other ways!

10.39AM

Breeding versus Racing

As the days shorten and winter takes hold it brings with a buzz of anticipation for racing fans. The National Hunt season is about to kick into full swing, and everyone is eagerly looking forward to seeing the stars of the game return.

11.22AM

John Gleeson

I’m 18 years of age and from Ardmore in Co Waterford and I’m currently in Leaving Cert year in St. Augustine’s College, Dungarvan.

12.09PM

A Special Win

The reckless actions of Christophe Soumillon in a race at Saint-Cloud on Friday caused consternation. A ban of 60 days imposed on Soumillon by the local stewards for intentionally elbowing Rossa Ryan, causing the Irish rider to take a terrible fall, is viewed by most as far too lenient and I have to agree.

1.28PM

Elaine O'Farrell

I'm from Co Cork. Race Displays is a company I started in 2000 - we specialise in racecourse advertising signage and branding. We provide the full package of sign design, manufacture and installation at all racecourses. This also includes providing the number cloths for tracks and for sponsors, as well as the branded rugs for the winning horse. We cover as many camera angles as possible and maximise the brand exposure for the sponsor from a small local sponsorship to the televised festival race days. Our factory is in Dublin 15 on the Dublin/Meath border not too far from Fairyhouse racecourse.

10.53AM

Throwing money at the problem

The divide between the popularity of National Hunt racing and the Flat racing with the public seems to be becoming more pronounced as the years go by.

11.36AM

Michael O'Sullivan

I’m 22 and I finished my degree in Agricultural Science in UCD in May.

9.09AM

World Pool is great for racing

As punters know it’s extremely difficult to predict the future, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that racing in Ireland is likely to come under increasing pressure over the next couple of years. Attendances are falling across the board, inflation is rising at an alarming rate, proposed new gambling regulations threaten to impact already declining sponsorship and all the while the security blanket of Government funding is in danger of slipping with Sinn Féin continuing to top the polls.

9.03AM

Kyanna Van Buuren

I'm originally from Holland and moved over to Ireland when I was one. I'm not from a racing background at all, but I always had an interest in horses. I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do when I was in school, but I signed up to an Equine Business Management college course because I had an interest in horses.

9.35AM

A Champions' Weekend

This last week has been a week like no other. It began with the tragic death of a young boy chasing his dream to become a top jockey and ended with another young man who had the very same dream landing his first Group One at the Curragh.

3.46PM

Kieren Buckley

I grew up in Tiverton in Devon but my Dad, Ned, is from Clonroche in Wexford and we went there every year on our holidays so I would know plenty of people around that area but not so many where I’m based at the moment near Gavin Cromwell’s yard.

11.29AM

Jack de Bromhead

As a mark of respect to Jack de Bromhead and his family there will be no blog this week.

10.04AM

Tom McCourt

I'm from Stamullen in Co Meath. My father was always interested in horses and when I was about 14 or 15, he bought a couple of thoroughbreds. He decided to get a permit himself and train a couple. As far as I can remember, there was only one horse that he ran that didn't win. He wouldn't have had that many but he won a few bumpers and over hurdles as well.

10.14AM

Flying dismounts in the Kingdom

An IHRB Referral Hearing last week poses more questions than it provides answers. The case involved a horse named Laugh A Minute, which during planned pre-race testing at a meeting at the Curragh in June, was noticed to have a recent venepuncture wound with traces of blood indicating the horse had recently received an injection. Under the rules of racing no horse is permitted to receive any substances except food and water on the day it is racing.

10.59AM

Fergal Birrane

I’m based at Killala House in Co. Mayo which was bought by Donal MacAuliffe and Anoj Don in 2014 and they’ve done a fantastic job restoring the house, the gardens and also the historic yard which I lease from them. They’ve brought everything back to the way it was when the house was built in 1893 by Lady Knox Gore and racehorses were trained successfully from this yard from an early stage.

12.42PM

Baaeed would be a big draw at Leopardstown

Last week I was involved in a video show on our Jump To It channel which caused a little bit of a stir. Myself, Johnny Ward and Emma Nagle took a look at the world of Racing Clubs and Syndicates and some of those involved in the administration of these ventures felt we hadn’t portrayed them entirely fairly.

4.28PM

Suzy Barkley

I'm from Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh and I went to work with the Herdmans in Strabane where I was very interested in dressage and eventing. Then I went to Holland for an extensive six to eight months dressage, but came back to Strabane and they asked if I wanted to take over the yard and run it as my own. That's where the racehorse thing came in because I got a lot of people wanting me to break horses and some local trainers sent me some thoroughbreds to break. I had never had anything to do with thoroughbreds or racing, so I obviously fell in love with the thoroughbred then. I started to break them and then I started to ride in races. I rode a few winners. I was riding some of my own horses and for owners, and I rode a bit for Syl Kirk who trained in Strabane. I rode in bumpers, a few hurdles and point-to-points.

2.08PM

Eye of the beholder

On Thursday 21st July at Limerick the acting stewards weren’t happy with the performance of a horse named Ithaka which finished 6th in the opening Maiden Hurdle of the evening.

2.35PM

Kyle Browne McGuigan

I’m 18 years old and I work with my father Declan at our yard near Letterkenny. I’m a cousin of Dylan Browne McMonagle, my mother and Dylan’s mother are sisters.

10.24AM

Value for money

The Curragh had a great value bundle on offer for online customers for last Saturday’s Group One Keeneland Phoenix Stakes card. For €25 you gained admission, got a race card, a BBQ Burger and a €10 bet with the bookies.

10.46AM

Gabi Bourke

I’m 27 and from Newmarket in Co Cork and we had horses and ponies at home, so I would have started riding them at a young age.

