New Mayo GAA coach Paddy Tally and TV star Hector win big at Ballinrobe races

Hector Ó hEochagáin was back in the winner’s enclosure at Ballinrobe on Friday night as he bridged a 22-year gap from his last winner at the popular Mayo venue

TG4 star Hector Ó hEochagáin relived a moment from his past at Ballinrobe on Friday night, marking 22 years since his last victory at the beloved Mayo venue.

Over two decades ago, Hector featured in the iconic RTE documentary ‘Only Fools Buy Horses’, which tracked the journey of his horse Traverse across six episodes.

Traverse’s first win came at Ballinrobe in August 2003, with jockey Sean Cleary at the reins. Tragically, Cleary lost his life in a fall at Galway just weeks later.

Fast forward to Friday night, and an ebullient Hector was back in the winner’s circle at Ballinrobe, this time with a filly named Sopelana, who clinched victory in the opening Burke ́s Clonbur 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle.

Sopelana is owned by the Tally’s Bar Syndicate, a group that includes Hector and newly appointed Mayo GAA coach Paddy Tally, originating from his family-owned pub in the rural Tyrone village of Galbally, reports the Irish Mirror.

Tally recently joined Andy Moran’s Mayo management team as defensive coach, following his departure as Derry manager at the end of this season.

Sopelana triumphed at odds of 12-1, and Hector knew exactly where the celebrations would be held, as he told Johnny Ward on Racing TV.

“I’ve got to give a big shout out to the co-owner Paddy Tally, the new Mayo senior football coach. In Tally’s bar in Galbally there’s free pints tonight. The pints are on Paddy! ,” Hector declared.

“Paddy rang the minute the race was over. It’s the first time he’s ever got involved in a horse and you know with the Mayo connection, and him being the new Mayo defensive coach it’s great.

“The horse was out in the back garden of Paddy’s place for a couple of months so I’m delighted for Paddy and Noel O’Reilly and to have a winner, the adrenaline is flowing through your body. It’s great, winners are what it’s all about.”

Only Fools Buy Horses proved to be an enormously successful programme during its run, offering viewers an intimate glimpse into the ups and downs of his horse Traverse, who was being trained by Pat Flynn in Waterford.

“Ballinrobe is a great racecourse, and it will always hold great memories here because it’s where Traverse won and to come back 22 years later and have another winner,” he continued.

“We had a small budget, I knew a guy called Padraig Maloney in Galway who was buying cheap horses and getting winners and I asked him ‘who is your trainer?’ and he said Pat Flynn.

“We went to Pat Flynn and fair play to Pat he said ‘yeah, let’s make this show’ and the rest is history.

“To make a six part documentary series following a half a tonne animal, that cost 800 guineas. The horse won here in Ballinrobe and two weeks later it went to Down Royal and won again.”

It turned out to be an absolutely remarkable adventure for Pat and the entire crew. “I was bitten by the bug back then. To be legging Johnny Murtagh up on my horse was something else. For me to get involved in racing it was like being given the keys to Old Trafford and being allowed to hang around with the players.

“I was hanging around with these superstars so I just wanted to show that you can buy a cheap horse, you don’t have to spend millions. I can help if you have millions but sometimes you can be lucky. The aim of the programme was to show that anyone can get involved in racing.”

The series carries a note of tragedy as Sean Cleary, one of two jockeys to triumph on Traverse, tragically passed away from injuries suffered in a fall at Galway in October 2023.

“Sean won on him in Ballinrobe. Sean was a great lad, he was an up and coming jockey and Rory (brother of Sean) was coming up behind him.

“The Cleary family are a lovely family but that was a bad year for Irish racing, there was a couple of tragedies that year. They’re daredevils to go out and do what they do.”

Traverse also triumphed at Down Royal and Hector recalled a special memory from that victory, adding: “When he won in Down Royal, Alex Higgins, the greatest snooker player of all-time, came up to me and said ‘will that horse of yours win Hector?'”.

“There were about ten lads with him and they were worse for wear and I said ‘of course it’ll win.’

“I’ll never forget it. They were great memories and from that we had the springboard for ‘Hanging With Hector’ and I got to travel to the Breeders’ Cup with Aidan O’Brien.

“That’s a dream. I slept on a jumbo jet all the way from Rosegreen to Santa Anita in between Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator.”