Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Fri 10th Sep 2021

Mick Winters

Galway is a track I have always enjoyed visiting, after winning the Galway Hurdle two years in a row with Rebel Fitz and Missunited, so it was great to make the journey to Ballybrit pay off when Doldido got up by a nose in the handicap chase on Monday, with Jordan Gainford wearing my own colours.

10.05AM

Mon 6th Sep 2021

Sometimes when you win you still lose

Animal cruelty is a highly emotive issue. To many people it ranks close to paedophilia as one of the most heinous of crimes. For that reason I have tried to take a dispassionate view of Stephen Mahon’s Appeal Hearing verdict.

10.37AM

Thu 2nd Sep 2021

Aidan O'Brien

I think it’s vital that it looks like normality will resume in terms of full attendances at Irish race meetings from October. I think it’s very important for atmosphere and interest. When you go racing when there is a crowd there, there is a totally different atmosphere for everybody, horses, jockeys, owners, trainers. And that’s what racing is all about. It has to be a spectacle. It has to be somewhere that everybody wants to go and when they do go to enjoy it really. For the future of racing it’s very important. Hopefully it will be brilliant.

4.51PM

Mon 30th Aug 2021

Crowd numbers set to increase in September

The government is due to issue new guidelines on attendances at race meetings later this week and it’s widely anticipated that at least next month’s Irish Champions Weekend and Listowel's Harvest Festival will get the 5,000 a day allocation they have requested.

2.28PM

Thu 26th Aug 2021

Sorcha Woods

Losing my ten-pounds claim has been an important milestone for me this year and I couldn’t have asked for any more in my first season with a licence on the track. I had ridden in point-to-points before that and rode a winner last year but to get my first winner on the Flat in my first year and now have three, is extremely satisfying.

11.12AM

Mon 23rd Aug 2021

Where have all the sponsors gone?

The recently released half-year figures for Irish horse racing from HRI showed positive trends in a number of key indicators to the health of the sport - Horses in training up 24% (compared to same period in 2019), active owners up 23.9%, runners in races up 23.8% - but one area where the sport took a massive dip was in race sponsorship.

12.29PM

Fri 20th Aug 2021

Shane Kelly

It has been an unbelievable year so far, losing my claim, riding my first winner for Godolphin and then last week, riding my first two group winners in the space of 24 hours. That was just surreal.

10.09AM

Mon 16th Aug 2021

Racing Needs Crowds

24,000 at Croke Park on Saturday - 2,000 of them on the terraced Hill 16 - is the latest knock-back for horse racing.

11.01AM

Fri 13th Aug 2021

Paul Hensey

Sunday was a wonderful day. To return to the Curragh, where I was manager for 14 years, as chief operating officer of Al Shaqab Racing, to have a Group 1 winner was out of this world, as Ebro River bagged the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes. It was my first time racing in Ireland in almost two years so it was a marvellous day.

11.51AM

Mon 9th Aug 2021

Lucky Dip

The random horse selection process for the show jumping element of the Modern Pentathlon caused a storm last week when it robbed Ireland's Natalya Coyle of a chance to medal at the Olympics. You would have to feel for Natalya as this was her last realistic chance of an Olympic podium finish but at least with this lucky dip allocation system there’s no discernible physical risk attached to the horse you draw.

12.02PM

Thu 5th Aug 2021

Wesley Joyce

I was buzzing and completely over the moon after winning the feature race at Galway on Saturday, the €60,000 Galway Shopping Centre Handicap on Crowns Major for Emmet Mullins. It was the biggest success of my career so far. I was very happy to get the ride on him and thankfully it worked out brilliantly.

12.25PM

Mon 2nd Aug 2021

Aurora Princess

Galway carried on the recent trend we have seen in Irish racing where negative stories jump across into mainstream news at will but the positive racing stories fail to register at all.

12.43PM

Thu 29th Jul 2021

Finny Maguire

It was unbelievable to win the Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders’ Handicap for the second year in succession at Galway on Monday. Coming up the road you were just thinking how lucky I was to win it last year. You’re kind of dreaming of winning it again but I didn’t think it would happen really. It was an unbelievable feeling when I just got up. I didn’t think I would, he made it hard for me.

