Now that I'm back riding out again I'm delighted to be able to continue my association with Moyglare Stud in an advisory role. It's wonderful still to be involved with such a great operation as Moyglare. Eva Bucher-Haefner has helped me so much through my career, as did her dad before her, and we've had some [...]

It was great to see Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) come back and make such a great start to her season at Sandown and it's been a while since I saw such scenes where people were running to catch a glimpse of her in the winners' enclosure with people five and six deep around the paddock. [...]

The Irish Derby was certainly a strange race to watch. From about the four-furlong marker I just had a sense that the leaders were gone. The chasing pack allowed the pacemakers plenty of rope but, that said, if you were Ryan Moore or Chris Hayes on the main two fancies, it would have been very difficult to pull [...]

It was a bit of a surreal week for me at Royal Ascot as regards seeing it from the other side of the fence, but I definitely enjoyed my three days at the Royal meeting and was fortunate to see some brilliant racing and some unbelievable performances on the racecourse. I'd like to reflect on a [...]

Being asked to be ambassador for the Longines Irish Champions weekend is really exciting for me and I'm very grateful to Horse Racing Ireland and the Longines Irish Champions Weekend committee for allowing me to do a lot of charitable work over that weekend as well.  This was something that I was really conscious that [...]

I've been really perturbed this week by the some of the abuse that has been aimed at young jockeys on social media. On occasion, things can go horribly wrong in races and jockeys can make mistakes, but it's hardly ever intentional. Jockeys want to be riding winners and earning their living but it's a fact [...]

I was delighted to see Seamie Heffernan win the Derby on Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) and I'm pretty sure that everyone in the weighing-room in Ireland, and in fact everyone in Irish racing, would not begrudge him that result. He's ridden so many great horses over the years at Ballydoyle, whether it's in the morning [...]

We had a great weekend of racing at the Curragh. Having the grand opening of the new stand made it a big day for Irish racing and it was great to see nearly all the investors there. Naming the stand after His Highness the Aga Khan was a poignant gesture. He's been a big supporter of [...]

Of course it was lovely to have all the plaudits after my retirement, along with various articles and appearing on TV shows, but I wouldn't have had the profile I have now without Dermot Weld. As I said previously, Dermot, Stan Cosgrove and Mr Haefner gave me the opportunity to ride good horses and our [...]

There have been positives and negatives that have come out of the reopening of the Curragh.  The first thing to say is that it is a magnificent facility. I was very taken by the finish of the interior: it's very classy. But there are some issues, especially that the owners' and trainers' facility is quite small, [...]

TDN's weekly columnist, the nine-time Irish champion jockey Pat Smullen, reflects on his career in the saddle as he makes an important announcement. I am using this week's column to let everyone know that I have made the decision to retire. I have had a frank discussion with my doctors and I gave them the [...]

   Nine-time Irish champion jockey Pat Smullen has joined the TDN team as our new weekly columnist to bring us invaluable insight on the racing and breeding scene as he continues his recovery from illness. The time has come now for the authorities to look at the weights for jockeys in order to accommodate the [...]