Paudie Butler hoping for Glory in Cheltenham

SEÁN HOLLAND chats to Argideen Rangers stalwart Paudie Butler who has a good reason for missing training next week: he has a horse running in Cheltenham!

PAUDIE Butler isn’t your typical Cheltenham trainer. After he finishes a day's work as a pharmaceutical employee the Timoleague man heads home to pick up a hurley and go training, but Argideen Rangers will take a backseat this week because his focus is all on another sporting passion: horse racing and Cheltenham.

‘I got into this when I was younger when I worked with Thomas O'Leary in Clonakilty. At the time, he had some good horses that ran in Cheltenham, the cross-country race,’ Butler explained.

‘Thomas had a horse called Il de Boitron who came fourth one year in the cross-country race. I worked with him for a number of years. I also worked with James Dullea, my first cousin, in Bandon. My uncle, Batty, used to always bring me to point-to-points when I was younger, so I always had an interest in horse racing.’

Speaking of his well-touted horse Da Capo Glory, Butler explained the process of how he qualified to race at the pinnacle of the sport: Cheltenham.

‘Da Capo Glory, since Christmas, had a good win in Mallow. We decided then to go to the Boyne Hurdle, a Grade 2 race, in Navan; we finished third in that. We said if we had a good run in that, we could consider going to Cheltenham. We ran a very good race on soft ground. If we ran poorly in Navan, we wouldn't be thinking of going to Cheltenham, but we ran well, so we have the option now,’ he said, and now a local syndicate is dreaming of Cheltenham glory.

‘It’s a West Cork syndicate – The Red Strand Syndicate. Just to name a few involved, there's Diarmuid Nagle, Peter O'Sullivan and Daniel Crowley, all from around Clonakilty. I would have gone to school with Dermot and Daniel in Clon. We set up the syndicate then to buy the horse’, Butler said.

As a trainer, how does Butler decide when to enter a horse in a specific race?

‘The factors we’d consider would be the distance of whether it's two miles or three miles or two and a half miles. We consider the type of track, whether it's a testing track or flat track or if it's a left-hand or right-hand track. Then the ground is a big one; because we've had so much rain lately, the ground has been very soft so that would play a big factor, too’, explained the Timoleague man.

Due to his previous impressive performances, Da Capo Glory has qualified for two events at Cheltenham. The decision on which race will be made the week of the festival.

‘I only have a few horses as a hobby, so I’d consider myself very lucky to have a horse with a handicap mark high enough to be taken to Cheltenham,’ Butler said.

‘He’s done well enough to qualify for two races: the Coral Cup and the Stayers Hurdle. If I were to say which one we would go for, it will most likely be the Coral Cup, but that decision will be made on the Monday of Cheltenham week.

‘The way it works is you would be entered before you go and you declare to run that week. We'll declare the horse to run either the Monday for the Wednesday (Coral Cup) or Tuesday for the Thursday (Stayers Hurdle). You make your final declaration to run two days before the race. If we feel he’s good to go then we’d leave from Dublin Port on the Sunday morning with the view to being in Cheltenham on Sunday afternoon’, explained Butler.

There are plenty of logistical obstacles involved in bringing a horse across the water to compete. Butler has that all covered with some help from those closest to him.

‘My brother John-Joe does a lot of work there and so does his wife, Fiona. They’re brilliant and help a load with the organising,’ he said.

‘We're going to bring the horse and stay over. We'd be transported over by ferry with the horse, from Dublin to Holyhead. The horse would stay in the Cheltenham stable yard then, and there's staff accommodation there as well for ourselves, so it’s ideal.’

In regards to prepping a horse for its final few weeks leading up to the festival, it’s all about fine-tuning. Being from West Cork, Butler has the unique advantage of being able to take his horses for a gallop along the local beaches.

‘The last few weeks would be fairly critical,’ he said. ‘The main thing is to try to keep them healthy and sound. Because as you know, one day they could be perfect, and the next day they could be lame. Maybe a week then before Cheltenham, he would get his last hard gallop. Then it's a case of freshening him up. We would take him to Inchydoney in Clon and also to Dunworley in Barryroe. We find the seawater good for their legs as well, that’s good for recovery.’

As well as training horses, Butler finds the time to pick up the hurley and helmet for his home club Argideen Rangers. Although with a busy schedule, the Timoleague man makes time to do what he loves.

Paudie Butler in action for Argideen Rangers.

‘I'm still playing GAA with Argideen Rangers. It's hard sometimes to find the time. I try to make as many sessions as I can but when the evenings get longer, we'll be able to go full steam ahead with the GAA,’ he said.

‘We had a reasonably good year last year with the hurling, although we were unlucky not to qualify from the group. I'm still playing, but time is limited alright with the horses, but that's the way it goes and I’m happy being involved with both.’

Butler will miss training next week but he has a good excuse – he’s bidding for Cheltenham glory with Da Capo Glory.

‘We’ll be just hoping to get the horse there in one piece because there's so much that can go wrong. Hopefully, then it’s to get a clear round. The main thing is that the horse comes back safe and sound. That's what I'm hoping for as a trainer – we get there in one piece, a clear run, and the horse comes home safe and sound. That's all I'm hoping for. Anything after that is a bonus.’