Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Gambling on horses can take many forms

Ronan McNally rarely stays out of the limelight for long. The former trainer orchestrated some audacious gambles prior to having his licence withdrawn by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) for a record period of 12 years for integrity breaches back in January 2023.

9.40AM

A trip down memory lane

I spent last Saturday morning doing a much needed cleanout of my home office. A lifetime’s worth of horse racing related stuff to be sifted through.

9.46AM

Adam Caffrey

I'm from Clonalvy in Co Meath, a small rural area. I got into horses through my uncle James Harford. He always had horses down in the yard two minutes away from the house. They could be hunters, pre-trainers and breakers.

11.20AM

Royal Ascot outperforms the Cheltenham Festival in most key areas

Even as a staunch National Hunt fan, it is hard not to be impressed with Royal Ascot. When you compare the premier Flat meeting to Cheltenham it comes out ahead on almost every key metric.

10.37AM

Kieran Cotter

I'm from Monasterevin, Co Kildare and am presently living three miles from there in Clonanny, Co Laois. As we like to say here, I'm one of the top trainers in Laois and would be well down the pecking order in Kildare! We bred a good few National Hunt horses and that was my earliest memory of horses, having them at home and bringing them to what was the old Derby Sale at the RDS. My father had horses in training with Andy Geraghty on the Curragh. When I was only a chap, if I heard he was going there on a Saturday morning, I'd be first in the car waiting. Andy was the first person to put me up on a horse when I wasn't more than 13 or 14 years of age. I can still remember thinking I have to do this. I was just bitten by the bug. I was always going to do it, but it probably wasn't what my parents intended because I wasn't too bad at school. I had other interests as well, but it didn't go down too well when I chose the horse route!

7.40PM

Philip Polly

I'm a Downpatrick man through and through, in County Down, hence the colours of my silks. My nanny Polly was a Fitzsimons and her home place was in the middle of Downpatrick Racecourse right beside where Paddy Turley's house and yard are now. Horses have been in my blood for generations. My grandpa Willie Polly had Novello Allegro (12-time winner in his career) and he was among my first memories of horses. He passed away in 1992. In one of his memorial races at Downpatrick, a few years after he passed (May 2000), a young Jerry Hannon was given an opportunity to commentate on his race which helped to kick off his incredible career. He's the voice behind Irish racing now as well know. I rode ponies up until I was 11 or 12 years old, I broke my wrist and I never went back. It was an injury that probably interfered with other sports that I was mad about at the time.

12.30PM

Philip Polly

I'm a Downpatrick man through and through, in County Down, hence the colours of my silks. My nanny Polly was a Fitzsimons and her home place was in the middle of Downpatrick Racecourse right beside where Paddy Turley's house and yard are now. Horses have been in my blood for generations. My granda Willie Polly had Novello Allegro (12-time winner in his career) and he was among my first memories of horses. He passed away in 1992. In one of his memorial races at Downpatrick, a few years after he passed (May 2000), a young Jerry Hannon was given an opportunity to commentate on his race which helped to kick off his incredible career. He's the voice behind Irish racing now as we all know. I rode ponies up until I was 11 or 12 years old, I broke my wrist and I never went back. It was an injury that probably interfered with other sports that I was mad about at the time.

3.40PM

Stewards’ decision regarding Wexford unseat is hard to fathom

Shortly after finishing my day’s work last Wednesday I received a WhatsApp message from a friend that included a short head-on video clip of a jockey falling from a horse and a question asking me what I thought of that?

9.51AM

Stable staff are the backbone of the horse racing industry

The recent case of stable lad Yasir Ali has reignited the debate about how the horse racing industry in Ireland treats its employees.

10.06AM

Alix Balfe

I'm from Kells, Co Meath and my grandfather had a few point-to-pointers with Gerry Keane. I went to point-to-points with him to watch his horses run. When I was about six or seven, I said to mam that I wanted to try horse riding so I went for a lesson one day and I was hooked from there. Probably from word go, I always wanted to be a jockey. I did lessons and plenty of show jumping, I did a few show jumping competitions. I loved jumping. I also did hunter trialling and hunting, and just bits and pieces like that. It kind of took off from there then.

