Hugh Finegan is dreaming of a St Patrick’s Day like no other in the place they call the home of racing.
The trainer from the little village of Nobber, Co Meath, with a population of 300, is making his Cheltenham debut and far from being daunted, he can’t wait to take on the big boys.
The possibility of his smart hurdler Futurum Regem – meaning Future King – winning at the festival has been the talk of the county for the past few weeks.
The 25/1 shot for the Pertemps Final on Thursday is part owned by Hugh and Morgan Ryan, a retired
businessman from Nenagh, Co Tipperary. But everyone in the area has backed him.
The Finegan stables are a typical family-run yard. Hugh and assistant trainer daughter Gemma run the show and they currently have a string of 16 horses.
It is a hard slog, up at 6am riding out, feeding and grooming, constantly giving the horses the tender love and care they need.
Their story is reminiscent of Tom Foley and Danoli. In 1994, the small Carlow yard no one had ever heard of came, saw and conquered Cheltenham as Danoli went on to become the people’s champion and one of the most popular Irish racehorses of all time.
Hugh said: “We are all so excited, it will be our first runner in Cheltenham and there is a real buzz around the place.
“Every time I go down into the village, people are stopping me in the shops or the pubs to ask how Futurum is. Will he win and is the horse in good form?
“They are all genuinely interested and very proud that a horse half owned and trained in a small place like Nobber is racing at the biggest jumps meeting in the world.
“Let’s be honest, Cheltenham is all about David versus Goliath where the small lads like us get to take on the big boys.
“We all dream of having a winner at Cheltenham and that’s what makes us click and work so hard every day.
“We think we have a great chance if all goes to plan and we run.
“You need a lot of things to go your way but we will have our lad perfectly prepped for the meeting.
“We will head over on Monday and he will stay at the stables on the track.
“The challenge, like everyone else, is to get the horses over in one piece, fully fit and ready to race. If he wins on Thursday it will be a St Patrick’s Day we will remember for the rest of our lives.”
Futurum will be ridden by jockey Eoin Walsh who has raced at Prestbury Park before.
He comes in and rides out most days for Hugh along with his nephew Eoghan Finegan, Finn Tegetmeier, and the groom Ellie Dennis. As Hugh said, it’s a small but a great team.
The big boys – Gordon Elliott, Willie Mullins and Nicky Henderson – all have multiple runners in Cheltenham next week. In the past 20 years, the pendulum of Cheltenham success has swung from British-owned winners back to Ireland, as nearly all the best Irish horses are no longer being sold to the UK and are staying at home.
Last year, there were 23 Irish-trained winners out of 28 races and we are expected to dominate yet again.
After being banned from the festival last year for foolishly sitting on a dead horse at his yard in a moment of madness, Elliot will be back with a bang.
He has notched up a remarkable 32 Cheltenham winners so far in 11 years, a remarkable record. He will have 28 runners in total and will be in with a shout in all the top races, including Galvin if he runs him in the Gold Cup.
All eyes will be on Ireland’s favourite horse Tiger Roll, owned by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and trained by Elliott, in the cross country next Wednesday in what will be his last race at the festival.
The double Aintree Grand National winner has already won at the Cheltenham Festival five times. He is 2/1 favourite for the race and if the little wonder horse wins there won’t be a dry eye in the house.
This year will see the crowds back at Cheltenham following the Covid ban on punters with a sell-out 67,000 crowd expected on each of the four days.
The great exodus from Ireland to Prestbury Park will start at Dublin Airport first thing on Monday morning, with 20,000 to 30,000 Irish turf fans expected to attend. They arrive in Birmingham, London, the East Midlands, Bristol and Cardiff before heading on to the Cotswolds.
Among them will be 71-year-old Irish racing legend JP McManus, who has had a staggering 67 winners since his very first festival success Mister Donovan in 1982.
No man has supported the sport in this country more over the decades and he will be hoping to win a second Gold Cup with Champ and a 10th Champion Hurdle success with Epatante, both trained by Nicky Henderson. The McManus team is a powerhouse and will have runners every day and you could do worse than follow his famous green and gold colours.
No one would be more pleased to see a small trainer win than the Co Limerick billionaire.
He is as gracious in defeat as he is in victory and knows as well as anyone “anything can happen” when the tape goes up.
Cheltenham is the field of dreams and if you are not in, you can’t win.
Hugh Finegan has a nervous and, who knows, possibly a glorious week ahead.
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
