The annual Cheltenham festival goes centre stage this week and a young Laois woman will have a ringside experience as she continues her apprenticeship in the horse-racing world.
Holly Dunne from Portlaoise is an apprentice jockey, based with Henry de Bromhead in Waterford, and is part of his team in the Cotswalds all week.
Dunne, who is the daughter of Dom and Michelle Dunne, already has had a winner for de Bromhead aboard ‘Plan of Attack’ in Punchestown two weeks ago.
That was a first winner for the 21-year-old, who began her horse-riding career in the equestrian centre in Stradbally Hall as a five-year-old and later trained under Etta Hayes.
Holly is a twin of Ali and also has a younger brother Ben. She is a past student of Scoil Chríost Rí in Portlaoise.
Holly’s jockey’s licence currently isn’t sufficient to allow her to race at Cheltenham but she will be leading some of de Bromhead’s runners into the parade ring throughout the week.
It will be an incredible experience for the Portlaoise woman at the four-day festival that will attract over 200,000 spectators across the week.
‘Plan of Attack’, meanwhile, is listed to run in the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase on Friday at 4.40pm.
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