It’s been 40 years since Kilcoleman galloped to glory at Cheltenham Races
WITH the Cheltenham Festival about to begin, 2017 marks a significant anniversary as it’s been forty years since the last Sligo horse won at the world- renowned races.
The horse, Kilcoleman, ridden by Tommy Kinnane, galloped to glory in the County Hurdle on St Patrick’s Day, 1977.
Owned by Beltra’s Paul Clarke, a 30- year- old live cattle exporter, and trained by Billy Boyers from Rosses Point, Kilcoleman defied the odds and catapulted the Sligo duo onto the racing map.
There’s would be a pairing with incredible success, Clarke became Ireland’s top National Hunt owner in 1980, while Boyers was fifth in the trainers list that same year.
Both have since retired from the horse racing world, but their partnership has brought them a lifelong legacy and they remain close friends.
Together they had 50 winners in 50 months, as the Boyers- Clarke team became regulars in the winning enclosures at not only Cheltenham, but Leopardstown, Fairyhouse, Punchestown, Galway, Gowran Park, the burgeoning list goes on.
In the space of a short few years, they had conquered Cheltenham, captured the Jameson Chase at Punchestown with Artistic Prince in 1977 and also the coveted Hygeia Galway Plate with Sir Barry in 1980.
Looking back with a smile, Paul says March 17th 1977 was a day he’ll never forget.
Kilcoleman was ridden by a jockey who wasn’t exactly a spring chicken and had yet to claim his first race. Another Irish runner, Mwanadike with Frank Berry on board, was the clear bookies’ favourite.
So to say the horse was an outsider was to put it mildly.
“Tommy Kinane was over forty at the time and hadn’t won a race before this. So that in itself was something,” the 70- year- 0ld admits.
“Tommy went on to have another few winners after that and his son, Michael, became a famous jockey, known worldwide.”
They say there’s nothing like the luck of the Irish and with it being St Patrick’s Day and all, the rub of the green certainly seemed to favour the pair from the Northwest of Ireland.
“When Kilcoleman went out the day, we put a bit of shamrock in his bridle... I’ve always been fond of the expression that horses are related to luck.
“There are times when you couldn’t win a bad race with a horse and then there are times when your luck is running that you’ll win a good race with a bad horse,” Paul says adds humorously.
Their luck was certainly in on that day as Kilcoleman galloped home and Sligo took over the winners’ enclosure at Cheltenham.
He was led into the enclosure tightly grasped by a fresh- faced and beaming Michael McElhone, who would later become a successful Sligo trainer.
Kilcoleman joined the Clarke stables in Rosses Point in 1976 after he was bought from Jimmy Conheady of Newmarket, Co Clare for 3,600 guineas.
He was purchased after winning the Point to Point in Sligo and the journey was just beginning.
“Kilcoleman won the Point to Point and he was sick the next day. As he was a young horse, we knew we had a few things to do to get him right for the County Hurdle in Cheltenham as it was known then, it’s now the Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle.”
Cruising to Cheltenham victory in the black and white Clarke colours, it was an incredible feat for the Sligo owner and trainer.
Paul recalled it was an unforgettable time.
“With it being forty years ago soon, I suppose it’s important to mark it.
“No Sligo horse has gone and done it since, it was certainly a day to remember.”
Hitting the Irish and UK headlines after the win didn’t seem to faze the trainer from Beltra.
“We were an ordinary Joe Soap from Ireland, there was plenty written about it at the time,” Paul modestly adds.
“When I saw Kilcoleman win, I said well that’s the horse paid for now!”.
Most owners are joined in the Winners’ Enclosures by their glamorous other halves for the photocalls but Paul’s wife Terry didn’t even see the race as she was in Mount Carmel hospital having giving birth to their son four days previously.
“That night we were back on the Liverpool ferry home and I picked both of them up in Dublin and we came back home.” The prize at Cheltenham that year was £ 4,500, substantially lower than the £ 150,000 it is forty years later .
That same year, Paul claimed two races at Punchestown. “Both Artistic Prince and Glenvale Prince won was is known as the ‘ princely double’,” he adds. His path into the horse racing world began when two of his father’s fillies went to Boyers in Rosses Point. They however were not headline- making standard he laughs.
