McHugh savours horse racing joy with bargain buy Skyace
Curraghboy native Cathal McHugh is enjoying a thrilling racing adventure as part of a syndicate which owns the horse, Skyace.
Purchased for just £600 by McHugh’s Birdinthehand syndicate, the John Hanlon-trained horse scooped a stunning €20,650 prize pot in a Grade 3 race at Down Royal in October. McHugh cheered Skyace to that Down Royal victory from a hotel in the UAE desert and later reunited with the other syndicate members to toast the triumph.
And last Sunday week, Skyace continued her rags to riches story with success in the listed Voler La Vedette Mares Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. With Jody McGarvey on board, Skyace came in at 28/1, winning by five lengths from The Sliding Rock.
The five-year-old has also claimed wins at Tipperary and Gowran Park, marking her out as one of Ireland’s most exciting hurdlers and surpassing all expectations.
McHugh and his syndicate colleagues are now eyeing up the Mares’ Novice’ Hurdle in Cheltenham next March as her next assignment.
Cathal is the agent in the syndicate and the others involved are John ‘Shark’ Hanlon (trainer and part owner), Kevin Crean (Wexford), Kieran Breslin (Donegal), Kerill Sutton (Wexford) and Mick Delaney (Dublin).
Cathal has been involved with 'Shark' Hanlon in the horse racing scene for a few years and Summer Storm was among the horses they previously had an interest in.
Skyace has been rewarding long-odds punters with her last two wins coming in at 66/1 and 28/1.
McHugh is also well known for his football prowess with St Brigid’s, having won several honours with the club. He won an All-Ireland club medal with the Kiltoom/Cam outfit in 2013, and he was joint captain of the team which won the Roscommon senior football title in 2016.
A former teacher at Athlone Community College, Cathal is now teaching in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he currently lives with his wife, Aoife. The 32-year-old teaches business and social studies in Abu Dhabi’s West Yas Academy.
Recalling how the purchase of Skyace came about, McHugh told Horse Racing Ireland: “I rang ‘Shark’ and he said he was going to look at this horse, Skyace, in the sales. I told him if you can get her for less than £10,000 we’d be interested – but little did we know that we’d be buying her for £600.
“We hadn’t done much work with her and she surprised us big time by winning her maiden. Things just went on from there.
“Not in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be winning against the calibre of horses we’re winning against. We just didn’t think we’d be able to mix with them," McHugh continued.
“It’s been unbelievable. We didn’t get into it to compete in these type of races – we were hoping for a horse to maybe nab a handicap down the road. When you pay £600 for a horse, you don’t expect to be collecting the prize money we’ve collected this year.”
Hanlon’s yard is based in Co. Kilkenny and McHugh has been there to see Skyace being put through her paces.
“John’s very good and all the lads on the yard work very hard. His hospitality is top class – he shows us all the horses and gives us a flavour of how a horse is trained. That’s one thing I miss being out here (Abu Dhabi) – not being able to go down and see the horse work out. He’s very open about what’s happening, very transparent, and has been great,” he said.
As for the dream of competing in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, McHugh admits he wouldn’t be able to resist a trip to Cheltenham if Skyace makes it that far.
“I’ve never been to Cheltenham – and that will be the aim,” he told the Horse Racing Ireland website.
“If we go to Cheltenham and if the quarantine rules are relaxed a bit, we’ll be on the first flight home. That’s what you get into horse racing for, especially National Hunt. That would just be a dream come true for all of us involved.”
They say ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ and the exploits of Skyace certainly have the Birdinthehand syndicate members counting their blessings.