Latest Blogs from Vincent Finegan and "My Racing Story"

Eoin Griffin

I'm from south Kilkenny, just outside Waterford. I live right on the border of Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford. Like any border, there's always plenty of fun down here especially when it comes to GAA! I'm a Kilkenny man, but I class Waterford as my home town.

9.27AM

Stewards' apathy could be symptom of deeper regulatory problems

A brief stewards' report on an innocuous maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse on 15 January indicates serious issues within the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).

6.41AM

Jordan Canavan

I'm from just outside Belfast in Antrim and always grew up with horses. My father rode for a long time, and my grandfather rode as well and trained. The moment I looked out the bedroom window, there was always a yard full of horses. When my grandfather retired from training, my dad, JJ, took over. He trained a few point-to-pointers on his own just to keep himself busy. I started riding the racehorses out at home when I was about nine or 10 and then started pony racing when I was 11. I went down to the late Edward O'Grady's for a summer when I was about 14.

9.23AM

All to Play for in Second Half of the National Hunt Season

As we fast approach the business end of the current jumps season it is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing for many a year.

10.58AM

Stephen Hanlon

I'm from the Curragh in Co Kildare. I originally found my way into racing through my father and my uncle. They were very friendly with the late trainer Frank Ennis. Frank had a small number of horses and trained on the Curragh, probably trained about 25 horses. My father got me a job with Frank in 2007 and that's how I started really. Initially, I had aspirations to be a jockey but I grew too tall and got heavy. I realised then that it just wasn't going to be possible, so I changed course very quickly and I had my sights set on training from then on.

10.06AM

Philip Byrnes Referral Hearing Observations

After seven months of investigations the eagerly anticipated Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) Referral Hearing into the controversial departure of jockey Philip Byrnes from his mount Redwood Queen at the final hurdle in a race at Wexford in May was heard last week.

9.25AM

Zoe McMullan

I was born in Coleraine, Co Derry and have lived in Ballymoney, Co Antrim for 10-12 years. I do say I'm from Ballymoney now. It is bizarre how I got into horses because none of my family are into them. They don't come from an equine or farming background, they are town people. We went on holiday to Ayr when I was three and at the caravan park there was a 50p pony ride that I wanted to go on. That's what got me the bug and I was non-stop talking about horses after that. My mum and dad enquired when we got home about getting riding lessons, but you couldn't get them until you were five-years-old. To do me for the meantime, mum and dad bought me a rocking horse! Then when I was five, I got riding lessons at a place called Island Equestrian Centre in Coleraine. It was every Thursday evening at 5.30pm for an hour. I loved it and I just loved being around horses. From my first lesson, I wanted to learn how to put a head collar on and how to tack up even though I was tiny. I really have to thank the riding instructors there - Elaine Barnes and Jeannie McCollum. I was there until I was 16.

11.25AM

Bold move by Epsom in attempt to breathe new life into the Derby

For people of my vintage the Epsom Derby was the absolute pinnacle of equine achievement. It was the most important horse race on the planet and helped define the breed.

11.13AM

New initiatives aimed at racegoers send out a positive message

Declining attendance and a changing attitude

10.32AM

Identification mix-ups are far more common than you may think

Last week a Referral Hearing was held into the circumstances that led to the wrong horse running in a novice chase at Punchestown on 13 November.

10.00AM

The jumps season is officially in full flow after scintillating John Durkan Chase

A bright crisp winter's afternoon watching sport is always one of life's great joys and for those that made it to Punchestown on Sunday they were served up a real treat.

11.28AM

Nessa Joyce

I'm from Co Meath, beside the now Emerald Park, and I'm from a dairy and beef farm, so horses weren't a part of my growing up. I've always loved horses from as long as I've known. Lots of neighbours had horses and there was always racing on television as my father loved racing. I probably got the interest and bug from that. A few neighbours let me sit up on a horse and I'll never forget that moment of being that close to a horse. I begged for riding lessons for a few years before my parents caved. I got lessons in the local riding school and worked for free to get the lessons. With a father who is a dairy farmer, he wouldn't be too keen on having an animal that doesn't make money! I dabbled in everything - did hunting and a bit of showing. When I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer was 'something with horses'. There was always a passion there for it and I was lucky to translate that into a career.

11.37AM

Identification issues become centre of attention yet again

Last Thursday a minor fixture at Punchestown hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when a horse that was declared to contest a maiden hurdle ended up running in a different race on the day over fences.

9.53AM

Luke Comer doping case has all the plot twists of a blockbuster

Horse racing has been struggling to maintain its share of voice compared to other sports in recent years and all attempts to replicate the successes of documentaries like Drive To Survive have so far failed to hit the mark.

9.56AM

Sam Coen

I'm from Fethard, Co Tipperary, and my two sisters, Leah and Megan, were really into eventing and hunting.

3.31PM

Mental Health is as big an issue for jockeys as the physical dangers they face

The tragic news from the UK last week that promising apprentice rider Tommie Jakes had taken his own life at the age of 19 is truly awful.

