'It was fairly surreal' - Irish dad and daughter ride in same race
But one story has caught the attention of the racing public more than one in the past week - the remarkable tale of how one dad and his daughter took each other on in the same race.
Sarah and Patrick Breen rode horses against each other in the closing Majestic Hotel Flat Race at Tramore last Friday — one of only a handful of times a father and daughter have ridden in the same race in the history of horse racing in Ireland.
For the record Patrick won the battle of the Breens, finishing third on the 28/1 chance Lord Lackendarra, while daughter Sarah took sixth of the nine runners aboard fellow 28/1 chance Goodmancon.
Both horses are trained by Patrick at the family's yard near Dungarvan in Waterford
Sarah spoke to Horse Racing Ireland this week and reflected on what was one of the more unusual moments to happen on an Irish racecourse this year.
'It was fairly cool when we pulled up," she said. "I knew turning up the straight that I wasn't going to beat him this time.
'He was fairly happy, and I was as happy as I could be seeing as he finished in front of me!
'It was fairly surreal pulling into the parade ring together.
What made the race even more unbelievable was dad Patrick hadn't ridden a horse in a race for 23 years - his last outing in the saddle coming at Gowran Park back in 2002.
He also lost over three stone to make the 11st 7lbs weight that Lackendarra had to carry at Tramore.
'That was always dad's goal, he wanted to ride against me, so it was always the plan to ride against each other when he took out the license,' added 18-year-old Sarah.
'I didn't see it any different until we weighed out. We ride out together every day, so I didn't take any notice of him until we were both in the same colours, then it dawned on me that we were racing against each other in an actual race.
'We are fairly competitive at home, so it was a bit annoying now that he finished in front of me, but I'll definitely get him the next day. He's been soaking it up - I didn't hear the end of it on the way home!'
Parents riding against their own children is very rare in Irish racing.
Mrs Maureen Mullins, the late mother of Willie, famously rode one winner on the track when beating her daughter Sandra in a Gowran Park contest in 1982 while it's believed Rosemary Rooney competed against her dad Willie many years ago.
Niall McCullagh and his son Scott have also competed against each other in recent times but a father and daughter is extraordinarly rare.
'I didn't really think it was going to happen, I thought it was an unrealistic goal but when we found a race in Tramore we thought it would be ideal because both horses had course form and it's our local track. We said it would be best to go there," added Sarah.
"He had to do a lot of work to get back riding. He put in a lot of work at home as well as getting the horses ready. Getting both horses ready for the same race is not that easy.'
Sarah played Ladies football for Waterford at underage level and still plays for her local club Clashmore, but it's a career as an amateur jockey that she's set her sights on now.
'I would have been point-to-pointing since I was about two weeks old, dad always had point-to-pointers at home.
'We have a schooling lane as well, so we would have a lot of jockeys coming riding. Seeing that growing up made me want to become a jockey. Dad supported me and pushed me to be as good as I could be and to get my license.
'The goal is to be an amateur jockey. I always wanted to be a jockey, growing up being surrounded by it. We come from a racing family, on both sides of my family we had horses involved.'
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