1.43PM

Laura Magee

I'm from Stillorgan, Co Dublin, only about a mile from Leopardstown Racecourse. My late dad and my late grandfather were both huge horse racing fans. On Saturdays my dad used to be told it was his turn to mind the kids and he would inevitably be working for RTE Radio, so the babysitting took place at the racecourse! It wasn't always Leopardstown, we went to the other tracks as well. Back then most of the racecourses had a creche, dad thought this was a free creche but little did he know my sister and I were escaping out of the creche. The racecourse was it for me at the beginning. From hanging out with dad there, I begged for riding lessons. It started with the ponies up to the local riding school which is now the M50 extension. Back then it really was county Dublin and for us it felt like the countryside. I lived for those weekends when I could go racing with dad, I loved it.

10.47AM

Punchestown ends the season on a high with large crowds and British winners

Helped in no small part by stunning weather, Punchestown was a roaring success last week with record-breaking attendances. 136,651 attended over the five days, up from 118,318 twelve months ago, with a modern-day record crowd of 42,138 reported on Friday.

3.34PM

Bad week for Ladbrokes as punter waits over a year for bet to be paid

A Social Media storm last week culminated in Ladbrokes coughing up €100,000 to stable lad Dylan Phelan on a bet he had placed in one of the bookmaker’s Irish shops over twelve months earlier.

10.14AM

Hannah Phillips

I'm from Fethard, Co Tipperary and we've always had horses around the yard. Dad trained when I was growing up, and mum and dad both race rode. My mum's side of the family would be very horsey. My grandad was an amateur jockey over in England and my nan trained horses. My aunt Charlotte rode as well on the Flat. Everything was all horses, so I was bred into the game. Dad got out of training when I was about 12. I was very proud of my mum, Lucy Townsley, being a former lady champion point-to-point rider and my dad, Mick Phillips, being senior champion point-to-point rider twice. They were good role models growing up. They were tough workers with a really good work ethic.

1.35PM

Big race days are becoming increasingly important for the sport

The job of a racecourse ‘clerk of the course’ should be relatively straightforward. A simplified version of their job spec is to ensure the provision of suitable ground conditions, check all rails and jumps are correctly aligned and presented and then sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy the racing. But increasingly the first part of that job description has become something of a nightmare.

11.42AM

Fergus Gallagher

I'm from Kildare Town right on the Curragh. I was basically into boxing and I won a silver medal in the All-Ireland finals. I was always into fitness. At 14 years of age, I got suspended from school for saying something I shouldn't have to the vice principal. Dad came home early for lunch and told me I was going out to work with him in Kevin Prendergast's while I was suspended. My dad was Travelling Head Man for Kevin for 20-odd years. I would have preferred to be in work than school. A 14-year-old 40 years ago is like a 30-year-old now! I never went back to school and six months later Audrey O'Neill, Slim O'Neill's wife, came into the tack room out in Rossmore and said there's jobs for three guys in New Jersey working for a guy called Joe Imbesi. I put my hand up, 100 per cent, even though I had only been riding for four months. Audrey said to me that my father wasn't going to let me go at 14 in 1985. I got my passport and daddy said he wasn't holding me back as I was no good in school.

11.05AM

An astonishing Grand National result even by Mullins’ standards

Saturday’s Grand National produced the latest jaw-dropping chapter in the story of Willie Mullins’ utter domination of the National Hunt game.

10.09AM

Ante Post betting is not for the faint-hearted

Events of recent weeks have once again shown how precarious ante post betting can be.

