Robin Oakley

The secret of Ireland’s racing success

Irish racing is better structured than British to boost quality

The delightfully modest Henry de Bromhead, the first person ever to train the winners of the top three races at Cheltenham [Photo: MICHAEL STEELE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images] 
issue 03 April 2021

How Father Sean Breen would have loved this year’s Cheltenham Festival. The late parish priest at Ballymore Eustace, who owned a horse or two and had a pundit’s tipping spot on Kildare FM, used to complain that it was most inconsiderate of people to die in the Cheltenham run-up: over 40 years, it was only ever funerals that stopped him attending to conduct his usual service for his fellow Irish attendees, bless a few Irish horses and pray that the Almighty would leave enough in the bookmakers’ satchels for Irish punters to be paid out their winnings.

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