Rachael Blackmore has ended her ground breaking career after 16 years in the saddle, 10 of which were as a professional.  She won every major race in her chosen sport. Becoming the first woman to win the Grand National and winning 18 races in Cheltenham including the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup and will be forever linked to that wonderful mare Honeysuckle whom she partnered many times.

She had many traits that stood to her, extremely competitive, a canny knack of knowing how to win the big race, being in the right place at the right time, of course she credits her career to this very thing.

She will bow out at the top of her sport with a win in Cheltenham back in March on Bob Olinger as well as some strong showings at Aintree and Punchestown a few weeks ago.

She gained the admiration of her peers and put many of them in their place by showing grit and determination on the big occasion to win the big race. She comes from a non-racing background as her Dad was a framer while her Mam was a school teacher from Killeneaule in Tipperary.

She went pony racing and used those skills when required in the National Hunt scene. She has been professional since 2015 and will always be linked to trainers like John “Shark” Hanlon, Henry De Bromhead, Willie Mullins to name three she was involved with many times on the big day.

She has a good strike rate when winning Grade 1 races winning 33 in the course of her career. She showed how ice cool she was when winning on Honeysuckle, Minella Times, Bob Olinger, A Plus Tard as well as many more.

She defiantly has opened doors for other women to follow in her footsteps in the years to come. It is great that she has the chance to call time on her career under her own steam and not have an injury dictate when she bows out.

From a personal perspective, I was fortunate to interview Rachael after her achievements in Aintree and Cheltenham and I thank well known Racing Photographer Pat “Cash” Healy for vouching for me and then Rachael for giving of her time to chat with me.

It has been fantastic to see her live in Listowel every June and September as well as on TV over the past 10 years. Watching her win on Honeysuckle in particular gave me great pleasure.

She bows out as not just Grand National winning jockey but also a trailblazer who has set the template for others to follow. She took on the very best in her chosen sport and didn’t just compete, she went one better and beat her peers on the big day multiple times.

Wishing you all the best in whatever might be next Rachael and thank you for the memories….

Listowel Race week is upon us again, 7 days of fun and frolics with racing somewhere in the middle. The big race of the week will happen on Wednesday with the Guinness Kerry National worth €200,000 will be on offer.

Ryan Moore will ride in Listowel for the first time in his illustrious career on Tuesday. In the words of JB Keane, “ Listowel Races is a state of mind” and when the meeting kicks off and for a few weeks before hand you can see just that because the build-up goes on for a number of weeks for all the business in the town.

Listowel’s famed Harvest festival takes on a life of its own. Many people return year in, year out to meet old acquaintances and make new friendships. Several thousand people make the pilgrimage including this author who has been going since the late 90s.

My love of horse racing has a lot to do with this race meeting and certain people involved in the meeting like Pat Healy of Healy Racing photography fame and his extended family.

My mother’s working life was spent in Listowel so there again meant another link to the meeting. It is a meeting that means a lot and every year I feel like I am renewing my love of the Sport.

Another family that drove my love of national hunt racing are the Coolahan family where the late Mike Joe Coolahan’s love of the equine industry rubbed off on yours truly as well as his son Michael who was a farrier for many years and daughter Eleanor who spent time working in a few stable yards over the past 20 years.

His granddaughter Anna is also involved in the industry so you can see that one man’s drive and passion can have far reaching effects on those around him, including those not directly related to him like myself but having spent many years in his company you cannot be but impacted positively by his love of all things equine.

Many people make the effort to go for one day at least and they enjoy the fun and games attached to a day at the Races.

I know it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but for the most part there is something for everyone in Listowel as they have tried in recent years to up there game in terms of attracting new people that may not have any interest in the racing side of things.

From a personal point of view, I love the week. It has meant a lot to me. Meeting my first sport hero Charlie Swan back in 1998 is still a moment I treasure and hold dear. That happened thanks to Pat Healy and my Mam and it is a photo I will always look at fondly..

Meeting Rachael Blackmore last year was also a highlight as I had interviewed her back in 2021 during Covid times about her fantastic achievements at Cheltenham and winning the Grand National.

Enjoy the next week and what comes with it….

