AT 11.59 on Wednesday morning, I began counting down the seconds to 12, the time I had told Pius Collins I’d call him. I’m very punctual. “You’re just like me, Amy,” he said upon answering the phone, “very punctual.”

Pius grew up in Athea, a little west Limerick village, right on the Kerry border, and spent his childhood attending the races at Listowel, and listening to stories from his dad. “Growing up, my dad worked in Kildare town for 10 or 12 years in the 1940s, that far back! He was interested in the horses, so I would have listened to stories about trainers on the Curragh,” he recalled. “In fact, I think most of those families are gone now, Connollys and Cantys, Oxxs and Prendergasts.

“I’ve been going to Listowel since the 1960s and I’ve gone all my life, except for the years that I was in boarding school. My first memory would have been of the colours while I was in my mother’s arms in Listowel. Listowel Racecourse is part of my DNA.”

After finishing boarding school, Pius made the move to Dublin to qualify as a vet, and now works as racecourse vet at the track where he made his first childhood memories.

“I still get a thrill on the first day of the Harvest Festival when I’m driving in and see the signs.”

It was always an ambition for Pius to eventually become a racehorse owner. “Life got in the way and I couldn’t afford it. Mortgages and kids and all of that stuff,” he recalls.

Winners

“The first time I was involved in ownership was in a syndicate with the late Philip McCartan. He would have been in college with me, he was a vet as well. That was in the early 80s.

“After that, I didn’t get involved again until the late 90s with three more lads, and we had horses with Pat Hughes. We won the Cambridgeshire with a horse called Silverware. I was involved with seven or eight others, and they were all good.”

His most recent winner was Ealu in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares INH Flat Race at Leopardstown a fortnight ago. Bred by Philip Hore of Mount Eaton Stud, she was the standout of the sale when Pius bought her in 2024.

“I’m on cloud nine, and a million miles above it, since last Tuesday week,” Pius enthused. “Sam (Curling, trainer) always thought a lot of her. When I saw her at the Derby sale, she immediately filled my eye. I don’t know what I saw, but whatever I saw, I wanted it.”

Many owners rely on professionals like trainers or bloodstock agents to source their horses, but not Pius. “I’ve just followed my gut. I have a couple of mentors called Bill and Bob, who have been a great help to me. They’ve given me the confidence to follow my gut. The first time I saw her gallop was in Lawlor’s outside Fethard, and she blew me away.”

However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Pius, who suffered a health scare four years ago. “I had a horse called Ishan, and the first day he ran, I had a heart attack in the morning, so I didn’t get to see him run. Easter Saturday 2022. I still live a full life, but I don’t do general practice as a vet like I used to, I just work at the racecourse.”

Glass half-full

A clinical diagnosis of heart failure hasn’t dampened Pius’ enthusiasm, and having a horse like Ealu to look forward to certainly helps. “The plan is to go to Punchestown with Ealu in April, so it’s going to be some journey from heart failure to Punchestown! At this stage of my life, I’m able to enjoy the feel-good factors and embrace the joy of a winner. 99% of the time it keeps me sane, and 1% of the time it drives me insane!”

As the Irish proverb goes ‘giorraíonn beirt an bóthar’, and Pius is endlessly grateful for the people that help him along the way. “I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my fiancé Joyce Treacy. She helps me with the horses every evening, and she loves them. You have no idea how grateful I am for how happy life is.

“I have a neighbour and good friend who’s very good to me, Ted Tierney. I would never manage without him. Any time I have to move a horse or castrate one, he never fails. Just ring him and he turns up.”

Along with Ealu, Pius has Wing Back and Ishan in training with Sam. “All three have won, which is unbelievable. It’s unreal,” he says, before adding, “I couldn’t say enough good about Sam. I trust him implicitly and his work ethic is second to none.

“I have a few at home as well. I have a smashing two-year-old by a young sire called Alignak. He stands with Edmond Vaughan. I like him so much I have two mares in foal to that sire, following my gut once more.”

True to the practical streak that had him answering the phone exactly on time, Pius has some simple yet important advice for fellow owners: “You need to have patience, that’s the biggest thing. Trust your trainer, and pay your bills promptly, because they work hard so they should be paid properly.”