Tony Martin has expressed his concerns about the possibility of heavy ground for Good Time Jonny in Boylesports Irish Grand National next Monday.
The ground remains heavy at Fairyhouse after 3mm of rain overnight.
Harry Cobden feels he finally has a chance of getting involved at the business end of the Randox Grand National after confirmation he will keep the ride on the 2022 winner, Noble Yeats.
Next month’s Alleged Stakes has been identified as a potential comeback target for last season’s Derby third White Birch.
Early fancies Nick Rockett, Intense Raffles, Desertmore House, Yeah Man and Hartur D’arc top the 26 acceptors for the €500,000 BoyleSports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse next Monday.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from Lemybrien in Co Waterford and I started off on ponies, hunting and fun rides. My brother and I would race each other on the ponies. My mam and dad were very good to my brother and I as they brought us around all the hunts and all the fun rides they could. My mother and father both rode in point-to-points and trained horses. My mother's mother and father also rode point-to-points and my father's dad bred horses and trained greyhounds, so I was born and bred into the game. From the age of three, mother had me sitting up on racehorses at home, and I had a big smile on my face and absolutely loved it from day one. Sitting on a horse was what I loved. More or less I always wanted to be a jockey when I was growing up. I started riding out at home at the age of 14. My father (Walter Power) had maybe 15 horses in at the one time, training them for the track and point-to-points. It was a busy yard and, the same as anyone who grows up in a racing yard, you pick things up very quickly particularly watching my parents breaking horses, riding pieces of work and the training of racehorses. Basically the horsemanship of it all. It was a great grounding. When I went into transition year, I went into John Kiely's and Henry de Bromhead's and that was where I really got the bug for it.
There is no doubt that the concentration of all the best jumps horses in a handful of stables is having a profound effect on National Hunt racing in Ireland. Many races have become uncompetitive and this in turn has meant that many of the smaller stables are struggling to survive.
Something needs to be done soon or we will start to see more of the smaller trainers go out of business and this will only serve to exacerbate the problem.
Coolmore Stud Stallion Tour 2024
We visited Coolmore Stud in Fethard County Tipperary to take a look at some of the most exciting stallions standing in Ireland.