LIFE and industry tend to be full of change in a lifetime but next year represents a landmark half-century in business for one of the great constants of Irish racing.

It’s not just silky footballers and figures from the world of arts and literature who fly the Kingdom’s flag with distinction far and wide. Listowel’s Healy Racing Photographers are fast approaching 50 years of capturing memories from racecourses across the length and breadth of Ireland – and at major international meetings. It is quite the feat for the family-run institution, which can be found snapping and clicking at every single meeting in Ireland with metronomic reliability.

Pat Healy might attempt to deflect any personal attention onto the wider team that make the operation tick, but he can easily be described as one of the most recognisable non-trainer/jockey/owner figures in Irish racing. Whether it be a winter Friday night at Dundalk, a Kirkistown point-to-point or the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner’s enclosure, he - or another of the Healy team - will be there to ensure the continued documentation of each winner in the calendar.

With 2025 marking five decades since his late father Liam first began photographing at fixtures, Healy looks back with immense gratitude for those early and ultimately bold steps taken by his parents.

“With the boss, my father, he always had a love of horse racing,” he explains.

“When he was only a small boy he used to cut the pictures out of newspapers and I think that’s where he got his grá for it. I always admired him because I think what he did in the 1970s was huge. He used to go racing every Thursday to the Munster meetings in ’75, ’76 and ’77 before moving towards the point-to-points too. Then in 1978, he announced to my late mother, Joan, that he wanted to go at it full-time.

“At that time he was a drinks delivery driver for a company in Listowel called John J Galvin’s; it had him driving a lorry around north Kerry delivering kegs to the pubs and hotels. It was a ballsy thing to do, to quit his job with three kids back then, and I always admired him for it. He packed it in and had a go at selling photographs at race meetings. My mother gave him her full backing and they set up a little office in the house where it all started from. He then moved on to covering every race meeting around the country, and it went from there.

Getting started

“Myself and my brother Liam would have helped out as kids in the office and that’s how we first got a taste for it. I was actually nine years of age when I took my first photograph at a point-to-point at Cragmore in Askeaton. I didn’t realise it at first, but this February when I ended up doing a point-to-point back at Cragmore, it meant that 45 years had passed since that very first meeting taking my first photograph. It’s amazing to think back on that time.”

For change, Healy had to reverse roles when on duty at York’s Ebor Festival last month. After the popular Knavesmire victory of Pat O’Donnell’s Extensio, the winning trainer called Healy into the winning picture and shared fond memories of the man who kickstarted what is now firmly established as the go-to racing photography business in Ireland.

“Pat O’Donnell pulled me into the picture at York and was telling me about how my father used to drive him racing 40 years ago,” Healy explains.

“He would have given lifts to anybody: jockeys, trainers, bookmakers, grooms, punters – you name it. He loved meeting people and had a great rapport with others – no matter how big or small you were in the game. I’d like to think that those traits have continued with our people on the tracks today.

“I have to say, I’m so lucky with Healy Racing to have fantastic people involved every day. My brother Liam is a huge part of it and is the hardest worker I know. He makes me look good and I want to stress enough how indebted I am to him for all he does. On top of that, he’s an absolutely brilliant man. I go back to all he did for his great friend John Thomas McNamara when he was being treated in Southport. He flew over and back numerous times and showed in those times again the type of man he is. I admire him hugely.

Family involvement

“My sister, Cathy, runs the office brilliantly and there’s not a day I go racing when someone doesn’t compliment her. And now we have the third generation coming along; everyone will know my nephews Kevin and Sean from going racing. My own son, Jack, goes racing when we’re stuck and works in the office too.

“I think the boss would be a proud man to see the generations involved as they are now. You would have to think about him and my mother any day you’re out doing this job.”

Given he covers roughly 225 meetings a year, when including point-to-points, does the task ever become monotonous - especially with major miles to travel from his Kerry base?

“Not at all,” comes the response. “That’s because every day is different. As I always say, this racing game is a circus - it’s the same clowns in different towns.

“Whether it be Downpatrick, Wexford, Sligo, point-to-points in the north or locally, you’re meeting faces every day with stories to tell and getting to witness people’s emotions. Thankfully, the majority of the time those emotions are happiness and joy, though there are obviously tough days that grate on you when jockeys suffer serious injuries.

