McKENNA’s Bar was the place to be last Sunday night when members of the Acorn Syndicate returned to their Armagh base following the win of the Karl Thornton-trained Paper Lantern in the Martinstown Opportunity Handicap Chase at Leopardstown.

“There are 20 of us in the syndicate which we decided to form in the bar late one night,” reported spokesman Sean Conlon. “I used to have dogs but getting into horses was new to me so, to get some advice, I first spoke to Noel Meade and Ted Walsh both of whom I found to be very helpful.

“However, it was on reading the stats at the time, I discovered that, with far fewer horses, Karl nearly had as good a strike-rate as Willie Mullins so around April time we went down to talk to him. Karl agreed to train for us so the next thing was to buy a horse. He went to a few sales but could find nothing suitable but we weren’t pushing him as we only wanted a horse for a bit of fun so were happy to wait.

“Karl then told us about this horse he had in the yard that was for sale so we bought Paper Lantern in October and have had some great fun since.

“It was a pity that he didn’t win for us at Down Royal at Christmas but we had a great day at Fairyhouse in February and again at Leopardstown on Sunday. Fifteen of us met up in Armagh for breakfast at 10am and then had a few bevies after which we got a bus to the races and really enjoyed the day.”

John, a ‘retired’ mixed farmer still calving Hereford and Angus cows, claims not to have stayed as late in McKenna’s on Sunday night as some of the younger members of the Acorn Syndicate, which includes his son John who now runs the farm. While predominantly male, the Syndicate does have two lady members but sadly they couldn’t travel on Sunday because of a death in the family. John’s wife Ann is not involved but knows all about the horse!

At weekends, Paper Lantern is often ridden out by Karl’s nephew Adam Clinton (11) who too appeared in the post-race photographs on Sunday along with his younger brother Hayden (seven).

When not helping in the yard, riding their own ponies or practising on the simulator they were bought for Christmas, the two boys can be found playing cricket.