Irish Racing Yearbook 2016 now available

The Iish Racing Yearbook 2016 is the definitive Irish racing annual, covering the entire breadth of the thoroughbred industry, including point-to-points and breeding, with in-depth analysis of the sales and stallion figures. 

Featured are top Meath trainers Ger Lyons and Gordon Elliott amongst others that include David Wachman, Seamie Heffernan, Colm O’Donoghue, Aidan Coleman, Michael O’Callaghan and Hurricane Fly. 

There are many more interviews as well as statistics, race records and fixtures, making it essential reading for the racing enthusiast.

GER LYONS

“I have my opinions. They’re not always right. But I’m passionate about the sport.”

A quote from Kiltale-based trainer Ger Lyons that forms part of an interview in this year's publication.

Irish Racing Yearbook 2016 (€21.95/£19) is on sale now in all good newsagents and bookshops, and can be ordered by phone (056 7761504) or online (www.irishracingyearbook.com).

 

COVER STORY

Robbie McNamara is happy to sit on the sofa there, beside Andrew (McNamara). 

Sure enough, nimble as you like, he flicks himself out of his wheelchair and onto the couch before you have the chance to feel even a little awkward about helping or not helping, before you have even had the chance to offer to help. 

His brother sits down beside him, same smiles, similar blue shirts, same team, same hymn sheet.

“I remember looking at my legs after the fall,” Robbie is saying, “and they wouldn’t work. But it didn’t even register with me. I was just in so much pain in my chest. I couldn’t breathe, and I was more worried about that than my legs.

“Even when I got to Wexford Hospital, they were asking me to move my toes, and I couldn’t, but I couldn’t really think about that, I was just trying to breathe. It wasn’t until about three days later that I realised I was paralysed.”

You know it’s a dangerous job when there are two ambulances following you around and the realities of being a jockey struck home very starkly for Robbie McNamara when he was paralysed from the waist down in a fall on April 10.

As he details in Irish Racing Yearbook 2016, it took him some time to be aware of his long-term fate but longer still for it to sink in.

By his side in the course of an interview with leading racing writer Donn McClean, who has been nominated along with editor Daragh Ó Conchúir in the racing writer of the year category at the HWPA Derby Awards in London, older brother Andrew reveals that the family got through what he describes as a “grieving process” before Robbie recognised there was something to mourn.

In a no-holds-barred conversation, Robbie is very candid about the painful and sometimes humiliating process regaining a quality of life has been.

Now though, he is looking forward with optimism, regaining his independence. He intends to take what he has learned from the likes of Dermot Weld and Aidan O’Brien to establish himself as a trainer.

This is the path Andrew is taking too, having been fortunate enough to conclude his riding career on his own terms.

A hugely successful jockey who won at all the major festivals, Andrew is aware that the climate might not seem ideal for taking out a training licence but points out that the detractors told him he wouldn’t make it as a professional jump jockey either, given that he stands at north of six feet tall.

With 515 points in the Leaving Cert, there were plenty telling him he was insane to even try. But he did and he prospered.

The brothers have defied the odds and intend to do so again.

What comes across is their strength of character but most of all, the bond is very evident, strengthened no doubt by events of the past year.

Robbie is happy to sit on the sofa there, beside Andrew. Sure enough, nimble as you like, he flicks himself out of his wheelchair and onto the couch before you have the chance to feel even a little awkward about helping or not helping, before you have even had the chance to offer to help. His brother sits down beside him, same smiles, similar blue shirts, same team, same hymn sheet.
“I remember looking at my legs after the fall,” Robbie is saying, “and they wouldn’t work. But it didn’t even register with me. I was just in so much pain in my chest. I couldn’t breathe, and I was more worried about that than my legs.
“Even when I got to Wexford Hospital, they were asking me to move my toes, and I couldn’t, but I couldn’t really think about that, I was just trying to breathe. It wasn’t until about three days later that I realised I was paralysed.”
You know it’s a dangerous job when there are two ambulances following you around and the realities of being a jockey struck home very starkly for Robbie McNamara when he was paralysed from the waist down in a fall on April 10.
As he details in Irish Racing Yearbook 2016, it took him some time to be aware of his long-term fate but longer still for it to sink in.
By his side in the course of an interview with leading racing writer Donn McClean, who has been nominated along with editor Daragh Ó Conchúir in the racing writer of the year category at the HWPA Derby Awards in London, older brother Andrew reveals that the family got through what he describes as a “grieving process” before Robbie recognised there was something to mourn.
In a no-holds-barred conversation, Robbie is very candid about the painful and sometimes humiliating process regaining a quality of life has been.
Now though, he is looking forward with optimism, regaining his independence. He intends to take what he has learned from the likes of Dermot Weld and Aidan O’Brien to establish himself as a trainer.
This is the path Andrew is taking too, having been fortunate enough to conclude his riding career on his own terms.
A hugely successful jockey who won at all the major festivals, Andrew is aware that the climate might not seem ideal for taking out a training licence but points out that the detractors told him he wouldn’t make it as a professional jump jockey either, given that he stands at north of six feet tall.
With 515 points in the Leaving Cert, there were plenty telling him he was insane to even try. But he did and he prospered.
The brothers have defied the odds and intend to do so again.
What comes across is their strength of character but most of all, the bond is very evident, strengthened no doubt by events of the past year.