12.38PM

Mon 26th Jul 2021

High Expectations

Last week’s Panorama programme was shocking on many levels but the haunting quote for me was that “the vast majority of horses being slaughtered in Britain and Ireland come from Irish owners and trainers.”

11.02AM

Tue 20th Jul 2021

Georgie Benson

There was a huge element of luck around me even having a ride in the Kildare Village Ladies’ Derby at The Curragh on Saturday. To win it, on Juddmonte Irish Oaks day, was frankly unbelievable and I it will take some time to sink in.

3.18PM

Mon 19th Jul 2021

Stormey Waters

Three of Ireland’s 350 licensed trainers are currently serving long suspensions for a variety of issues - Gordon Elliott for sitting on a dead horse, Charles Byrnes for leaving his horse unattended in Tramore’s stableyard and Stephen Mahon for the neglect of horses at his training premises.

11.58AM

Fri 16th Jul 2021

Ado McGuinness

The Galway festival is a week everyone looks forward to and I’m no different, especially after the bit of luck we have had there the last few years.

9.21AM

Mon 12th Jul 2021

Will To Win

Last Thursday’s Oireachtas Hearing into doping within Irish horse racing was very interesting viewing on many fronts.

12.35PM

Fri 9th Jul 2021

Katryn Foley

Being manager of Sligo Racecourse means a lot to me, as someone from Ballymote who worked in a variety of business and commercial roles around the world, including America and the Middle East, before coming back home, which is something I always wanted to do.

10.09AM

Mon 5th Jul 2021

Smoking Gun

On legal advice Jim Bolger will not take part in this week’s Oireachtas Hearing into the trainer’s own allegations that there is a ‘Lance Armstrong’ waiting to be found among the upper echelons of Ireland’s training ranks.

1.05PM

Wed 30th Jun 2021

Niall McCullagh

The buzz I got out of having a winner on Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby weekend was unbelievable, and a premier handicap winner at that.

3.46PM

Mon 28th Jun 2021

Wasted Opportunity

Saturday’s Derby at the Curragh may well turn out to be best we have seen for many a year. Two horses finishing a long way clear of the opposition is often the mark of a very good race and that certainly was the case with Hurricane Lane and Lone Eagle seven lengths clear of their rivals at the line.

1.10PM

Fri 25th Jun 2021

Pat Keogh

We are delighted with how the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival is unfolding. It is a great weekend, with three days of racing, and great support from the sponsors particularly Dubai Duty Free who have been very loyal to the Derby and love it. Every race has a sponsor and that is significant.

9.53AM

Mon 21st Jun 2021

Four days good; Five days better?

Royal Ascot was certainly a week of two halves weather-wise with the first three days run on very quick ground and the last two days on very soft. Personally, I preferred the slower surface which at least took away the ridiculous draw bias in the races run on the straight course over the first three days. Those drawn in the middle may as well have stayed at home which is not fair on horses, connections or punters.

1.51PM

Thu 17th Jun 2021

Gary Carroll

I’m still replying to all the messages I have received since riding my first Royal Ascot winner on board Quick Suzy in the Queen Mary Stakes for Gavin Cromwell. That reaction was unbelievable and very nice.

6.31PM

Mon 14th Jun 2021

Bolger back on the drugs bandwagon

Leading trainer Jim Bolger has spoken out publicly again about what he considers to be a serious issue of steroids being used within racing.

12.25PM

Thu 10th Jun 2021

Lewis King

I have had a keen interest in mental health for some time, and in particular, into why people are so slow to seek help. A study in Australia said that people waited between seven and eight years on average.

12.06PM

Mon 7th Jun 2021

A tale of two horses

On the same day the great Faugheen left Willie Mullins’ Closutton stables to begin his retirement in the idyllic surrounds of the Irish National Stud we found out that trainer Stephen Mahon had been found guilty by the IHRB of the neglect of nine horses in his care and had his licence withdrawn for four years.

12.40PM

Thu 3rd Jun 2021

Conor Clarke

It was an unbelievable feeling to ride my first winner at 17 on Lord McZie for Ray Hackett at Navan on Sunday. I was confident of the horse but very unsure as it was only my second ride on the flat. You wouldn’t be expecting to ride your first winner on just your second ride.

9.39AM

Mon 31st May 2021

Light at the end of the tunnel

From next Monday owners will be permitted to return to the racetrack. This is obviously great news for the sport but we’re still some way off seeing any significant numbers of the general public visiting a racecourse as the government continues to steer a conservative route out of lockdown.

