WIN THIS HORSE: Kieran Looney and Gavin Nolan with 'True Dreamer' - a 50 percent ownership in the racehorse is up for grabs while at the same time helping injured jockeys.

EXCLUSIVE

By Sean Moriarty

Internet competitions for high-end products have been all the rage for the last year, and even more so during the lockdown, but two Killarney men have come up with a different take on the popular schemes.

Instead of winning a high-performance car or a camper van, the usual fare on offer in such competitions, subscribers to this one can win a 50 percent share in a racehorse.

As an added bonus, a portion of the raffle’s takings will be given to charities that supports injured jockeys in Ireland and Britain.

Horse Racing Buddy Club was founded by Killarney-based horse racing fans Gavin Nolan and Kieran Looney.

The club was originally set up to allow several horse racing fans come together to own a race horse – syndicates are limited to 20 persons but clubs can have unlimited membership – and can arrange visits to famous training stables.

The club’s plans for the year were disrupted as a result of pandemic related restrictions but they also wanted to do something to help injured jockeys.

They have organised an online competition via their website www.horseracingbuddyclub.ie.

Punters can enter the competition for €50. The prize is 50 percent ownership in a racehorse called 'True Dreamer', and a large portion of each entry goes towards either the Injured Jockey Fund in the UK or the Irish Jockey Fund.

“We must be the unluckiest horse racing club ever – we just got off the ground when the shutdown came into force,” Glenflesk man Kieran Looney told the Killarney Advertiser. “But we knew we needed to do something to help the jockey funds that were also suffering as their main event did not happen either. We came up with this idea and so far nearly 60 tickets have been sold.”

They hope to run 'True Dreamer' at Mallow on July 5 but, as demand for entries to all events are now at a premium, their entry is subject to a ballot.

“That is the plan, but if the ballot goes against us we will get a higher place for the next ballot so we placed the entry anyway,” added Looney.