Blazing Saddles

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Linda Martin

The Bellewstown Race Festival opens on a bright, sunny June evening, and a large crowd gathers at the Meath venue for the first night of racing. The track overlooks the old Butlin's camp at Mosney and the nearby Irish Sea, it's Ladies Day, and a sizeable number of locals (including at least one male) come dressed to the nines.

Meanwhile, in the bowels of the venue, two contestants in RTÉ One's new reality show, Stars Go Racing, are waiting for their horses to arrive. Jean Byrne, the sartorially stunning weather presenter, and hotelier Francis Brennan, are the couple in question. The four other celebs involved are Eurovision winner Linda Martin (who we catch up with later at home), country singer Mike Denver, rugby player Alan Quinlan and TV presenter, Ella McSweeney.

The task for all six is to immerse themselves in the world of horse racing, learn from expert trainers, and it all culminates in an exclusive race at Dublin's Leopardstown, the Irish Champions Cup.
Between the start and finish of the series, the unlikely half-dozen will lead viewers through an industry whose workings are largely unknown to outsiders, even though Irish racehorses are perhaps the most renowned in the world.

Linda Martin (Trainer: David Marnane)

"I've always been around horses and had my own couple of horses, up until recently when they died. And then I got another one about four weeks ago and I started all over again. It was just coincidental that RTÉ phoned literally within days of the new horse arriving, and they said that they were doing this particular type of show and would I be interested. Is the pope a Catholic? Come on! It was one of those situations where they said, 'Okay, this is slightly different, as it's the racehorse training world.'

"So I said, okay, well I've no experience whatsoever of training horses, but would love to get involved with it. They explained that there are six pretty well-known people, and we go off to six different trainers around Ireland, and we don't actually ride the horses, we try to learn from the trainers.

"I arrived in Tipperary to David Marnane's place down in Bansha, and I literally thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I walked out the kitchen door of the hotel and there were 60 racehorses. And I just got stuck in and started working with the jockeys. We'd six o'clock starts and everything, but if they'd said five, or four o'clock starts, I wouldn't have cared.

"They are lovely people: so dedicated. You have to be dedicated. We were there in summer, which is lovely at six o'clock in the morning. But think about January, February, when it's freezing. The dedication that they put in is unbelievable. And the luxury the horses have is unbelievable.

"I've only been to a couple of race tracks and that was during the first part of filming - and talk about characters! It was great craic in Limerick and Clonmel. The camaraderie that they all have between them is something to behold.

"But what we're doing is asking for explanations so that the public at home who watch the show can go: 'So that's what that means.' Because the horse racing world's got a different terminology; like a different language. Every single thing about it is different, but having said that, I loved every minute of it. I asked questions 'tiI I was blue in the face.

"I know Mike Denver, the country singer. He's a nice fella. But I hadn't met Jean Byrne before, and I hadn't met Francis Brennan before. So Jean, Francis and myself, we clicked the first day. And I'm telling you, that's great craic. Great craic.

"I hope people enjoy it because it's a real eye-opener to another world."

Francis Brennan (Trainer: Joanna Morgan)

"I am a complete novice. Nobody could know less about horses than Francis Brennan. But I've learned a lot and I've absolutely enjoyed it. We've done three days in the stables and we were on the Curragh yesterday.

"I said to Joanna I don't know how a horse runs at all. There's so much going on, with everything in their lives. Their feet: they have socks to wear at night, which are bandages that they put on to keep their feet warm, so that the circulation stays down there. It seems that, over the centuries of breeding, the circulation isn't great into their legs sometimes. Then they have socks that are put on during the day, and then they have things that they put on them like bands, from their knee down which are warmed in a microwave and put on before they race. It's like the tyres on a Formula 1 car!

"When I was first approached I said yes straight away, because I knew nothing about horses, and I thought, isn't that great? Because I'm going to learn.

"The first day on camera I asked: 'What's a filly? What's a colt? What's a cob? What's a thoroughbred?' I asked all the questions that everybody wants to know. I asked about furlongs, I asked about handicapping, I asked all the questions that people like myself, who would hear all these things being mentioned all our lives, but not actually know what they are. Please God, I'll be educating Ireland on camera.

"I had the privilege - it was 25-30 years ago - of being in Lexington in Kentucky. I was Grand Marshal of the St Patrick's Day parade, and they looked after me so well. And while I was there people talked about geldings and fillies and colts and yearlings - and I didn't have a notion. So I was delighted to learn it all and I found the whole experience just fantastic.

"We opened the hotel in Kenmare in 1980, and the last time I was on a horse was the latter half of 1980, when we had a writer in from London who wanted to go riding and I dropped her at the stables. She said, 'Are you not coming?' She said, 'You have to go as I'll be on my own.' I'll never forget it: I had a pain in my head for a month, because, I'd say, my brains went up and down so much. I needn't tell you, I got a fright."

Jean Byrne (Trainer: Willie McCreery)

"I wasn't completely raw, but on the other hand I know very little about the horse racing industry. My mother used to love horses, so I was quite used to them as a child. I was also used to going to the uncle's pony and the next-door neighbour's and that, but apart from that, not really. I did take up horse riding a couple of years ago. I took some lessons, and hopefully I'll continue after this.

"The horseracing industry is very complicated, and there are loads of misconceptions about it, actually. So it'll be very interesting for the public to see what goes on behind the scenes. It's just so completely different to what people think.

"I had been asked to do other things before being invited to participate, but this one really, really appealed to me. And so I'd no hesitation in going for it almost immediately. I thought it would be really enjoyable and just very fascinating, and it has really proved really enjoyable and very fascinating. And great fun.

"I'm learning a huge amount. Obviously the trainers spend their lives learning the trade, and it's a very hard life, so I couldn't pick up that much in a few days. But I'm beginning to learn how complicated it is and I'm beginning to get a tiny insight. I am learning something - and there's an awful lot to learn.

"Being a novice doesn't bother me so far, because nobody expects me to know an awful lot about it. It's certainly fun working in it and being a part of it, and it's just brilliant being around the animals. It really is. Horses have a wonderful nature, there's a lovely vibe about them, and it's great being in the country with all the fresh air.

"Willie McCreery, who I'm working with, works really hard and he's really dedicated, and he does love the animals. I think there might be elements of the horseracing industry that perhaps have a bad reputation, but he has completely changed my mind. He does understand the horses and loves them.

"One thing that really surprised me is that I expected race horses to be very highly strung - that's what people say - but Willie's horses are really relaxed and curious, and I was able to wash them down and work with them. They were great. I do think that's something to do with the way Willie treats them, though.

"I really mean what I say there. I wouldn't say it if I didn't."

John Byrne