TV producer and racehorse owner David Keoghan has told TEN about the tough times he experienced making his racing documentary The Long Shot, which airs on RTÉ One next week.
Four years ago, Keoghan, the husband of author Cecelia Ahern, took a massive gamble using €500,000, which included his winnings from Lolly for Dolly at Royal Ascot, to buy and train six young horses in a bid to compete against the biggest names on the track.
Keoghan said he had doubts about telling the story in the documentary, which was three years in the making, as spending money on the crew and the upkeep of the horses always weighed heavy on his mind.
"I'd say exactly about a year-and-three-quarters into the documentary, some of the horses weren't performing. Other ones hadn't even ran yet because they were late 'maturers'. Two of them were fillies that we knew would only run as three-year-olds - and we bought them as two-year-olds - and the weather was terrible.
"There were times where it got pretty depressing, not to mention the actual cost of the documentary and paying to get a crew."
"It was all very, very last minute," he continued. "Obviously, making TV shows and films you can plan your day in advance, whereas I could only give them about three or four days notice before a horse was going to run and where it was going to run.
"It was a real challenge every time we made it to the racetrack. There were some dark moments, which feature in the documentary, which is probably why it's on at 9:30pm instead of 7:00pm."
David Keoghan (right) wins big at Ascot
Keoghan, who has two children with Ahern, said that while his wife of five years is extremely supportive of his racing lifestyle, she only makes a few appearances in the upcoming documentary.
"She didn't feature in it too much; she hadn't been to too many races. She had been to Royal Ascot when Lolly for Dolly won because that was such a big event, but on the day-to-day racing of me going to Tipperary or Downpatrick, I would go with friends or my trainer, or I would try to bring my kids along.
"Cecelia never said at any stage that she never wanted to be on camera, but the only times she did turn up, we got her on camera, because that was only three or four times."
You can watch The Long Shot on RTÉ One at 9:35pm on July 28.
Best-selling author Cecelia Ahern and husband David Keoghan married in 2010
