Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Affordability Checks

If you believe the rhetoric coming from within the racing industry this will be a pivotal week for British horse racing as politicians are set to debate the proposed ‘affordability checks’ on punters in Westminster today (Monday 26 February).

10.52AM

The customer is always right

I was abroad when the Dublin Racing Festival (DRF) took place at Leopardstown at the beginning of the month, but was delighted to hear that the opening day on the Saturday had attracted a bumper crowd of just over 20,000, a record for the event, with a significant portion of the audience travelling over from the UK.

10.18AM

John McDonnell

I'm from Clonmel, Co Tipperary and I don't come from a racing background as such. Growing up through school, I always had a strong interest in racing in general. My mum and dad brought my brother and I racing through our teenage years. My dad was a primary school teacher, but he always had a good business head and he went into on-course bookmaking in 1999. That gave my brother and I purpose and a reason to be going racing. I think when dad took out his licence I was about 13 or 14 and we went point-to-pointing all over the country. Dad continued teaching and grew the business. He invested quite a bit into racecourse pitches right around Ireland. It is my brother's business now and my dad works with him.

12.33PM

Glen Norris

I'm from a village in Waterford called Lemybrien, just outside Dungarvan. My father bought us a pony when I was probably 10 or 11. I went to pony school and learned how to ride there. My father had an interest in horses. I loved the pony and rode the pony every day after school and even jumped the pony, but I became allergic to horse hair in the sense of eyes flaring up, sneezing, coughing and getting a rash. We moved the pony on, but it never left me. I always wanted to ride horses.

3.17PM

A different approach required

Race planning must be a thankless task at the best of times, but on occasions you have to wonder how much thought actually goes into it.

10.33AM

John McConnell

I'm from Kildare originally, a place called Two Mile House which is between Naas and Kilcullen. Both my parents were Dubs and migrated down to the sticks back in the 70s! We were very small-time breeders, maybe four or five mares as more of a sideline really. We had ponies and that was how the horses came into it. Michael O'Brien moved in beside us when I was seven or eight and we got to know him very well. I used to ride out for him in the summer time. He was a really good trainer. I had a strong interest in the racing anyway, but it brought my interest to the fore. Jessica Harrington would have taught me in pony club, she was obviously a very good eventer. She was a very, very good teacher and I have a lot of respect for her. Education was always drilled into us, so there was no way I was going to get out of going to college! My brother had already done veterinary. I considered other options, but I love animals and wanted to be a vet if nothing else. It became apparent from my teens that I wasn't going to be light enough to be a jockey. I had training in mind from a very young age. How I was going to get there was going to be a different story because my parents are Dubs and we had no history in the game.

11.26AM

Racing’s finances in a precarious position

The daily squabbles that are playing out within the British horse racing industry are reminiscent of watching one of those nature programmes on the TV following a pride of lions on the Serengeti.

10.53AM

Do as I say, not as I do

UK racing’s ‘Premierisation’ initiative has got off to a rocky start. Small fields for the first effort at Cheltenham last week was followed by something similar at the weekend at Plumpton and the first Sunday evening fixture at Wolverhampton has been slated by many working within the industry.

10.42AM

Jennifer Lynch

Our family home was in Kenagh, Co.Longford and my earliest memory was a photo of showjumping legend Eddie Macken and Boomerang hanging in my bedroom.

2.43PM

Thomas Coyle

I'm from a little village in Co Meath called Batterstown. I didn't have a background in horses, but my father had a farm and we always had a pony. I thought I was AP McCoy riding the pony around the place! My granny had a great passion for horses even though she never worked with them. She would always have a bet and we would go down to watch Channel 4 Racing on a Saturday when we were younger. From watching it with her, I kind of always said I wanted to be a jockey.

12.22PM

Mark Fahey

I'm from Cloneygath in Monasterevin, Co Kildare, and my family have been involved in racing the whole way through. We always had ponies at home and my dad is a farrier. We all live together along the road here. I took out my amateur licence at 16 and I stayed an amateur. I rode 50 odd winners as an amateur including two bumpers on Jezki (in 2012) for Jessica Harrington. I was lucky as an amateur. I got a great kick out of winning the Goffs Land Rover Bumper on Some Article at Punchestown (in April 2012). it was actually my uncle Paul who was a farrier in Tom Mullins' that rang me. He rang to see if I could the light weight and I said I could. It was a last-minute job how I got the ride. I was placed in the Land Rover Bumper a few times and it was great to get a good winner like that at a festival. I loved riding. When we were kids you were always busy with the football and the athletics as well too. My dad and mam were dragging me around the country doing all the football and the athletics. I never went down the pony racing route, just kicked on with ponies at home.