“They started last and finished last because nothing ever passed them!”. Growing up in rural west Sligo and becoming the leading owner in 1980, similar to what the likes of JP McManus and Michael O’Leary are nowadays, took a lot of drive and hard- work.“I went to national school in Ballinlig and from there went to boarding school in Terenure. “At that time, no lads from the area were going to secondary school, let alone going to boarding school, so it was a big transition, going from Ballinlig to Terenure,” he says.
Paul’s father, Matt Clarke, was part of the Cosgrove Clarke cattle exporters.
“We were exporting to Scotland at the time and in the seventies I began exporting to the Continent.
“It was a big operation and I’d have people going to fairs and earning a few bob working on commission.
“I used to ship out of every port in Ireland, including Sligo, Derry, Belfast, Rosslare the list goes on and I chartered boats into Sligo in the mid seventies.”
Aside from his hectic business in the export industry, Paul ventured into the horse racing world in March 1976 as a 29- year- old.
“I bought my first horse, Glenvale Prince for 630 guineas in Ballsbridge back in March 1976.
“He was known as an ‘ upside down handicapper’. There was no grading at that time .
“What struck me about him at the time was I saw potential in him that he might win a race.”
The racing industry was a lot different in the seventies to that of now. “Winning races then was about ten percent of what it is now, it’s a lot different and the expense of it now is so high. The Turf Club used to pay the expenses in Ireland at that time,” he explains.
Following the Cheltenham glory, Paul returned to the Festival the following year. “I went back and thought we had a better chance than we had in 1977 but the race was called off because there was snow that morning.” The 1978 Newbury meeting was also called off. Another of his greats, Artistic Prince, was also widely regarded, winning the Jameson Chase and after being sold to Jenny Pitman in England, became a Grand National favourite in Aintree.
“At one stage I had 25 horses in the stables, we used to store some of them on Oyster Island, there’s some great photographs of the horses galloping with Benbulben in the background.”
Not only was Paul the first Sligoman to become the leading owner, Billy too was achieving phenomenal success,
“I always knew Billy was a good judge of a horse, it wasn’t a surprise so that he went on to have something like 66 or 67 winners.”
Looking back to Cheltenham 1977 it was an amazing feat for the Sligo horse to cruise to glory against the odds and a proud moment for the Clarke and Boyers households.
“Kilcoleman winning Cheltenham would be my proudest moment looking back, although the Sir Barry and Artistic Prince wins would be up there too. High Diver was another great one too.”
He added: “Having 50 winners in 50 months for an ordinary Joe soap was something different I suppose, there was plenty written about it at the time although I think I was probably too young to appreciate what it all meant.”
You would think having a hectic job mixed with a busy stable would be enough to keep one going, not so for Paul, he also found time to manage GAA teams.
He was the St Patrick’s Senior manager when they did the double in 1988/ 89. Remarkably no team has achieved the double since, with a few going close.
“I think it’s kind of funny in a way, I was the last Sligo man to win at Cheltenham and also the last Senior manger to do the double,” Paul laughed.
“I thought St Mary’s ( 2015 winners) would come close last year but it wasn’t to be, Tourlestrane will be hoping to do it this year.”
Supporting Paul over the years has been his beloved wife Terry, whose family ran the well- known Tighes bakery, and their six children, most of whom are living in the Sligo area.
He says he won’t be travelling to Cheltenham to celebrate the special year, although he will be watching closely. He doesn’t pass too much heed of the favourites’ tag either. “Being favourite doesn’t mean the horse will win the race,” he quipped and how true that was forty years ago when the boys from the Northwest of Ireland stormed to victory with five- year old Kilcoleman.
“Tragically, Kilcoleman was with me at Leopardstown in 1980 and suffered a burst artery in the race and landed dead. He was only eight and I’ve no doubt he would have won many more,” Paul says.
As Cheltenham 2017 approaches, he will be fondly remembered for the magical memory forty years ago.
Nowadays, Paul goes to races locally, such as Sligo and Ballinrobe. “What used to strike me when I had horses racing was people saying you must see some beautiful scenery at various tracks. “Sligo racecourse, with Benbulben in the background, watching horses galloping, there’s no place more beautiful than Sligo,” said the proud local man.