Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

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

Donagh O'Connor

I’m from New Ross in Co Wexford and my father and uncle had point-to-pointers and I loved going point-to-pointing with them on Sundays. They are real National Hunt people and still follow that side of the sport very closely but after I spent a couple of summers at Jim Bolger’s yard I started to focus more on the Flat. My sister had got me going on horses at home but I only really learned how to ride when I went to the RACE apprentice school.

2.07PM

Form is temporary, class is permanent

Homeless Songs lit up the Curragh on Sunday with a scintillating performance in the 1000 Guineas and is now just about the most exciting Flat horse in training. The way she travelled and quickened clear against a high quality field at the Curragh marks her out as potentially one of the best milers we have seen in years. She looks to possess the same star qualities as her father Frankel and I can’t wait to see what she can achieve over the course of the season.

1.44PM

Colin McBratney

I'm from Crossgar Co Down, local to Downpatrick and Down Royal. My father and my brother always had point-to-pointers and I rode in point-to-points, maybe 30 to 40 point-to-point winners and a few on the racetrack. They were mostly for ourselves and I rode a couple of bumpers for Ian Ferguson and rode a bit for Willie Rock. Mr & Mrs W E Rooney were good to me and I rode for them for a season in point-to-points with good success. I rode out for Mr Rooney as well.

10.13AM

Benefit of the doubt

Last week the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) issued the results of a number of Referral Hearings into prohibited substances found in horses that had won races.

1.31PM

Ken Budds

I’m from Killeagh in east Cork and my father Patrick used to train. At the moment I’m based in my uncle’s place near Tallow just across the county border in Waterford. Things are going well and I finished the jumps season with five winners on the board and we had a couple on the Flat as well. I’ve had a few more horses that have come into the yard over the last while and a lot of locally-based owners are supporting me.

11.14AM

Nothing to see here

It took the IHRB two years to investigate the irregular betting trends surrounding the Viking Hoard case in Tramore and even then they couldn’t pin down who actually laid the horse. We are now into the third year of investigations surrounding irregular betting trends on a claiming race that took place at Dundalk in March 2020 with still no sign of a resolution.

10.54AM

Natalia Lupini

I'm from Milan, Italy and my parents used to take me to the Palio in Siena (three-lap race involving riders and horses representing 10 of the city wards) and that is how my passion for horses started. I went to it for the first time when I was six. It is every August and it is a tradition in that part of the world. The people are very passionate about it in Italy. There are also a lot of smaller Palio's around Italy. We actually have one not far away from my town. They are riding bareback with just a bridle.

12.22PM

Punchestown and Cheltenham are very different Festivals

There is a tendency every year around now to equate Punchestown to Cheltenham, but despite both events being National Hunt Festivals showcasing the best of the sport they are in many respects worlds apart.

4.26PM

Simon Condon

My father used to ride out for Vincent Keane who would be Colin’s grandfather and later on he had a share in a few horses. Our family was based in Drumree, Co Meath but we later moved to the Navan Road in Dublin where I was reared and I’m based in Lucan now.

2.00PM

A fond farewell to the National Hunt season

The IHRB issued reports last week on sanctions handed out to three more riders that had tested positive for cocaine. High profile cases such as Frankie Dettori or Oisin Murphy hit the headlines both inside and outside the sport but cocaine use is now so prevalent within society these days that another random jockey testing positive barely raises an eyebrow anymore.

3.15PM

Lee Smyth

My father owned horses and I had a bit of an interest in getting involved in the training side of things. At the end of 2003, my father got me a job down at Jim Bolger's yard. I moved away from home and got involved down there. I was too heavy to be a rider and the boss (Bolger) was patient with me and gave me the opportunity to ride out as well and come through gradually. It was hard work but I went down there with an open mind to learn from the best with a view to training in the future. In my opinion he still is the best.

10.46AM

Lightning strikes twice

Monday’s Irish Grand National was in many ways close to the perfect race. Turning for home after over three miles of racing we still had almost half the field bang in contention for the €500,000 in prizes and most punters at least got a decent run for their money.

4.17PM

John Shinnick

I’ll turn 21 this summer and I’m from Glanworth near Fermoy. My family are dairy farmers and I’m back living at home at the moment which I enjoy. It’s nice to have the family support behind me. I’m full-time with Enda Bolger who I joined last August and his place in Bruree is about 40 minutes from home.

9.54AM

Lies, damn lies and statistics

On a video preview we recorded last week Danny Mullins was sweet on the chances of his cousin Emmet’s horse in the Grand National. Danny is not only a top rider but also a very good judge so I should have taken this hint and had a few quid on Noble Yeats but everything told me the horse couldn’t win.

1.08PM

Shark Hanlon

I'm on the Kilkenny/Carlow border and my post is Carlow but I'm a Kilkenny man. The nickname 'Shark' came from a hurling game when I was 18 in Kilkenny. I was playing full forward - I wasn't much good but I was big and awkward and kept a full-back busy. A couple of balls came in and I was lucky enough to catch them and throw them to the corner forwards to score goals and Pa Dillon shouted on the sidelines: \"Would someone cut the head off that shark and we can all go home now?!\" I remember we won that final and came back to Paulstown, and they said the man of the match was the shark. From that day on, I've been known as the shark.

12.52PM

Google sets the agenda

Google contacted this website last week to inform us that “due to a request under the data protection law in Europe, Google can no longer show” in their search results a news article we published in 2013. The article will no longer be included in Google search results for queries relating to an individual or individuals named within the article.

1.05PM

Gary Bannon

I’m from Swords and I got interested in racing by going to meetings with my grandfather and uncle. They brought me to Fairyhouse, and on Fridays I’d rush home from school to go with them to Dundalk. I enjoyed the atmosphere around the parade ring and seeing the horses and jockeys. I was a decent footballer at the time and played at a good level for Shelbourne’s underage teams until I picked up a foot injury.

12.17PM

Some things are hard to forget

Last week saw the launch of the second edition of the Racing League which will take place during August and September in the UK. The concept was inaugurated last season in an attempt to attract a new audience to the sport but on that score it was a resounding failure.

11.56AM

Daniel King

I'm from Kilbrin in Co Cork and I'm 17. We always had ponies and horses at home and my older brother Connor was a jockey. He did pony racing before he took out his licence, so i decided to go down that route as well. I started off with pony racing at nine years of age and did it for five or six years - I got plenty of experience at that and rode plenty of winners.

10.08AM

Cheltenham never disappoints

Looking back at Cheltenham there is an overwhelming sense that when it comes to this Festival the whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts. As you would expect there were scintillating performances, most notably Constitution Hill in the Festival opener and A Plus Tard in the Gold Cup on Friday, but there were many more anti climaxes and disappointments across the week that should in theory outweigh the positives, but they don’t.

3.29PM

Brian Mortell

I’m based in Ballyneety which is about six miles south of Limerick and I grew up in a housing estate in the city. There was a riding school behind the estate and when I was seven my mother paid for an hour-long lesson so that was how I got started with horses.

2.02PM

A Brave Man’s Game

The Cheltenham Festival has finally arrived and despite all the annual huff and puff about whether it should be three days or five days it will once again be the very best week’s racing of the entire year.

1.29PM

Adrian Joyce

I'm from Curraghboy between Athlone and Roscommon, I'm 10 miles from Athlone and 12 miles from Roscommon town. I got into racing from showjumping originally. I did a good bit of showjumping as a kid into a teenager. I jumped all around Ireland with them and had great fun. It developed from there for me to go to RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education) as a 15-year-old. I wasn't a fan of school so that was my option to get out of school!

9.54AM