SMADYNIUM has been a star for connections this season. Trained by Shark Hanlon, he has won two of his last three starts and Rachael Blackmore was on board for two of those wins.

The eight-year-old grey is owned by the 10-member Birdinthehand Syndicate whose spokesman Cathal McHugh explained: “A couple of us got together, hoping to start something that would keep us entertained over the winter months.

“We also saw one of the members, Niall Daly, holding his girlfriend’s hand and that’s what started the syndicate [Birdinthehand] for us in our WhatsApp group. We met with a few trainers to see what was around. After that we started to price some horses and see which trainers would suit us best.”

“My father was also involved with the racing and we just followed it. This is our first few months as owners and we’re pretty happy with how it’s going. We hope to have him run in Limerick over Christmas. That’s his Gold Cup! After that, we’ll just take it race by race really. There’s no definitive plan just yet.

“We had nine members originally but, after we won in Fairyhouse, Conor ‘Wagons’ Daly came on board which helped complete the syndicate.”

Smadynium races in the Roscommon GAA colours. “There are about eight of us who played for St Bridgets and Padraig Pearses GAA. Some of us are part of a different syndicate and that horse also uses those colours. We decided to use a red cap for Smadynium.”