It seemed to slip under the radar somewhat, but the results of a Red C opinion poll on horse racing, released on Wednesday, made for interesting reading.
ll categories were positive for the sport, but the headline figure was that 40pc of those polled last February expressed an interest in it. This marked a significant increase from last year’s 23pc.
Like any other sector, the industry has suffered significant body blows due to Covid-19, but there may be some longer-term gains as the sport has been one of the few to be consistently active since last June, often having no competition from other live sport while the action is televised.
In recent months, some wonderful narratives of the underdog prevailing have captured the imagination.
Rachael Blackmore’s heroics in the saddle and the Fairyhouse Grade 1 triumph of Shark Hanlon’s £600 purchase for the Birdinthehand Syndicate, Skyace, are just two examples.
Another is the progression of the Gavin Cromwell-trained Flooring Porter from a lowly handicapper to the status of champion staying hurdler.
“I’ve a brother-in-law over the road from me and he’s like a child waiting for Punchestown,” explains Ned Hogarty, one of the quartet of Galwegians who make up the Flooring Porter Syndicate, of the impact their star has had on family, neighbours and the locality.
“Before this, he wouldn’t look out over the wall at horse racing. He’s caught the bug.
“My own father, since Flooring Porter won in Cork, he’s watching the racing, watching Seán Bán Breathnach on TG4 of a Sunday. In all my life, I’ve never seen him watching, but now he’s watching. I’ve a young lad myself here (Ned Jnr) on about handicapping and what not, and he’s reading a book by Henrietta Knight. It isn’t an easy read, but he’s doing it.
“It’s caught the imagination. School teachers, everyone. He’s a focal point. He’s a money-spinner round here. Plenty of housewives had him backed at Cheltenham. He’s left a few quid in everyone’s pockets and in uncertain times, he gave people a lift.”
Hogarty is joined in the syndicate by his close friend Alan Sweeney, Sweeney’s father Tommy, and Tommy’s brother-in-law, Kerril Creaven. He runs a flooring and DIY business himself (Hogarty’s Flooring and DIY in Ballinasloe, and Carpets and Flooring Direct in Galway), while the Sweeneys are publicans.
The name comes from the combination of their professions, with the black and white colours representative of their beverage of choice.
They bought Flooring Porter after Hogarty befriended Cromwell on Facebook and then spotted a post that the Meath handler had two unbroken horses for sale. So they ventured east, liked what they saw and began an eventful journey.
The son of Yeats failed to trouble the judge in his opening four appearances but is six from 11 since.
After he trounced The Bosses Oscar by 12 lengths in a Navan handicap at the beginning of December, Cromwell suggested to them it would be worth putting up the €10,000 supplementary entry fee to get Flooring Porter into the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown, to find out what they had.
As usual, Jonathan Moore was in the plate and the pair never saw another rival, leaving a high-class field in their wake.
Yet he still went off an even bigger price of 12/1 in the Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle. It was a repeat story, however, with one slight twist.
“He should be getting the respect he deserves now. It’s fantastic what he did. To go from the front is not easy and he done it. The story grew legs then with Jonathan missing out through injury and Danny (Mullins) slotting in. I was disappointed for Jonathan but it’s just the way it was,” says Hogarty.
“From the Sunday evening (when he had the fall in Naas), I was texting Jonathan to see if he was alright. He said he’d be fine. He was getting out of hospital. He sent me a picture of his back and it wasn’t looking good. I said: ‘Will you be alright?’ He said: ‘Nothing will stop me.’
“He flew out Wednesday morning. He sent me a video early Thursday morning of him cantering on Flooring Porter. I went on ITV with Oli Bell and when I got off that Zoom thing, Gavin rang and says, ‘Jonathan won’t be riding’. So it happened in that time frame.
“I spoke to him afterward and said: ‘Look, you’ll be there again.’ He was very disappointed obviously. But it became a bit more of a personal story as people said, ‘wasn’t he great to welcome him back like that?’ No hard feelings sort of job. And Danny behaved himself very well after the race as well, saying Jonathan deserved the credit. So it’s fed into the whole lot of it.
"Danny was very good. He was motionless. His elbows were almost touching at one stage. I thought he was very good. The horse settled so well. He seems to be maturing with every run and improving.
“He’s rated 165 now. Imagine that. I says to the boys, ‘we’ve a handicapper there rated 95 that’s after improving five stone’. If you read it in a book, you wouldn’t believe it.”
Cromwell has reported Flooring Porter to have recovered well from his Cheltenham exertions, and the Ladbrokes Champion Stayers’ Hurdle at Punchestown on Thursday is the target, where Moore will return to the saddle.
“Gavin would be a laid-back sort of a bloke but he says he’s sound and all roads lead to Punchestown. That was the thoughts immediately afterwards. Aintree was never taken seriously. To be honest, there’s better money in Punchestown and there’s only so many days you can go to the well. And sure we’re delighted. The only negative as we all know, is that we can’t go.
“If he were to win, which I think he should barring incident, to have a horse to win three Grade 1s in a row, and the way he’s done it. I said to the lads, there’s no-one in the west of Ireland that owns a horse has ever done this before. There wouldn’t be too many in the country.”
Having been racing enthusiasts all their lives and been involved at various levels of ownership over the years, Hogarty, the Sweeneys and Creaven understand that they are at the heart of a fairytale, beating off horses owned by some of racing’s most wealthy and influential patrons, such as JP McManus, Gigginstown House Stud and Rich Ricci, with a cheaply acquired horse advertised on Facebook.
“We are treasuring this but it’s still hard to believe. You’d wake up there some mornings and think: ‘165. Did this happen?’ There’s €300,000 in the bank. This is phenomenal.
“When you go buy a horse, you say, ‘if I can win in Kilbeggan or Sligo or Roscommon, Galway would be the upper end of it, I’d be happy’.
“I’d advise anybody to get involved with like-minded people. I’ve been involved in horses before with people with expectations, but you have to be realistic. There are two Grade 1 winning owners in south Roscommon, the Skyace lads, they’re only over the road. And you have us.
“It goes to show, you don’t have to be a sheikh to win a Grade 1.”