10.24AM

Environmental contamination is often the best defence

On Monday the 16th January 2023 trainer Tony Martin declared his horse Firstman to run in a two mile handicap at Dundalk.

11.35AM

Calum Hogan

I’m 17 and am in Leaving Cert year at Colaiste Na Trocaire in my hometown of Rathkeale. The plan is to stay going with school until the summer and the staff are very good to let me go racing as long as I can manage to do a few classes beforehand. My mam Rose is keen for me to stick with it although, if I had my way, I wouldn’t be there! I’d prefer to kick on full-time with my riding but it won’t be long before I can, I suppose.

9.26AM

Heavier than heavy

In this age of technology where we can split atoms and determine the winner of a race down to one one hundredth of a second you would have to wonder why horse racing perpetuates the use of an archaic system of describing the ground conditions at race meetings.

10.24AM

David Marnane

I was born in Bansha, Tipperary and my parents had a farm here, and originally had a pub and a B&B. My brother Con and I got into ponies when we were very young. My dad always loved the racing and, when he got a chance, he went to the sales and bought a couple of quite cheap horses. We had a local trainer Danny O'Connell and he trained them. I kind of went from riding ponies to seeing the horses running and I really liked the racing. Then Con came back from Australia and America and he started training a few of the horses after Danny, and I started riding out there for him when I was very young especially in the mornings before I went to school and the weekends.

10.41AM

Fairyhouse delivers

After a decidedly shaky start weather-wise Fairyhouse put on two fantastic days of jumping action over the weekend. The mix of old favourites and exciting new talent really does put the national hunt game on a different level to the flat from a fan’s perspective and few places do it better than Fairyhouse.

10.42AM

Conor Owens

I’m from Rathvilly in Co Carlow and am a relative latecomer to raceriding. It was brilliant to get the first winner under my belt on Blossom De Mai at Tramore on Tuesday and the aim is to keep improving and see how far I can progress.

7.13PM

A pattern of improvement

Irish National Hunt trainers are surely missing a trick by not running more of their horses in the UK, particularly at weekends.

8.23AM

Ger Flynn

I'm from Edenderry, Co Offaly and we had ponies at home. Our next-door neighbour was Patrick Gilson who was a Flat jockey at the time. My brother, Michael, was very good friends with him and Michael started pony racing. We used to go every Sunday pony racing all over Ireland right up to the north and down to Cork. That's probably where I got the bug for the ponies. I was really light and they thought I was going to be the next jockey. My dad passed away in 1986 when I was 16 and I probably lost interest in the ponies, and my brother-in-law got me a job when I left school in the local mushroom factory up the road. One Saturday morning my brother was riding out for the great John Mulhern at the time and brought me over just to have a look around. Tommy Carmody was there and they had a really great team for such a small yard. They put me up on a pony and I rode out with Tommy Carmody, who was a legend, and the bug was back.

11.43AM

How can the small yards survive?

The concentration of all the quality National Hunt horses in less than a handful of stables has been a bugbear for the last number of years, but as it has coincided with unprecedented success for Irish-trained horses at Cheltenham it has often seemed a price worth paying.

10.49AM

Oisin McSweeney

I’m 22 and from Athgarvan on the Curragh. I didn’t start riding until I was 16 and didn’t do pony racing or go to an apprentice school so I’ve had a bit of catching up to do with some of my contemporaries but I’ve worked hard and been very keen to learn wherever I’ve gone.

3.18PM

Far from satisfactory conclusion to Yuften case

Last week I wrote about the farcical carry on with the IHRB and the case of the Dundalk Claiming Race from March 2020 where Yuften was beaten by his stablemate.

10.55AM

Aidan McGarry

I'm from Naas originally and there was no background or connection with horses within the family as such. I suppose I would have got my first interest maybe from my dad just as a general follower of the sport. Back in those days, being in Naas, the schools would have closed for the week of Punchestown and you'd head out for the Festival every year. I suppose I just got the bug and the interest from the general area, and Punchestown would have been the first Festival I went to regularly as a kid.

11.47AM

3 years, 7 months and 13 days for nothing

The shock news last Thursday that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) is throwing in the towel on their own Referral case 3 years, 7 months and 13 days after they started investigating, and only a matter of days before the Referral Committee was due to hear the evidence, is hard to fathom.

10.54AM

Joseph Murray

I’m based in Donaghpatrick between Navan and Kells and I have the licence about eight or nine years now.