The Olympics opening ceremony is on Friday throughout the city of Paris but the men’s and women’s 7s Olympic rugby tournament begins this afternoon with the men’s competition that will see 12 of the best men’s side face off and then tomorrow the 12 best women’s teams do likewise.

Ireland will have a side in either draw, the men open there campaign this evening when they face South Africa at 4.30pm and they will also play Japan at 8pm tonight. The men conclude their group by taking on New Zealand tomorrow afternoon at 3.30pm. Ireland are in Pool A with South Africa, New Zealand and Japan.

Amazing that the opening ceremony will only take place on Friday and a number of Olympians will have ended their respective competitions but such is life I suppose and it is down to scheduling. The men’s and women’s teams have been very competitive on the World stage in the years since the 7s programme was re-established within the rugby community in Ireland.

Hugo Keenan is one star from the 15s game in the Olympics this year but of course the real star quality, the man that will have people tuning in will be French star Antoine Dupont who has been in around the 7s side since the new season started in earnest after the RWC back in September and he made it known he wanted to go and play in a home Olympics for France.

This season has seen him win in club colours another Champions Cup title and a Top 14 trophy and he will hope to add Olympic Gold to this year’s haul. He made his 7s debut in Canada and was a key cog for them in that leg of the World series, showing off his true array of skills in the shortened form of the game.

The game is only 14 minutes long and has all the rules of the 15s game although the scrum is only 3v3. It will hopefully draw a big audience and as Ireland captain Harry Mc Nulty said it’s an honour to kick off the 2024 Olympics.

Ireland carry 166 athletes to this Olympics and we have a number of medal hopes and with a positive start today against South Africa, they will be off and running in a good manner…. If things come together this group could deliver our best medal haul. Olympic medals are a rare commodity on this Island so whatever the sport get behind this group of 166 athletes. The could deliver very special moments over the next 19 days…

  Hi Emma, It was great to make contact with you on Twitter…     Can you tell me how you got started out as a session wrestler ? I was yet working as a dominatrix for about 6 ,7 years before I started with mixed wrestling Because I have a muscular body more and more people began to ask me for mixed wrestling. One day a client told me he had a mixed wrestling company that was the first thing I heard about it. and I didn’t t give it much attention. About a year later I started bjj and was very excited about it Started to advertise for the mixed wrestling sessions and tour across europe. Now most of my sessions are mixed wrestling or muscle worship.       How do you keep yourself in shape ? I train every day, often twice a day (gym + bjj) and eat healthy I don’t believe in diets, if you can’t do it forever it s kind of senseless in my opinion happily I love healthy things   so yes lots of vegetables, oats ,salads, eggs I am vegetarian for 31 year well ,5 years  the following 16 years I started to eat fish once in a while no pizza no fries no sauces or prepared dishes or desserts so yes just clean things.           What sort of diet if any do you follow ? I train every day, often twice a day (gym + bjj) and eat healthy I don’t believe in diets, if you can’t do it forever it s kind of senseless in my opinion happily I love healthy things   so yes lots f vegetables, oats ,salads, eggs i m vegetarian for 31 year well ,5 years  the following 16 i started to eat fish once in a while no pizza no fries no sauces or prepared dishes or desserts   so yes just clean things   Do you mainly do work at home or do you travel to other places ? I am living in Romania where there basically are no clients at all, so I am dependent on travel i usually travel a week every  month  or 3 weeks when it s intercontinental    Can you tell me three things that people will not know about you ? I used to be a painter and hope to find the time and peace someday to return to that for those that didn’t t know yet, I am moving to the US this year so for the people who had me on their wishlist in EU, don’t wait too long and I have very cute burbs, someone told me to mention 🙂       Lastly Emma, what are the hopes for the future ? Professionally i want to work with lot more other sessionwrestlers and companies than I had the chance so far   but I hope a move will  definitely help with that as well   I hope to compete again and live happily ever after   Thank you for taking time out to chat to me in these strange times !!        

