Category: RACING
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A poignant thought provoking day
Reliance on or repetition of clichés is one of the greatest foibles in this business. Yet sometimes they are unavoidable. Hereafter details one such of those days… ‘Horses for courses’ is one which, naturally enough, has its origins in horse racing. Though it has readily morphed into being useful in many other facets of life.…
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Racing’s revolving doors
‘Form lines’ is a phrase often deployed in horse racing. Generally in reference to competing steeds who have crossed paths previously. It tends, also, to be put to use in team sports where two entities develop a rivalry over time. The line’s appearance here has nothing to do with either of the examples utilised thus…
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Sorry Ma’m – there doesn’t appear to be any racing on the TV in the Royal Box
When you hear the words ‘Barbers Shop’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Haircuts, obviously. Or possibly musical quartets. Though not necessarily those including Homer Simpson on the roof of Moe’s or Peter Griffin going around hospital wards. In this corner, mention of Barbers Shop evokes memories of what I think was Queen…
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Jack De Bromhead – R. I. P.
For many of us, sport consumes and envelopes so much of our lives that it can be very easy, and dangerous, to lose sight of the fact that it is just that. Only Sport. The shot that looked over but was waved wide, the putt which circled the hole but lipped out or the punt…
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There’s always something to make you think twice
Willie Mullins recently ran a horse in a bumper owned by the Curb Your Enthusiasm Syndicate. Whether the steed won or not cannot be recalled, but is not relevant to the remainder of what you will read hereafter. Now read on… When I got into farming in my own right nearly a decade ago, one…
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Snow ploughs at the ready…
There was a time, thankfully many moons ago now, that yours truly gave considerable consideration to seeing what the darker side of the tracks had to offer. No doubt a large cohort of people will be horrified by the mere thought. Now read on… Wheelchair or not, the desire to fit in with my peers…
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Time for the others to show there Power as the Pup bows out
BREAKING NEWS Grand National and Gold Cup winning jockey, Robbie Power from Moynalvey, has announced he will retire from race riding at the end of tomorrow (Friday) evening’s card at Punchestown. The son of former champion show jumper Captain Con Power, the man affectionately know as Puppy first came to prominence when partnering the Gordon…
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He’s only gone and done it again
It’s hard to know which is the most surprising, that the bookies let Lord Lariat go off at 40/1, or that yours truly forgot to put a few bob thereon having had the pleasure of spending an evening in the company of the steed’s wonderful trainer, Dermot McLoughlin. Sometimes though, it’s not about the punting.…
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Waley-Cohen goes out in the most fitting way
Life and/or sport generally don’t do fairytales but, in an almost ironic way, when they do, they often choose the Aintree Grand National as the stage for a heart warming tale. Now read on… Think of Bob Champion overcoming cancer to claim the great race, or father and son combinations like Paul and Tommy Carberry…
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Keeping it local – a key part of the Boylesports Irish Grand National story
They say home is where the heart is. Seldom if ever has an adage been more applicable than in the case of the Boylesports Irish Grand National, the 150th incarnation of which was launched in Dunboyne Castle Hotel this evening. Just think of some of the names associated with Ireland’s greatest race. The Moore family,…