9.31AM

Ciaran Murphy

I'm from a place called Ballymore just outside Mullingar and am from a farming background. We were always farming when we were young, and playing football and hurling. An English lady called Clarissa Crowl came over to live near us at home and she would hunt horses. We started to help her out and she taught us how to ride in return. My twin brother, Joseph, and I both started riding and hunting there, and we enjoyed it. It all sort of built from there. It was a great grounding as she was an English lady that came over to hunt and she did things properly. Everything stood to us from dress code to producing the horses properly, and doing everything right in relation to stable management. That has stood to us the whole way through.

3.25PM

Gavin Cromwell can top off a memorable season with Grand National glory

The decision by connections of Inothewayurthinkin to bypass the Aintree Grand National takes some of the lustre off next month’s big race, but is undoubtedly the right move for the horse at this stage of his career.

10.34AM

The Michael O’Sullivan Festival will live long in the memory

Last week’s Cheltenham Festival blew me away with its unrelenting high drama and plot twist, after plot twist. I still cannot get my head around the fact that the two horses Michael O’Sullivan had ridden to win at the 2023 Festival poignantly came out and won back-to-back races at this year’s Festival.

10.38AM

Luke McAteer

I'm from Rathmullan in Co Donegal and I started off in my grandfather's riding school. I spent all my time there really. I rode about 30 winners pony racing. I rode for my grandfather first and for most of the lads up around Donegal. They were all very good to me after he passed away in 2015 and they all gave me a hand out. You can see the results in the weigh room - anyone who is riding winners week in and week out has been there and done it in pony racing. Those ponies take a bit of riding when you are 16 and under. When my grandfather died, I spent another year in school and then I moved down to Jim Bolger's after that.

9.48AM

Knock Cheltenham all you like, but it’s still best week of the year

This year’s Cheltenham Festival has all the ingredients to be one of the best renewals in recent times.

9.59AM

Spare a thought for the trainers with no runners at Cheltenham

Next week the Irish horse racing industry will rightly be laser focussed on the successes of Irish-trained horses competing at Cheltenham. The four-day Festival is the biggest shop window for the sport, a time when a broad cross-section of the population becomes fully engaged with horse racing and the sport is headline news across mainstream media.

10.09AM

Pat Murphy

I'm from Castlecomer in Co Kilkenny and we always had horses at home - hunters, eventers and show jumpers. We used to breed sport horses and then sell them. That was mainly how I was introduced to horses. In relation to how I got into thoroughbreds, my brother and I started off with a broodmare. We just said we would go down the thoroughbred/racing route. Then I got a few thoroughbreds to break and we pre-trained one of the horses that we bred. We formed a syndicate for one of the horses, Wholelotofrosie, and she went on to win a two-year-old maiden in Galway (in September 2012 when trained by Dick Donohoe). Then the fellas that were involved in the syndicate said why didn't I give the training a go myself.

4.41PM

Don Browne

I was born and bred in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork and my father had point-to-pointers. He never trained, but he had horses in training. A thing I always wanted to do was train my own horse. I was about 21 before I sat on a racehorse. My father had a point-to-pointer and said to me to crack on and take a chance training him. I then bought a horse with my brother and trained it. She stayed racing, but was never much good. Cloneen Princess was my first winner in the millennium year at Carrigtwohill. She was a point-to-point winner for my father. I bought Cloneen Storm and he won for me as a five-year-old and a six-year-old. That fella won four point-to-points. After him, the licence went. I had another horse for my father, Cloneen Choice, and I took out the licence for him. He won three point-to-points and he came third in a hunters chase in Killarney in 2017.

11.14PM

Horse race conditions should always be fair and logical

The victory of Nicky Henderson’s Joyeuse in Saturday’s Premier handicap hurdle at Newbury sparked a debate on social media about the qualification criteria for handicap hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival.

11.01AM

Galopin Des Champs the brightest star of a star-studded weekend

Galopin Des Champs lit up the Dublin Racing Festival with another brilliant display at his favourite track on Saturday when bringing up a hat-trick of wins in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, his seventh straight victory at Leopardstown.

