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Ante-Post contenders for jump season championship races
Who would have thought that an analogy about chaos theory: “If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away” would resonate so well with the situation horse racing finds itself in today?
Last week the British Government announced a rather modest 5% hike in the tax rate on slot machines. It turns out that this apparently insignificant budget measure is predicted to have a dramatic impact on the future finances of horse racing, not only across Britain, but also in Ireland.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from a town called Randalstown in Co Antrim and I grew up with horses all my life. My dad had horses and then my sister Megan rode when she was younger. She was out in Australia for a few years and was the first female to win a jumps race at the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival aboard Lord Pierro in 2022. I followed in their footsteps - it was hunting and pony club when I was growing up.
I started off at Ian Fergusons yard; he was only 20 minutes away from me and Megan worked in the yard at the time. I started there on Saturday mornings and rode an odd horse, mucked out, and generally learnt about racing. Ian was a great man to learn from, and I even went on to do sales work for him. I saw another side of racing through that. My first point-to-point ride was at Farmacaffley in February 2022 for Jamie Sloan. Jamie worked in Ian's yard when I started there and then took over the yard. I worked alongside him.
By John O'Riordan - GUNNERY SERGEANT(3) looks to have been presented with a decent opportunity to register a first career success. Despite failing to get his head in front to date, the Gordon Elliott-trained gelding has been placed on a number of occasions including his latest two starts. With an official rating of 102, he sets the standard in an ordinary affair. On the balance of form, the six-year-old looks the one to beat. Beeverstown Boy, who finished a place behind the selection at Sligo last time, rates the biggest threat. Having only his second run on that occasion, he is open to plenty improvement. Kiltinan looks best of the remainder.
