IN the region of 20,000 people will attend the upcoming Irish Champions Weekend fixtures and among them, perhaps, will be some first-time racegoers who will be bitten by the racing bug. They might keep the racecard as a souvenir, a reminder of where their passion for horseracing began.

It’s stretching the imagination to think that one of these racing ‘virgins’ would go on to amass a huge personal collection of racing memorabilia, but that’s what happened to Nick O’Toole.

A familiar figure at Irish racecourses, Nick is reckoned to own the biggest personal collection of racing memorabilia in Ireland. And it all started on his first day at the races, as a nine-year-old boy, at Leopardstown in February 1966.

“My father brought me to see Arkle win his third Leopardstown Chase,” he recalled. “It was a month before the horse won his third Cheltenham Gold Cup, so he was a recognised superstar at the time. I kept the racecard from that day and I still have it.”

A few years later, aged 13, Nick found himself at the Curragh to witness Nijinsky’s Irish Derby victory. “He would go down as my favourite horse of all time. There hasn’t been another Triple Crown winner since he did it in 1970 and people forget that he also won the Irish Derby and King George in that season.”

With over 50 years’ racing to his name, Nick has managed to collect some incredibly rare and unique items. He describes it as “a hopeless obsession” but stresses that he is a collector, not a hoarder. He is only interested in genuine collectors’ items and he has acquired most of his gems from other collectors.

Explaining how the trading system works between collectors, Nick said: “True collectors don’t sell, they swap. For example, I had two racecards from the day Nijinsky won the Gladness Stakes. They are actually harder to get than the classic races. I swapped one of them with a British collector who had a Grand National racecard from 1928, the year Tipperary Tim finished alone at 100/1. I also swapped one of my Arkle at Leopardstown racecards for one from 1946 when Prince Regent won the Gold Cup at Cheltenham for the Dreapers. Real collectors know what they want.”

Unsurprisingly, Arkle holds a special place in Nick’s heart. Arguably nobody has done more in recent times to keep Arkle’s name in the news and Nick was deeply involved in helping put together two television documentaries about ‘Himself’. Nick recalls: “The Dreaper family provided a lot of memorabilia for those broadcasts and no way would they accept payment. I was delighted to be able to give them a painting of Arkle by way of thanks.”

Word of Nick’s collection spread through Irish racing over the years and it was only natural that the Curragh should knock on Nick’s door when they wanted to put on an exhibition in 2009 to honour Vincent O’Brien. “Vincent was the greatest trainer of all time, in my opinion, so it was very moving for me to be asked to put together the exhibition.”

Jacqueline O’Brien and John Magnier supplied a lot of their own memorabilia and it was decided not to simply shove everything into cabinets for the public to look at. “I wanted it to look as if you were walking into the O’Briens’ living room. We got antique furniture and put down carpets. There were some very special trophies on display – Ballymoss, Hatton’s Grace, Cottage Rake, Nijinsky, Sir Ivor – and a lot of personal items, such as Vincent’s trainer’s licence, his trilby, walking stick and gallops jacket.”

A year later the Curragh put on a similar exhibition to mark the retirement of jockey Michael Kinane, while in 2016 it was the turn of Lester Piggott. Nick was thrilled to be involved with both.

“Mick Kinane’s exhibition coincided with the retirement of Sea The Stars, one of my favourite horses of all time. The Irish Injured Jockeys auctioned a racing plate worn by the great horse in the Irish Champion Stakes, which I bought, and it remains one of my most treasured possessions.”

Putting the Lester Piggott exhibition together required a serious investment by FBD Hotels and Resorts, and Lester himself provided many treasures for the public to see.

Recalling that Lester rode a Triumph Hurdle winner before becoming perhaps the greatest flat jockey of them all, Nick believes that any proper Irish racing museum should address both codes and the breeding side must also be included.

“How can you tell Vincent O’Brien’s story without covering his Grand National and Cheltenham winners?” he asks. “Even the Curragh has produced plenty of top jumps horses.

“And think of all the leading owners whose success on the track was built on generations of stud farming. The bloodstock side cannot be separated from the racing.”

Irish racing deserves a top-class museum to showcase the wonderful achievements of its horses and people.

If it ever comes to pass, hopefully some of Nick O’Toole’s invaluable collection will find a home there.