The much vaunted career of Ruby Walsh drew to a successful conclusion yesterday evening after 24 years in the saddle where he steered Kemboy to victory in the 2019 Coral Punchestown Gold Cup. He had the chance to partner some of horse racing finest over that 24 years. Horse racing is not everyone’s cup of tea but Ruby’s career has to be recognised as he won 12 Irish Jockey Championships and won 59 races in Cheltenham, the Olympics of Jump racing.

He worked for 2 very powerful yards , namely Paul Nicholls in England and Willie Mullins in Ireland, combing both jobs for a large period of time in the mid 2000’s. He won the Aintree Grand National twice in 2000 and again in 2005.

I have had the pleasure of seeing this man use his skills at the famed September meeting in Listowel. He along with Sir Anthony Mc Coy, Barry Geraghty, Davy Russell and Richard Johnston in England are some of the best National Hunt Jockeys you will ever see. Forget this talk that Ruby was only good in his generation, he was one of the best ever.

Yes he didn’t always get his tactics spot on but such is life, we can’t always get things right. But to watch Ruby in action was always a pleasure and he and Willie Mullins made a formidable team at Cheltenham in particular where the opening day of the Festival had been nicknamed “Ruby Tuesday” such was his high success rate on the opening day.

He has managed to stay top of his game for such a long time is a testament to his skill and of course the calibre of horse he had at his disposal. To win Leading Jockey 11 times in Cheltenham in some achievement and yes many will say “but sure he had great horses, but they won’t go very far without the right pilot on board”.

He will now move onto new projects hinting that he may look to work with English based racing channel Racing TV and keep up his work with other well known brands. He has already stated that training won’t be his radar at the moment as he wants to try his hand at other things first.

Over the last 24 hours, many well known figures have heaped praise on him and what he has managed to do over 24 years. He will know most likely see his position taken by Paul Townend and Willie’s son Patrick along with his nephews Danny and David who will try and carry on the terrific work done by all at Willie Mullins base in Co Carlow.

This will not be an easy job to replace some one of Ruby’s calibre but Paul Townend has already shown he is more than capable of doing the job of winning on the big day and so have the three Mullins boys so Willie can take solace from that.

Congrats on a great career in the saddle Ruby, all the very best in the next chapter…… I’ll let you off the €20 you cost me at the 2018 Listowel Festival…..

Hi Katrina, we first spoke in 2013 when your appearance as a Maor Uisce for Wexford during a Championship game sparked a unique response as to who was the mystery lady carrying water for them was….

Having won four Camogie All Ireland’s with Wexford, how did it feel to win the 2018 Continental Tyres FAI Cup in the Aviva Stadium which meant you completed a treble winning League, FAI Cup and Leinster Senior Cup medals, how did that feel after the win on Sunday ?

It was an amazing feeling.  It was so special as I had not played in the Aviva before and had been looking forward to it – then to come away with the win that’s what dreams are made of.

How did come to sign for Wexford Youths, what prompted the change in direction ?

 I had decided to take a year or so off from Camogie as I had found I had lost my appetite, there were days I went out and thought what am I doing!    My mam had been diagnosed with breast cancer and I continued playing so maybe that was the catalyst that made me evaluate where I was going.   So, my plan was to take time out.  But when it was announced I wouldn’t be playing camogie I was approached by the Wexford Ladies Football manager and the Wexford Youths manager to sign for them.    The rest is history, I decided that maybe a change of code was just what I needed.

What was it like playing in the Champions League earlier this year, can you explain the format of how the group phase was played as it was played over a week in Belfast ?

 The Champions League was such a learning curve from my perspective. You learn so much participating in such a prestigious tournament against professional teams.

The format was ten group winners and the two runners-up with the best record against the sides first and third in their section proceeded to the 17^th August draw for the round of 32 to join the 20 teams given byes.  Wexford Youths were in Group 1 with Ajax (NED), Thor/KA (ISL) and Linfield (NIR hosts)

Having moved from GAA to Soccer, have you any future plans to move to any other sports ?

Not at the moment, I’m really enjoying my soccer. But I would love to give Rugby a go before my playing career is over. Just love the physical aspect of rugby.

Have you any burning ambitions you’d like to achieve while playing for Wexford Youths ?

 Retaining everything we have achieved this year and going further in the Champions league would be a burning ambition.