1.30PM

Fri 28th May 2021

Lynne McLoughlin

I never really thought of being the first woman to be a stalls handler until Pat Brennan, HRI’s racing services manager, said it to me. He asked me if I knew what size I was in men’s clothing. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t.

10.08AM

Mon 24th May 2021

Pat Smullen remembered at Curragh

Guineas weekend at the Curragh was a triumph on many levels. Despite horrendous weather through the week, with significant parts of the track waterlogged on Friday, both days went ahead as planned and the ground staff deserve much credit for that.

2.47PM

Thu 20th May 2021

Michael Browne

The phone has been melting between journalists and agents calling over the last few days but if Logo Hunter hadn’t won the Sole Power at Naas on Sunday, there’d be nobody wanting to talk to me, so I’m not complaining.

3.26PM

Mon 17th May 2021

A La Carte sanctions

The news last week that reigning French Champion Jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot has been charged with the rape of a female work-rider is shocking.

1.42PM

Fri 14th May 2021

Ryan Sexton

It was a great thrill to ride the second winner of my career on Angel’s Trumpet for Peter Fahey in the first division of the Killarney Outlook Handicap over an extended mile at Killarney on Tuesday, with the prize money going to Cancer Trials Ireland thanks to the generosity of the owner, Anthony Rogers of Airlie Stud.

10.31AM

Mon 10th May 2021

Cash is king

Bob Baffert’s baffled as another one of his horses fails a drug test. His recent Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was found to have a higher than permitted level of betamethasone in its system after the race and could face disqualification if the B-sample also comes back positive.

2.35PM

Fri 7th May 2021

Philip Rothwell

The Punchestown Festival has always been lucky for me. I’ve only had a couple of runners but every year we’re in the first three, there or thereabouts and have run well. Divine Rhapsody won the Land Rover in 2010 which was a great memory.

9.39AM

Mon 3rd May 2021

Punchestown Reflections

What an incredible week the Willie Mullins’ stable had at Punchestown. A staggering 19 of the 40 races were won by Closutton trained horses. This utter dominance is even more pronounced when you consider that the stable had no representatives in 8 races across the week.

1.38PM

Thu 29th Apr 2021

Conor O'Neill

It was an interesting build-up to the Punchestown Festival to say the least, as CEO of Punchestown

2.35PM

Mon 26th Apr 2021

Peerless Punchestown to deliver epic end to season

There is nothing HRI loves more than a flattering survey. Last week they published figures from the latest poll conducted by Red C in early February which indicated among other things that “40% of the population would have some interest in joining a syndicate or racing club.” Those figures might have been very different if the survey was conducted three weeks later during Gordongate but are nonetheless impressive.

1.05PM

Fri 23rd Apr 2021

Henry de Bromhead

To be able to bring what they labelled the Famous Five to my local racecourse in Tramore last Sunday was just brilliant.

11.10AM

Mon 19th Apr 2021

A sad day for the sport

The death of amateur jockey Lorna Brooke is devastating news for everyone associated with racing. The 37-year-old who was critically injured in a fall at Taunton racecourse 10 days ago tragically passed away yesterday.

3.45PM

Fri 16th Apr 2021

Laura Ward

It was an unbelievable feeling to win on my very first ride on a racecourse at the local track in Fairyhouse on Tuesday and to do it on Mary’s Pride.

3.39PM

Mon 12th Apr 2021

Extraordinary Times

The achievement of Rachael Blackmore winning Saturday’s Grand National aboard Minella Times is a game-changer for women in the sport.

2.32PM

Thu 8th Apr 2021

Ricky Doyle

It was unbelievable to win the Irish Grand National on my first ride in the race, an absolute dream. Freewheelin Dylan was 150/1 but I did think he had a better chance than that. He had won over three miles and a furlong on that good ground and a lot of them hadn’t. When you step beyond three miles, it’s a bigger test.

5.05PM

Mon 5th Apr 2021

A raw deal for punters

The launch of RacehorseClub caused quite a stir last week. The UK-based horse syndicators employed the services of some of the biggest names in the sport - Frankie Dettori, Oisin Murphy and Ed Chamberlin — to promote their new venture.