Ali Keating has opened up about how ‘happy’ she is dating champion jockey, Rossa Ryan.
The daughter of Boyzone star Ronan Keating went public with the jockey at Ascot together earlier this summer, with Rossa going on to win the Copper Horse Stakes, riding the British horse, Daiquiri Bay that week.
Now the 20-year-old shared a snippet from inside her relationship with the Galway native, saying it’s nice to date someone who understands the industry she is also involved in.
Ali Keating debuts new man, Rossa Ryan. Pic: Ali Keating/Instagram
In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Ali said the couple are ‘very happy’ together, adding that it helps that the pair have so much in common with the horse racing industry.
She said: ‘Yeah, it’s great to… someone that you get on with in the sense of, you’re in the same industry and you have the same idea of things.
‘It was never a make or break for me, you know, but we definitely have something in common, which is great.
‘It takes a level of commitment. You have to understand both parts. There are times where we’re both busy and we both have a commitment. So it’s tricky, but yeah, we’re very happy. So it’s good.’
Ali Keating debuts new man, Rossa Ryan. Pic: Ali Keating/Instagram
Ali’s love of horses stems from her mother Yvonne Connolly, who has always been passionate about equestrian sports.
But in 2019, when Ali was 13-years-old, her mother suffered a serious fall off a horse. Yvonne was told she was in danger of losing her eye, her jaw was broken, her nose fractured, and her eye socket severely damaged.
‘It’s never a fear,’ she says of the aftermath of any fall. ‘I suppose the thing is, you look at any of the accidents we’ve had, or any of the injuries we’ve suffered — it’s not the horse’s fault. I’ve gotten to fall off a few bolder horses, and you would be sceptical getting back on those.
‘But I suppose you kind of look at it situationally and… No, we never have a fear because every situation is a freak situation. What happened to Mom was a freak accident that no one could have said was going to happen. So no, there was never a fear.’
Yvonne Connolly and Ali Keating at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby. Pic: Instagram
Referring to her mother’s fall, Ali said: ‘It was traumatic for her to go through, and it was scary for me to see her going through that.
‘But I never had a second’s doubt that she was not going to get on a horse after that. I knew she’d get back. When I walked into her in the hospital first, there’s… you’re nervous. Is there a brain injury?
‘(But) she asked me about something that happened out that day with another horse. She was worried about the horse’s welfare at the time. I thought, “oh, she’s alright then, she’s still worrying about other horses”. We’ve always had a love for horses, and even if one of us couldn’t ride again, it wouldn’t put us off horses.’