12.27PM

Galway lifts the spirits

Galway is a truly special week in the Irish sporting calendar. It’s particularly refreshing as a racing fan to see all the connections of winners getting so excited and revelling in the moment. Fist pumps, flying dismounts and the sheer joy of a Galway winner is infectious. It really is the ultimate seven day party.

1.39PM

Jane Davis

I'm from Goatstown in Dublin. I've always been involved in horses through my parents. My mum had ridden for my grand-aunt a good bit and, when I came along, I started with ponies and I just got bitten by the bug. Then when I was in transition year at school, I was riding a good bit for Buster Harty. I kept ponies there and Buster's daughter, Sabrina, rode out in Dermot Weld's. It was the year of foot and mouth and I was in transition year in school. Transition year was quite boring, so I asked my mum and dad could I stay down in Kildare and ride out with Sabrina for the rest of my transition year for that summer before going back to school. I had never sat on a racehorse before so I did a week with Gerry Stack who was a neighbour of the Hartys. Then I spent that summer riding out and that was really my first introduction to thoroughbreds and the racing industry.

9.34AM

Dropping attendances are a cause for concern

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) issued statistics last week for the first six months of 2022. These figures were compared to the same period in pre-Covid 2019 to give context and some of the trends are quite surprising.

2.38PM

Peter Flood

I’m based at the family homeplace just outside Kilcock and I would have started off riding ponies and hunters that we kept here.

9.54AM

New whips rules in UK are a step in the right direction

I have sympathy with the stable staff and their protest at Kilbeggan on Friday evening. The walk from the stableyard to the parade ring at the Co. Westmeath venue is a solid half mile and in the current hot spell that is certainly thirsty work.

12.20PM

Lorcan Wyer

I was born in Clondalkin and like a lot of young people I was knocking about on ponies, begging and borrowing to have a sit on a pony somewhere. Then my mum and dad moved up to Athgoe which is near Newcastle, Co Dublin. That was how the connection with Frank Oakes came about because Frank wanted a few stables and we had three or four boxes out the back.

10.19AM

Betting Matters

On Friday 20th March 2020 trainer Denis Hogan ran two horses in a Claimer at Dundalk. The bookmakers priced up the 92-rated Yuften as their 1/2 favourite with Hogan’s other runner Tony The Gent initially priced at 5/2.

11.10AM

Triona Burbage

I’m from Portarlington in Co Laois and I first got involved in the racing industry at a very young age through my uncle Tommy who always had a horse or two in training with Seamus Fahey. I was a regular at the weekly point-to-point meets, pottering after Tommy and his late friend Sean Hunt. During the summers I got the opportunity to visit yards with another family friend Martin Brew who introduced me to Con Collins and James Burns to name but a few. It wasn’t long before I caught the racing bug

9.11AM

Perception versus reality

Saturday’s incident in the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock when Rab Havlin received a five day suspension for his ride on the winner Free Wind has caused a storm with the majority of viewers of the race of the opinion that the stewards erred in their judgement and sanctioned the wrong rider.

10.34AM

Lisa O'Neill

I'm from Garristown in north county Dublin. I would have got involved in racing through my father Tommy O'Neill who was a trainer when I was growing up, and basically a jockey as well, so I was very much immersed in the horse industry. We always had horses in the yard at home, so I kind of learned to ride before I could walk! I started off with ponies before I progressed on to racehorses.

9.56AM

A deserving first Irish Derby victory for Champion Keane

Attendances are a lasting barometer to judge the success and relevance of a venue or event. Looking back at some RTÉ footage last week of Lester Piggott’s association with the Irish Derby at the Curragh it was evident just how big a deal the event was in years gone by. The race attracted huge crowds from the 1960s through to the 1980s. One year in particular when Jackie Kennedy turned up over 60,000 people came to watch.

12.44PM

Gerry Kilfeather

I’m from Strandhill, just beside Knocknarea mountain, and I’ve been coming to Sligo racecourse since I was a child. My father was involved in horses and I used to come racing with him. He used to train at Culleenamore Stables where Mark McNiff is now based. I had my first ride here when I was 17. I always remember it because it was just a few days before the Leaving Cert started and I was far more concerned about getting around in a bumper and not falling off than I was about the Leaving Cert. I was the coolest customer ever going into a Leaving Cert, I’d say!

12.05PM

Royal Ascot is a unique recipe for success

As fancy dress parties go, Royal Ascot must be the ultimate. You would think in this casual age of denim and trainers that the pomp and ceremony of this elitist festival would be crass and outdated but instead it simply grows year on year in popularity.

12.49PM

Anthony McCann

I'm from Co Monaghan. I got into racing through my grandfather who went to school with Oliver Brady. My grandmother used to always have a horse about the house. My grandmother was big into the horse-drawn carts. I was the oldest grandson on my grandmother's side, so I was always out there. We used to always go to the shows every Saturday or Sunday wherever they would be in the county or around the country.

9.30AM

Gary Noonan

I’m 25 years of age and from Newcastle West in Co Limerick. We always had ponies around the place at home and I used to go hunting with my father at weekends. I did a bit of pony racing and rode ponies for Billy Lee’s father, Michael.

9.16AM

Ben Coen

I'm 20 and from Killusty in Co Tipperary. My mother's brother, Andrew Slattery, is the racehorse trainer. I grew up around the yard and, when I was nine, I started riding the pony that was in the yard. Then I started trotting a few racehorses and started riding out. I started pony racing when I was 11. (Jockey) Billy Lee's mother used to let me ride a 12.2h pony called Biscuit, she was actually the one that got me started pony racing. It took me a couple of years to get going in the pony racing, but my last couple of years were good so I got a very good grounding out of it. It stood to me when I started riding on the track.

8.16AM