9.12AM

Keith Donoghue’s hard work is paying off

Last week Willie Mullins opened his doors to the racing press as the new National Hunt season was launched and as always it was fascinating to hear him talk about how himself and his team came up with their plans for each horse. With an unrivalled array of talent at his disposal, Mullins’ job of deciding which of his novice stars will stay over hurdles and which will go chasing would give any ordinary mortal sleepless nights, but Willie Mullins appears so relaxed and comfortable in his role.

10.31AM

Heather Heffernan

I am from Vicarstown in Co Laois and I started riding when I was four. We had ponies and my brother and sister rode. I evented and we did the pony club right the way up and I got all my exams. I competed in the inter-schools for Kilkenny College and Danny Mullins would have been on one of our teams. I will hold my hands up - if it wasn't for my dad, I probably wouldn't be in horses. He gave up everything and went over and above for all of us. We always had really nice horses underneath us. I started racing through Liam Cusack. I evented and his partner, Jane Tiffin, was my dressage trainer. I used to go to Liam at the weekends and any time I could get out of school. He was very good to me and taught me a helluva lot. I used to ride out in the mornings, three or four lots in the morning. I would brush down and rug up and I would get lessons with Jane. He brought me up to Johnstown Gallops and I got to work a few as well, although they worked me more than I worked them! I loved it - Liam was very easy to work for, you put your head down and you did what you were told. If he spoke, you listened to him.

11.16AM

Farewell Frankie

Like most people I watched a lot of rugby over the last few weeks and while I do know the basic rules (I wasn’t previously aware that a player can charge down a conversion, but not a penalty) and would be familiar with many of the stars of the game, I’m probably what would be described as a casual fan of the sport.

10.13AM

Tom Kiely Marshall

I’m 19 and from Emly in Co Tipperary and I’m based with Joe Murphy in Fethard. I’m full-time with Joe and most of what I have learned about racing has come from him. He has a wealth of knowledge and is very adept at planning which races to go for with his horses.

10.27AM

Jim Martin

I was born and reared in Dundalk. I've lived in Ardee for the last 30 years which is only 12 or 13 miles away. I am an accountant by profession and my involvement with Dundalk started when I became a director of the old greyhound track in Dundalk upon the death of my father in 1978. My grandfather was a founder director of the original greyhound track in 1930. In the late 1990s, the old greyhound track and the old horse racing track were both in similar situations as they were in danger of closing because of lack of investment. Dundalk had come through the Troubles and it had been a tough time. The directors of both companies started talking to each other and wondered if we could perhaps combine resources and build something that would be a top-class facility for both sports.

10.45AM

Thomas Reilly

I’m from Stamullen in Co Meath and I work in John McConnell’s yard which is only a few minutes down the road. I’ve been there 12 years and am part of the furniture at this stage.

9.13AM

Noel Kelly

I used to be a farmer and would have kept trotting horses. My father would have been in horses at the time and would have had a broodmare. He brought foals to the sales for years. I always looked after the foals because nobody else was really interested in it and I went racing with him as well. I was always too heavy to be a jockey, so I started breaking a few horses in. My dad passed away and I took out the licence about 18 years ago. I have always trained on my family land in Draperstown, Co Derry. At that stage, I only had a small gallop and two horses that belonged to my dad. I bought a wee horse off Noel McParlan called Native Guide, and he came out and won three point-to-points (in 2005). That was probably the worst thing I ever did as it got me going!

10.36AM

Racing’s Silver Bullet

The Luke Comer steroid case is set to rumble on for a while longer following news last week that the trainer has lodged an appeal against the withdrawal of his licence for three years and at the same time the IHRB has lodged a separate appeal against the leniency of his sanctions.

10.48AM

Brian McMahon

I'm a proud Clare man but my yard is just across the border near Tubber in Co Galway.

10.10AM

Comer has licence to train withdrawn for 3 years

Luke Comer and his brother Brian are self-made men. From humble beginnings their Comer Group employs over 500 people worldwide and the pair have combined assets of a “conservative” £2.25 billion, according to Luke.

10.40AM

Anna McGuinness

I'm from Brackaville, Coalisland, Co Tyrone and I started riding ponies from a young age. I spent my holidays and weekends riding ponies and my parents were good at taking me and giving me the time to do it considering I come from a non-racing background. We had a holiday home in Donegal, so I would have spent all my summers riding ponies on the beach and that. I finished school when I was 16 and then I went and did an equine course in CAFRE, Enniskillen, for two years and they had point-to-pointers. I went there just to get a bit of a start into it. It was a Level 3 Diploma in Horse Care Management from 16 to 18. My parents were keen on me staying to do a degree, but I had other ideas - all I wanted to do was be a jockey and give it a go.