9.37AM

Caragh Monaghan

I'm from Kentstown in Co Meath and basically, I got into horses through my grandad, Sean Monaghan, who bred horses, and my aunt, Irene Finnegan Monaghan, who used to train horses. I was brought up in the middle of it all and grew up with horses around me. Joe Byrne, who has sadly passed away, would have been a huge influence on me getting involved in horses. He got me into riding horses. I sat up on my first racehorse when I was six years old and I had my first pony when I was seven. When I got my pony, I joined pony club and I did a bit of showjumping and eventing.

1.39PM

Trainers vs Media

News from last week that a significant group of British trainers, represented by the Peter Savill founded Professional Racing Association, are threatening to boycott TV interviews unless they are paid is set to cause rifts within the sport.

10.12AM

British challenge looking strong for Cheltenham

As we approach the business end of the National Hunt season there appears to be a shift taking place in the balance of power between the Irish and British trained horses.

10.45AM

Finn Brickley

I'm from Co Cork and always grew up with a few cobs at home. When I was 14, I went into James Dullea's racing yard down in Bandon, Co Cork and I learned loads there. To be fair, he taught me everything that I know about racehorses and how to ride one. Any days off school, weekends, school holidays, and during Covid-19 I was riding out. He was very good and gave me loads of experience. I always wanted to be a jockey. I always used to watch the racing on the television and you would always get a buzz off it. Then when I was in James' yard, I really got the bug. I'm in Gordon Elliott's two years now. I was talking to James and asked him where would be best for me to go up the country to be in the heart of racing. He said he would get me into Gordon's. I went up there for a couple of days and I never looked back. I got a full-time job after two or three days and I'm here ever since.

10.44AM

DFR success dependent on Mullins and Elliott

Last week the preliminary entries were made for the eight Grade One races taking place at next month’s Dublin Racing Festival and not surprisingly they show how skewed the top end of the National Hunt game has become.

10.43AM

Owners and their Trainers

The dynamic between racehorse owners and their trainers is fascinating. You would presume that owners employ logic when determining who will train their horse, but often that decision has little to do with value for money or indeed the prospect of success.

11.04AM

Eoin Staples

I'm from a little village in Wexford called Duncormick. My dad didn't ride horses, but he had a keen interest in pedigrees and watches a lot of racing. I probably started riding horses through my brother Sean who started before me. I saw Sean riding horses and enjoying it, and then he went on riding racehorses. I started riding and I broke into racehorses then with a local trainer down the road called John Walsh. Sean went away down to another trainer Michael Murphy. I was at my local riding lesson school and John Walsh came over to me and asked me if I wanted to come down on a Saturday. I went down and I loved it, so I went back and I went racing most Sundays when I was 11 or 12. The first day I went in there I was probably about 10 and I rode a horse that day. Her name was Mandy Carroll and she actually won a couple of point-to-points and a hunters chase on the track at Cork as well.

11.47AM

Emma Connolly

I'm from Killyon, Co Meath and always had a fascination for ponies. My mam and dad eventually gave in and I got riding lessons and then I got my own pony. Then when I was about 12 or 13, I was fortunate enough to start working for Frederick John Bowles and all I wanted was racehorses after that. I was mucking out and riding out there and doing general stable duties. That was during weekends and school holidays. I got the bug massively. I wanted to be a jockey but wasn't good enough. I had a few rides in places like Limerick and Roscommon as an amateur in bumpers. My bottle probably wasn't good enough either.

2.18PM

Outstanding Achievement

It is 18 months since Ronan McNally lost his Appeal against the unprecedented sanctions handed down to him by a Referral Committee.

10.17AM

Affordability checks are only part of the problem

For 40 years we were told that a tax exemption on stallion earnings was imperative for the success of the Irish horse racing and breeding industry. Since its withdrawal in 2008 there has been no noticeable difference to the sport.

