Mick Fitzgerald tells Oli Bell of the horses and races that first fired his passion for the sport of horse racing.
Mick Fitzgerald: Why I got hooked on racing
I'm going to choose two races if I may.
My first one is the 1984 Derby at Epsom. It was a race won by Secreto with El Gran Senor in second. The runner-up was thought to be the second coming, he was trained by Vincent O’Brien, owned by Robert Sangster and ridden by Pat Eddery. It looked like the race was his.
He looked like an aeroplane this colt when winning the 2000 Guineas, and travelled supremely well at Epsom but little did they know that Christy Roche, the whirlwind, on the outside aboard Secreto had a shock in store.
He was trained by Vincent’s son David and battled tenaciously to win by a short-head. I remember being completely captivated by it and it also acted as a reminder that the underdog can have his day.
The other one as far as jumping goes was Dawn Run winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
It was a race that a huge effect on me personally. It was 1986, Ireland was on its knees and that mare did something that just picked the whole country up.
It was the headline story on the news and a big day for everybody.
