‘GUTSY JURY DUTY OWES US NOTHING’
Victory would be poignant for Collins family
JURY DUTY isn’t a member of Gordon Elliott’s equine elite but if he’s the last horse standing in today’s National Hunt Chase marathon, the postrace emotions will run as deep as any.
For this race is as much about one of the owners, the late Ciaran Collins, as it is about the gutsy seven-year-old.
It was Collins who cobbled together the splendidly-named Sideways Syndicate in 2009 and was the driving force as the Meathbased crew of friends enjoyed success under Gordon Elliott, first with Raajih and then Jury Duty.
Tragically, Ciaran was just 35 when struck down by cancer last autumn, and he passed away two days after Jury Duty won the Grade Two Florida Pearl Chase at Punchestown.
‘When we told Ciaran that Jury Duty had won, he was delighted,’ said Shane Collins, elder brother of Ciaran. ‘To lose him so quickly hit us all terribly hard.’
‘Robbie Power, a good friend of ours, rode Jury Duty that day and he was quite emotional afterwards; we all were.’
The remaining members of the syndicate, impishly named in honour of those fellas who walk sideways after a heavy night — there are plenty of them at Cheltenham — will be thinking of Ciaran as Jury Duty lines up for the fourmiler for amateurs today.
They’ve been here before, for the Pertemps Hurdle final last year where Jury Duty was a very decent third to Presenting Percy.
‘It’s great to be going back again. We all love our racing and to have a horse good enough to run there is massive. Gordon (Elliott) is a good friend and did us a huge favour sourcing Jury Duty for us,’ said Collins.
For €23,000, a snip by today’s big-spending standards, the Sideways Syndicate have landed a gem, as the ultra-consistent Jury Duty has won four races, and been placed nine times in 16 runs, banking winnings of over €140,000.
He’s raced twice at Cheltenham, where he finished second and third over hurdles, and was beaten less than two lengths by stable companion Shattered Love in the Grade One Neville Hotels Chase at Leopardstown at Christmas.
‘He always had the look of a chaser and we’re hoping to have as much fun with him over fences as we did over hurdles. He owes us nothing,’ said Collins.
‘Gordon’s been brilliant for us. He knows we like our racing but we’re not in the same league as the big owners. He found Raajih and Jury Duty for us. We’ve had great times with both and hope it continues.’
The colours of the Sideways Syndicate reflect their GAA background with the maroon of Moynalvey — the club of former Meath great Liam Harnan — and blue from Summerhill forming the dark checks.
Jury Duty has stablemate Mossbank (Lisa O’Neill) to contend with, while Rathvinden (Patrick Mullins) is another danger in a race which is far classier than it used to be — Gold Cup runner-up Minella Rocco was the winner in 2016.
Elliott has targeted the National Chase and has won it three times with Chicago Grey (2011), his first Festival winner, Cause Of Causes (2015) and Tiger Roll (2017).
What’s certain is that Jury Duty, who may well start favourite, will run another gutsy race as he flies the flag for the type of horse ownership once so prevalent in the game, but now increasingly rare.
If he wins, it will be a hugely emotional day for the Sideways Syndicate and especially so for the Collins family.