BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: One dream coming true keeps another one alive

My niece Ciara graduated from university shortly before Christmas. As well as obviously being a very proud day, it brought back many memories. For it was nearly 21 years to the day yours truly rolled up the long hall in the RDS decked out in the usual gown (which kept getting caught under my wheels) to collect the all important scroll.

I was always destined to be a sports writer, from the time I taught myself how to type on a Canon typewriter before seven years had been officially clocked up. If the ball had broken differently in life, it would absolutely have been farming. That it soon will be again - in some shape or form - will give me a burst of happiness which only meeting the good lady could match. It’ll be the last promise to Da kept as well.

Anyway, having taken the circuitous route to third level education, I ended up in Ballyfermot College Of Further Education. For my thesis a survey of the wheelchair accessibility of as many inter county GAA grounds as it was possible to visit. Some have improved drastically, many have plenty of ground to make up. To invoke a bit of horse racing parlance for reasons which will become obvious very quickly, Croke Park has gone from refusing to race at all to co-operating under duress but remaining tailed off.

However, none of the above is the epicentre of this week’s offering. You see, one of the assignments in our final year was to interview somebody “famous” and get it published in our local media. Being around a fortnight out from the Cheltenham Festival, there was only one man on planet Earth I’d any interest in talking to - Noel Meade.

It’s often said that life is a case of who you know rather than what you know. Never was there a more apt illustration of that than in this case.

Also in that journalism hDip graduating class was Mark Grassick - son of former dual purpose trainer Michael and brother of the current one of the same name - and through him contact was established with Noel.

Ever the gentleman, the master of Tu Va came up as far as the County Club - Lord rest its wonderful soul - and gave me a precious couple of hours of his time.

Thereafter, the then sports editor and the team in this paper obliged me by publishing the piece with by-line included. Moreover, Noel and I kept in touch thereafter and, like the kid in the sweet shop, having a horse in training with Noel went from ambitious dream to manic obsession.

Alas, it never did come to fruition. His advice at the time was to put a syndicate of no more than six together. But no matter what angle it was approached from, there was a shortfall of two which could never be bridged.

Years later, Da became great friends with retired undertaker Ollie Cunningham. Ollie was horse mad, but very hard of hearing, so the boss here got into the habit of accompanying him down to Tom Taaffe’s yard in Straffan.

Other than that, when it came to checking entries and declarations or going into the parade ring on race days, these wheels were dispatched into action.

To my utmost regret, that was as far as it went with regard to racehorse ownership. No secret will be made of the fact, either, that one was rightly cheesed off when several local syndicates were being formed and not so much as a look was cast in this direction.

However, it’s a long road that has no turn. At some stage during the summer, whilst dealing with one of three unwanted meetings with Covid-19, by way of easing the tedium of isolation, the possibility of investing in one of the large, well established syndicates was investigated.

Very quickly though, it became apparent that to buy into one of the preferred groups - Closutton Racing Club (Willie Mullins) or Elite Racing Club or the Million In Mind Partnership or Syndicates Racing - you’d want, excuse the pun, big bucks.

Admittedly, almost as a last resort, the website of Owners Group Racing was dropped in upon. Now, I’d heard of the group, seen Pentland Hills winning at the Cheltenham Festival in the lilac and black silks and recall being absolutely gobsmacked watching on TV as hordes of people bedecked in the winning colours flooded into the most famous Winners’ Enclosure in racing.

More than that though, listening to Tom Stanley of Racing TV interview some of the ordinary folk explain how easy and affordable it was to get involved planted a seedling here.

One which, in all honesty, like a good potato tuber, was covered with straw and forgotten about until being brought back to light and life while isolating.

Without going into too much detail, investments were speculated in a few steeds - in different yards - and, after rattling the crossbar on a few different occasions, Saturday last saw Swift Hawk hit the bullseye for Owners Group 125 (the 125th syndicate opened by the Group) when smartly taking a Juvenile hurdle at Taunton for Paul Nicholls.

Now, before anybody gets worried about yours truly entering the realms of the great Limerick man, it would be generously estimated that the few speculations I’ve made amount to little more than hairs in rear ends!

Still, no apology will be made for accentuating the buzz felt at receiving the text from the Owners Group app stating: “Congratulations on your first winner as a member of Owners Group Racing”.

If there is one great pity - and this is solely down to my personal circumstances - it’s that with all the horses being trained in the UK, it remains to be seen whether any of them will ever be seen in the flesh.

Then again, that in itself has prompted another tuber being covered over with straw. Never say never…