 

 

How do you find the change between different sports, did you find it easy to make the switch between one to the other ?

 I had always played soccer in the winter months to keep me fit for camogie -but not at the level of Wexford Youths.   I received an Ireland Cap for U19 when I was 16 but had chosen camogie at that stage.    The first year with Youths was difficult, the girls were streets ahead of me in fitness and skill level.  I worked hard to bring my game up and compete for a place on the team – I did a lot of gym work to get myself fitter and stronger.

 

If the chance to turn professional was offered like signing for a AWFL side in Australia like Cora Staunton has done and others, would you consider the move ?

 I don’t think so but never say never.   I’m a bit of a home bird

 

How do you like to relax and get away from Sport ?

 I don’t think I relax much.   I love gardening, so I find that relaxing even though it can be physical.    I like walking and have recently got more into hill/mountain walks.   We have an amazing country and its lovely to get out there and enjoy it.  Of course being in Wexford surrounded by beaches I love taking the dogs down for a run.

 

Who are the people you to for support when times get tough on the field of play or in life ?

 My mam & dad, my brother Kieran & sister Sinead, my grandad has such a wise head and gives me great advice   My best friend Roisin is always there for me, so I have a wonderful support system.  My team mates we are such a tight knitted unit (family) and are always there for each other.

 

Who were your heroes growing up ?

 Una O’Dwyer Camogie Player Tipperary

The Rock

Paul Scholes

Have you any plans for the future ?

I am hoping to apply for the garda in their next recruitment drive.

 

 

Thanks Katrina for taking time out to chat with me… All the best in the future….

Weekend Sport Review

What weekend of sport we have witnessed with numerous Irish sports stars in action across many sports. Whether it was athletics, GAA, football, hockey and any other sport that took place this weekend, you would have been well catered for.

Hockey has burst into the public conscience over the last few weeks with the terrific performances of the Irish team in England at the World Cup. The display of Graham Shaw’s squad has brought much needed attention to another minority sport.

The march to the World Cup Final was made all the more special by the fact that the squad are amateur and are in day jobs or they are in college. Like many amateur sides they make many unknown sacrifices to make their dreams possible.

In Game 1 they defeated the USA 3-1 and got there campaign off to the best possible start from there they beat India 1-0 and in the Final group game they were beaten by the World Cup host’s England 1-0. In the quarter final they beat India 3-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, in the semi final they defeated Spain 3-2 on Penalties after an exciting 1-1 draw. Then cue massive celebrations, Ireland made a first ever World Cup Final in any sport male or female.

This is unfortunately where the fairytale results ended with the Netherlands crushing Ireland 6-0 in the Final to win a ninth World Crown. This of course should not take away from what has been a great two weeks for this team.

They came into this tournament dreaming of some big results and stunning some of the so called bigger nations, they did that and more over the last two weeks. The questions of funding and other issues will be highlighted over the coming days with large amounts media coverage from home and abroad.

Let’s hope that the decision makers at Sports Ireland will now sit up and take note of the achievements and at least this may now put there issues to the powers that be and they may just be able to air some grievances. The last two weeks has put the sporting imbalance back to the forefront of people’s minds.

Of course the European Championships are taking place since last Friday in Glasgow and Berlin, they will continue until this Friday. 7 sporting organisations have come together to make this Championship work.  It is another chance for our athletes to win medals. Shane Ryan won European bronze in the Pool over the weekend, The O Donovan brothers won European silver in the double skulls.

Over the last few days, many Irish athletes have achieved what they set out to achieve along with the Hockey side who will admit while they would have hoped to achieve certain goals they certainly did that and more by winning World Silver.

Looking to the next few days our athletes will get ready for track action and they will hope to make in impact like the hockey side has just done. It is now defiantly time for the so called “minority” sports in Ireland to rise up and make a statement of intent for the future…..

The weekend belongs to the Hurlers of Galway , camogie players of Tipperary and Galway , the Hockey stars who won Silver in London , the O Donovans who also won Silver and Shane Ryan who won Bronze in the swimming pool… These are the moments in sport we as followers dream of so drink it in, because these days are few and far between….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

06/08/2018