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With temperatures set to stay high over the coming weeks it will be a testing time for groundstaff and competitors alike.
In the last week alone we saw 28 non-runners at Cork on Tuesday due to significant going changes after heavy rain. Then on Wednesday the final race at Gowran Park was abandoned due to horses slipping on a bend in the previous contest, while on Thursday it was announced that three chases scheduled for a fixture at Clonmel on 5 June have been cancelled due to more issues with the going.
My Racing StorySponsored By Tote
I'm from just outside Kells, Co Meath and I suppose racing has always been a passion of mine. I do love the sport, and it is brilliant to make a career out of it now. My family are huge racing fans and I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Racing is a highly discussed topic at home with my family as well as farming. The racing is never off the TV. We take an annual family holiday to Galway every year. We go down for the week, and I've been going since I was a child. It is a proper family tradition now. We have going to the same house for the races I'd say for 14 or 15 years now. There are so many bedrooms there and some of my friends from home come down towards the weekend. It is a proper good holiday, and it is always in our calendars every single year. We were in Punchestown recently after Fairyhouse, so we would be big supporters of going racing. My parents are farmers, so I wouldn't have a close association with horses. I grew up on the farm, and I've been surrounded by animals all of my life. I know at first hand the effort, work and dedication that goes into animals and caring for them. I would have helped dad out on the farm alongside my two brothers. We still try to give a hand when time allows. We've no horses here on the farm, but I'm extremely confident that we will one day! I used to do a bit of riding when I was younger at my local equestrian centre. Things just got in the way then, but last summer I took it back up as a hobby. I'm really enjoying that again.
Irish Guineas Weekend Review
The Irish Angle panel discuss all the big talking points and performances from Irish Guineas Weekend and further afield during the past week.
By Stuart Howden - BAIANA made a winning seasonal reappearance in a maiden at Sligo and can score again as she makes her handicap debut. In action for the first time since October of last year, she made most of the running to win at the beginning of the month, again finishing ahead of Jackie Jump Up who now takes her on for the third time. Stone Bear has two wins over a distance close to this at Dundalk to her name and put up another fine performance when a close third over five furlongs at Naas last time. She is sure to appreciate the step back up in trip and is certainly another to note along with top-weight Treasured Royal who ran a big race of her own at Naas on her most recent outing.