10.24AM

Your word is your bond

The Irish Champions Festival weekend has finally bedded in as a major sporting event in the calendar. The twin meetings at Leopardstown and the Curragh along with the Dublin Racing Festival in February have been welcome innovations to the Irish racing fixture list in recent years.

11.21AM

Sarah Kavanagh

I'm with Colm Murphy full-time and am in there every morning. Wednesdays I get a day off so I go into Pat Foley's. I'm in Colm's every Sunday. I don't venture around too many yards, Colm's very busy at the minute, and we'll see how things click. I had a lot of nice rides for him last season and I was just unlucky. I should have really rode four or five winners for him but I was just unlucky that I bumped into a better horse on those days.

10.49AM

A puzzling week

Last Monday was the anniversary of the famous Gay Future gamble at Cartmel and it wasn’t lost on punters who spotted many similarities with the carry on at Downpatrick on the same date.

10.38AM

Matthew Smith

I'm from Kilmessan, Co Meath and my father always owned racehorses throughout the years. I did a little bit of hunting as a teenager. I did my Leaving Cert in 2001 and I started working on buildings for a good few years. I always had an interest in racing, but no actual involvement. Then around 2006/2007 I started working for John Carr for a little bit, then I was with Robbie Hennessy for a couple of years and then with Michael Mulvany. I was riding out for them and going racing, leading up and working in the yards. I really got a taste for it then. My father had two point-to-pointers and I started messing around with them and learning, basically.

12.22PM

Racing is a perfect vehicle for fundraising

Horse racing and its fans spend far too much of their time on the back foot trying to explain, defend and rationalise a myriad of bad news stories associated with the sport so it was nice to see some respite last week as the industry rallied round to support deserving causes.

10.24AM

Harry Sexton

I turned 18 in February and will be getting my Leaving Cert results on Friday so hopefully it's good news.

1.12PM

Keeping the show on the road

It has been another difficult week for the IHRB’s clerks of the courses with dramatic changes in ground conditions on not just a daily basis, but an almost hourly basis.

10.29AM

Philip Rothwell

I was born in Tinahely, Co Wicklow and my dad is a dairy farmer who brought me to point-to-points every Sunday. From there the interest grew, I guess. I started off riding ponies in a local riding school when I was probably six or seven but basically, I was mad into all sports. My mum became a full-time taxi driver and brought me everywhere - pony riding lessons, swimming, rugby and soccer. Then I went to secondary school in King's Hospital in Dublin and played a lot of rugby there. While I was there, I did my work experience in Willie Mullins' at 14 and loved it. As soon as I left secondary school I went to agricultural college then in Kildalton down in Kilkenny. When I was down there, I spent most of my time in Aidan O'Brien's when he was champion jumps trainer. I'd go in there every morning and ride out a few lots before college. My college work experience was spent then in Jessica Harrington's, so I think it was obvious where my interest lay.

11.42AM

Is free entry the answer?

I cannot understand why so many racing fans have no issue with jockeys who break the whip rules. Jim Crowley’s recent winning ride on Hukum in the Group One King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is a case in point.

10.59AM

Patrick Magee

I'm from Shercock in Co Cavan and am based on the family farm there. We've 150 acres and my father has beef cattle there. He built the yard for me there and is a great backer of mine. I've great support from the local community as well and there are plenty of people looking to get involved in owning horses.

1.12PM

Galway delivers despite the weather

Crowds at Galway were up on six of the seven days when compared to 2022 which is some achievement considering how bad the weather has been. In total 122,362 people attended across the week, an increase of 5,642 on last year’s total of 116,720. The biggest day crowd-wise was Galway Hurdle day on Thursday when 25,924 showed up.

11.32AM

Yudish Geerdharry

I'm originally from Mauritius. I wanted a pony for my sixth birthday and I started going to riding school over there. I started riding ponies, doing showjumping and all that. Mauritius is a small population and most people follow the racing. There is only one track, but is the crowd there that makes the racing out there. It is usually the same temperature and weather. The likes of Frankie Dettori and Johnny Murtagh all went out there and the racing is good enough. I saw Christophe Soumillon riding out there. I went to watch racing there, but never rode racework.

8.24PM

A tough week in store at Galway

Galway and Cheltenham are my two favourite racing weeks of the year, but in so many ways they are polar opposites.

9.46AM

Dean Curran

I'm 22 and from Kildare town. Lots of my extended family are involved with horses and racing so the whole game was drilled into me from an early age.

10.48AM