FEW owners can say they’ve enjoyed a Sunday quite like Bill Hanly did at Comea. “I’m one of the masters in the Scarteen Hunt, and for my sins then I’m the chairman of the point-to-point!” Bill enthused. “I have an auctioneering business in Limerick and we’ve sponsored the confined race on Sunday for the last four or five years.”

When the Shark Hanlon-trained Barrow Ranger obliged in the race Bill himself sponsored, it was another fitting chapter in a life surrounded by horses.

“Oh janey, how long have you?” Bill said jokingly, when I asked about how he got involved with horses. “I’ve had horses since I was 14 years of age, and I’m nearly 69 now. We always had hunting horses and that’s how is all started.

“I’ve hunted with the Scarteens for…” he paused for a moment to think, “I don’t know long. I hunted with the Limerick Harriers as well before that.”

Having done a bit of hunting myself I was curious to hear what the Scarteen hunts were like. “I’ll tell you one thing now, it’s not for the faint-hearted! It’s mainly banks and big drains that we jump.

“We do some fly fences as well, but it’s mainly big banks with dikes in front and behind them. If you have a good hunting horse, you’ll really enjoy it.”

I’d need a hot whiskey (or two) before a hunt like that! Bill, however, goes without. “No, no, no,” he said, before adding, “I wait until I come in for that! I don’t think it would do you any good!”

While you often hear of flat jockeys who made a start to their careers on the pony racing circuit, the same can be said for National Hunt jockeys and hunting, and Bill’s hunting memories are full of familiar names. “The number of youngfellas who started out hunting and became excellent jockeys is just incredible. If you can go through Scarteen for a day and you get on alright, I guarantee you won’t be afraid to be a jockey afterwards,” Bill chuckled.

“Paul Carberry would come down to us to hunt for a day, Barry Geraghty came down, Ted Walsh. I remember hunting with all those guys over the years. We had fabulous days.”

Consecutive wins

Barrow Ranger wasn’t Bill’s first success in the confined race at Comea. “Townhill Lass won the same race as Barrow Ranger last year,” Bill recalled. “I always try to have a horse for our own point-to-point.

“Barrow Ranger was bought as a foal by Shark and I told him at Christmas that I was looking for a horse to run at Comea. Shark said he had one, and that was him on Sunday.”

Bill has also had success on the track with Teescomponentsyess, among others. “I’ve had three or four horses with Shark. He bought Teescomponentsyess in England and he’s given us great fun winning four or five races. We have Kofino as well but you wouldn’t be writing as much about him!

“I had Three Loud Knocks with Brian Mortell and he won two point-to-points and a chase on the track. We’ve had our fair share of success over the years.”

It was through a friend of Bill’s that he struck up his partnership with the Co Carlow-based trainer. “A friend of mine invited me to one of Shark’s open days at his yard, and the rest is history,” Bill said. “He had a horse in the yard, and I fell in love with him and we’ve been involved ever since. His open days are very homely, and I look forward to them every year.

“His Saturday mornings are special below in the kitchen.” For anyone that’s been involved with Shark’s yard, you’ll know what Bill means!

The plan for Barrow Ranger is to head for another point-to-point. “Winners of one I’d say. We’ll give him a rest and I’d say maybe in a month’s time we’ll go again. The ground was sticky on Sunday, but he seems to be fine now.”

Masterclass

Bill was particularly impressed with his winner’s performance on the day. “He gave an exhibition of jumping! I’d say he gained about five lengths in the air over the third last fence, he just took off and passed about two horses in flight. He really, really showed his class.”

Having a winner wasn’t Bill’s only cause for celebration on the day, but the hard work of local volunteers to get the event ready was a big highlight. “As long as I’ve been involved, I’ve never seen so many people to put up their hand and help on Sunday,” Bill said, a real sense of fulfilment in his voice.

“Everything is voluntary. All of the people putting the mesh around the parade ring, coming in with tractors, and driving posts, it was just phenomenal. When I got home on Sunday I had a buzz all night, partly from the horse winning, but also from the amount of people who helped.”

I was keen to know where Bill stood on academy hurdle runners contesting four-year-old maidens. As Eogháin Ward pointed out in his column last weekend, it’s sure to change the landscape of these highly commercial maidens.

Bill breathed out a long sigh, and said: “There is no doubt at the moment that it wouldn’t be a level playing field to have horses that have run in academy hurdles and four-year-olds making their debut. They’re different animals completely.

“Ireland is known for giving horses time to come right. It needs to be regulated some way I think. I have two four-year-olds who haven’t been out yet, and it would be very unfair to ask them to go out on their first day against horses who have an awful lot more done.

“I think horses in Ireland are going to run younger. I don’t know whether I agree with it or not, but it’ll happen as time goes on. Horses need time. Horses like Arkle got all the time in the world to get going.” As Bill knows, patience has never been the enemy of a good horse.