11.03AM

Joey Sheridan

My father Mel was a jockey and was apprenticed to John Oxx. He would have ridden at the same time as Ray Carroll and Donal Manning who I would be good friends with now. Donal is riding out in Donnacha O'Brien's at the moment. My dad went over to Jimmy Fox then to start riding jump horses when he got a bit heavy for the Flat. He got a bad fall when breaking yearlings one winter and they wouldn't give him his licence back. Sea The Stars would have been my first memory of watching racing because my father took a keen interest in him. My mother and father got me a pony and I was always obsessed from a very young age about jockeys and racing. It was all I could think of.

4.20PM

Irish racing's dependency on Government handouts is not healthy for the sport

The latest Irish Government Budget freeze on handouts to horse racing must be of real concern to the sport's administrators.

10.23AM

IHRB appears to be repositioning its role within the industry

Are you aware of \"global challenges like antimicrobial drug resistance and anthelmintic resistance?\"

9.51AM

Nibiru prohibited substance case raises many questions for the sport

The recent Referral Hearing held into the circumstances surrounding a positive finding from the urine sample taken from a winner at Dundalk last October is concerning.

10.15AM

Heather Downey

I'm from just outside Slane in Co Meath. We are in an historic area in the Boyne Valley and it is a lovely area to live in. In terms of horses, I haven't known a life without them. It probably all stems back to my grandparents, they would have bred horses and would have had a lot of horses in training with Dessie Hughes and before that with Dick Hoey. Chow Mein won the Galway Plate in 1985 trained by Dessie. I suppose that is how the interest in horses stemmed for my family. Dad (Pat) was bitten by the bug and that progressed to me. When my dad started training, I was absolutely bitten by the bug then - all the people, the characters and the competitiveness. I was hooked! Every year that I have got older, I have got more and more involved to where I am now. I like to think that I'm pretty involved in it all. I'm very passionate about it and work closely with dad. Obviously, I have a full-time job but, in the evenings, weekends and when I'm off, I try to help as much as I can. I do all his social media channels and I've been doing that since I was young. I then kind of help out with entries and declarations and picking races for horses. I enjoy being involved in the whole training aspect. It's an obsession I suppose!

3.31PM

Decisive action from the racing authorities is welcomed

Last week Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced details of the new management team that themselves and the Moloney family have put in place to run Thurles on a temporary basis until the end of the current jumping season. In Peter Roe and Jessica Cahalan they have two people with plenty of experience in this area which bodes well for a smooth transition.

10.42AM

Top quality Flat racing fails to woo an Irish audience like the Jumps can

The international aspect to the Irish Champions Festival weekend is most refreshing to see.

12.42PM

Sam Hamilton

From a young age I started with ponies, show jumping, working hunter and pony club. I always had a big interest growing up in my dad's (Brian) racing yard. He taught me all I know from no age really. In addition to teaching me about riding, he was very good at teaching me about general horse care - the whole lot. A soon as I was allowed to by him, I was mucking out and helped out by riding out on the gallops. It was a great grounding as he got me started and got me going. Basically, I just progressed from there. The best horse I ever sat on when dad was training was Warne who won the Aintree Foxhunters (in 2014 under Sam Waley-Cohen). I would have done roadwork and stuff with him when I was young. I wasn't able to canter him as he was a very strong horse. He was a great horse.

9.40AM

Owning a racehorse can be a very expensive pastime

Irish Champions Festival takes place this weekend with a total prize pool of over €5 million.

10.52AM

Thurles Racecourse's reopening is weather dependent

It is positive to see Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has reached an agreement with Thurles Racecourse for racing to continue at the venue for the remainder of the 2025/2026 Jumps season.

10.27AM

Eileen Farrelly

I'm from Dublin, I was born and reared in the city over a butcher's shop. My daddy was a butcher by trade and was involved in the beef business. Mammy's family were in racing. Her two brothers, Jimmy and Eamon O'Connell, both trained horses at different times and a third brother, Kieran O'Connell was a racing journalist in later life.

10.26AM

Rules of Racing need to acknowledge the use of pacemakers

The use of pacemakers in horse racing has been hitting the headlines in recent weeks.

10.31AM

Cancelling a day’s racing in the UK is a small but significant move

The latest move from the British horse racing industry to cancel an entire day’s racing fixtures next month in protest at their Government’s proposal to change how they tax online betting companies is as intriguing as it is unexpected.

10.46AM

Ross Tumilty

I'm from Newry, Co Down. I come from a show jumping background. I was show jumping ponies from school right up until I was 16 or so. As time went on, I went and did my apprenticeship to become a farrier. I did my apprenticeship with Shane Cullen and he had been shoeing for quite a few racing yards and, over time, I got friendly with them. I started asking them if I could come in and ride out a wee bit on a Saturday morning or somewhere local where I could ride out and then go on to my work. I rode out for the likes of Stuart, Ben and Ross Crawford, and Liam Lennon.

9.27AM

Latest horse racing industry data shows some surprising trends

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) issued the key industry stats for the first six months of this year last week and overall it was a mixed bag.

9.42AM

A fortunate outcome for both the Gosdens and BHA in Ketamine case

My initial reaction to the findings of the recent BHA case involving the father and son training duo of John and Thady Gosden was how fortunate they all were that a stable employee was willing to testify about her own drug use.

11.07AM

Andrew McKeever

Early Life and Background

10.59AM

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