10.47AM

Adrian Murray

I'm from Co Westmeath and from the age of 14 I did a bit of hunting. I'm a farmer by trade on family land and that is where I also train from. I've always had a passion for horses. When I left school, I started buying a horse or two, to break them, hunt them and show them. I got bigger and bigger into that then, but I always had a passion for racing and followed it and went racing. Kilbeggan was my favourite track and I never missed a meeting in Kilbeggan, and still never do! I had my first racecourse winner in Kilbeggan with Leney Dow Jones (in May 2008). A neighbour of mine, Paddy Hegarty, asked me to train him originally for point-to-pointing. Paddy said to me to go and apply for the licence and we would run his two horses at the time on the track. Over the next 10 years, I had the odd winner of jumps.

2.03PM

That’s the game we’re in

A great weekend’s racing was somewhat overshadowed by the awful news that Champion Jockey Jack Kennedy is going to miss most of the rest of the season once again through injury.

10.52AM

Finding Value

Value for money is not something you would readily associate with horse racing, but a day at the races in Ireland is on occasion the best value day out to be had anywhere.

10.34AM

Harry Swan

I grew up in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary and dad was training, so we always had ponies around the home. My mother got me riding first, I started riding small ponies just to get me going over a few jumps. I'd say I was on a horse since I could stand. Then I progressed to a bit of pony club. I remember late evenings doing show jumping competitions after school and really enjoyed it from the start. Then as I got a bit older, I started doing a bit of Tetrathlon - running, riding and swimming - and I went to England on the Irish team for that. I loved it and did loads of it. After that, I started getting into the eventing a good bit. My mother was quite a good eventer when she was younger. I got a nice pony that my sister was meant to ride as I had a pony that got injured. I went to the Pony Europeans (Championships) and everything with him and did loads of internationals with him. It was massive experience and I think eventing is very good for your eye when it comes to jumping. It was a massive help to have done that.

2.04PM

Splitting hairs

The use of the whip in horse racing is one of the most emotive topics, both inside and outside the sport. Within the sport there are two distinct schools of thought. Many see the whip issue as the sport’s Waterloo. Lose the battle to preserve the whip and the entire sport will start to crumble.

10.01AM

Financial irregularities at IHRB

The Mazars report into financial irregularities at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) was finally published last week, some 16 months after it was first commissioned. Despite the long-drawn out process that got us to this point, it does finally give clarity on many aspects of the carryon at IHRB and helps us fill in some notable blanks when trying to decipher what actually happened.

10.29AM

Conor Maxwell

I'm originally from Ballyboughal Co Dublin and I got into horses through a neighbour, Tommy Stafford - his son Paul trains. I started riding ponies for them and did a bit of hunting with the Fingal Harriers and Ward Union over the years. I came up through the ranks that way. I started riding track horses and point-to-pointers for Paul when he went on to train horses. As a young lad I always wanted to be a carpenter or something. Being a jockey was something I kind of fell into. I had no background in horses and none of my family were into horses. I just got hooked on them through the Staffords. I couldn't wait to get out of school. I wasn't bad at it but it just wasn't for me. I got bitten by the bug and kept at it.

2.14PM

The best is probably yet to come

Only once before in my lifetime can I recall hype around an American horse race to match the level we saw in the build up to last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

10.19AM

Timing of Shark Hanlon Appeal verdict ill judged

In 2018 the Turf Club rebranded its regulatory arm as the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), but in reality nothing changed. How could it? The new company had all the same rules, the same traditions, the same ethos and all the same personnel.

9.47AM

Ian Donoghue

I'm from Dunshaughlin, Co Meath and all of mam's side of the family would have been horsey. Her uncle was Andy Lynch who trained and he was Head Travelling Lad for Noel Meade, so we grew up with ponies at Andy's. Then my brother Keith and I started riding out for Pat Martin. Granda would have harrowed the gallops at Fairyhouse and we would have gone down on Saturdays with him and looked at the likes of Paul Carberry, Ross and Barry Geraghty. We always wanted to be them! I got too big, but Keith is doing a good job.

2.12PM