Navan Sat, 16th Sep, 2023  First Dare The horses are well thank God,. I thought she should have nearly won in Ballinrobe and could have gone very close in Kilbeggan, and lost her hind legs at the back of the last in Tramore. Beautiful ride, mid-division and scraped the paint. The only moment was when she was a bit long at the second. These races are so determined by the experienced riders. She made the difference anyway. She's a little bit tricky, so I rang Maxine a week ago and I said 'if you have nothing that is jumping off the page at you, I think I'll go close'. That's how ahead of the game you have to be. Great to get her head in front. She is 15.2 and I put a syndicate into her that wanted to lease something. You wouldn't be brave enough to waste an entry fee on her going to the sales that height, she's so small. This is her game, but a little Flat race might not be beyond her somewhere along the line. We might wait until next year, we'll see.

Galway Sun, 6th Aug, 2023  You Oughta Know It was a good performance giving the second horse a stone (including riders claim). Patrick felt the ground was fast enough for him so we might put him by now before going jumping. It’s been a great week and the ground here is fantastic.

Ballinrobe Tue, 25th Jul, 2023  Mister Pink Very! We were back in third about a furlong down. He's a big long-striding horse and on the tight home bend, he just got very unbalanced. Once I got him straight and balanced in the last furlong, he's come home well. I probably should have gone faster on him and we'll be stepping him up in trip. I think he wants a more galloping track. I won on his mother (Pink Hat) and a few of his siblings so it's been a lucky pedigree.

Roscommon Mon, 10th Jul, 2023  Williamstowndancer She gave us a fright at the second last. She’s related to Nikini and is tough like her which is a great thing in a pedigree. She will go to Galway now for the Listed two-mile novice hurdle and try pick up some more black type. The syndicate are great fun, ex-students from Blackrock, and they are travelling around and getting to see all of Ireland.

Tipperary Tue, 4th Jul, 2023  Roseys Hollow it was a small field and how good a race it was I don't know but it was great to win. This is different conditions that running on heavy winter ground and she'll continue to run in novice chases provided the ground is safe. Hopefully she can build on this. She and Showurappreciation, which won at Ballinrobe in May, are the two horses Mr McManus has with me.

Downpatrick Fri, 19th May, 2023  Williamstowndancer She was (very good). She was very keen - in Aintree I dropped her in because she can be so keen and she didn't go at all, but today she was in my hands everywhere, even though we were going a super strong gallop. She hurdled fantastically, she is like a cat. She's not big, one of the smallest in the yard. Even the last hurdle where she was wrong, she was quick at it. She will probably be a better hurdle mare than she was a bumper mare. They are (owners having great fun), they are from Blackrock College which would have been my opponents when I was back in school. They are well able to celebrate!

Kilbeggan Fri, 12th May, 2023  You Oughta Know He has a fabulous pedigree, by Beat Hollow out of a sister to Pont Alexandre,. He's not particularly a horse for this track, he probably wants a more galloping track. We went a real strong gallop and it was a messy start, 16 is probably plenty around here. Everyone who rode him at home liked him but he wasn't the sharpest workhorse so we didn't think he'd do what he did but a strong gallop really played into his hands. It was just a messy race, I didn't want to be as wide as I was but when there was a false start it was just too narrow passing the fence and we were all going. Once you get one false start it's a mess so I just wanted to get wide then and get a clear run. If he had got beaten I might have blamed myself but it didn't matter in the end. The middle of the race he fell asleep a bit with me but once I pulled him out turning out of the back and we started to pass horses he just locked on. I was trying not to get there too soon from a mile-and-a-half out. Uncle Junior won his bumper here as well, nearly as easy as him, so if he could replicate his career it would be a lot of fun. I rang Luke about two months ago and said 'this horse is nice, make sure and pick a good name for him'.