“It is hard going travelling, but with Cathy running the office, I try to stay out of there and stick to the racing schedule we set up for each fortnight. Being based in Listowel probably isn’t ideal geographically but I love this place and the community here.”

Healy has been around the industry long enough to recall anecdotes with any number of memorable figures of Irish racing. The loss of colourful characters in recent times, and what could be argued as a lack of similarly engaging characters in modern Irish racing, has been lamented by many.

“We have lost a few of them over the years, but the game has changed anyway,” says Healy, who nominates Captain Christy, Dawn Run, Istabraq, Sea The Stars and Frankel as standout names in his list of favourite horses.

Changing times

“It’s in no way as social as it was, which is a big problem for race meetings. Gone is the day when someone could have a couple of pints at the races and drive home afterwards. Once upon a time the likes of Galway, Killarney, Listowel and two-day meetings at the likes of Sligo and Downpatrick would see people staying up and rubbing shoulders, whether they be bookmakers, jockeys or trainers. There were dance nights and all sorts where people got together.

“I remember during Galway back in the day, you’d have a great institution like The Hole In The Wall Bar where fellas like Mick Kinane, Pat Shanahan and Stephen Craine would be riding at Goodwood during the day and travel back to Galway for the night. The same goes with the jumps lads.

“I had 12 of them in my house one night during Listowel; on the floor, on the chairs, couches, four of them in a bed, but that day has gone with the roads so much better now and the obvious risk for jockeys to be alcohol tested the following day if they’ve been socialising that evening. I still think we have characters in the game now who should be embraced, and we should make the most of them.”

He adds: “I’ve come across the most fantastic people you could imagine in this industry. To give you an example, Brendan Sheridan is like an older brother to me. To see his career as a jockey flourish into his top-class work as a clerk of the course, I have so much time for all he has managed to achieve - and he’s a superb person.

“Michael ‘Chips’ Gannon is another great friend who I’ve loved spending time with down the years. We met when he was 14 years of age and I have great respect for how he’s become successful as a punter through his personality and strength of opinions on racing.

“Of course, I have to mention Stormin’ Norman Williamson too. We trucked through the pony racing and point-to-point circuits together before his career on the track, and now seeing him as a vendor and breeze-up man, I take great satisfaction in seeing him do well. In my life, on a personal level, people like those have always been there for me and I’ve always appreciated that.”

Harvest countdown

September might spell the end of summer for many, but it only means the ramping up of activity in Healy’s hometown. The countdown is well and truly on ahead of the 2024 Listowel Harvest Festival, which runs from Sunday 22nd to Saturday 28th September.

With the Irish Champions Festival a relatively modern initiative taking place a week before the Kerry bonanza, and the hugely popular National Ploughing Championships falling in the days leading up to the meeting, the Listowel fixtures are fighting in a competitive space for events involving a similar audience.

Healy is the only man in the 168-year history of the Harvest Festival to serve as chairman for three years in a row, so is well placed to speak on that scenario for the popular, week-long meeting.

“I think of the Listowel Races every day and absolutely adore the festival - I live for it, and I love being involved,” he beams.

“I travel the world and have been in every press room from Royal Ascot to Santa Anita, and everyone will know how I bang the drum for Listowel. I believe in the product and I’m happy for it to stand on its own two feet no matter what we’re up against. The scheduling was something I gave plenty of thought to for years but I think it has proven itself to be a success and I’m not sure something like the Ploughing Championships impacts everyone going to Listowel, though some will be travelling to it.

“On the topic of Listowel, would you believe I was actually kicked out of the racecourse one day? When I was a kid, a couple of us were playing ball down the bottom of the stand, and the ball was bouncing off a few people. A director at the time - who I won’t name - threw six of us out the gate and told us not to come back. I always laugh at that because I did come back and ended up chairman! I’ve actually been on the committee since 2004.

“The voluntary committee here is fantastic, and I can’t say enough good about everyone involved, from the work that goes on around the track and in the town. Everyone plays a part, and the likes of our secretary Brenda Daly is an absolute computer in terms of knowledge for all things Listowel Races. Our groundsman, Dan Connell, is the third generation on the track, and John Sheahan, our enclosure manager, is another brilliant person with pride in his heart for Listowel.

“We want people to feel welcomed, come and stay a night or two, have the craic and be a part of a real community festival. Ask anyone who knows me, if you want to insult me, insult Listowel. That’s how you get my back up!”

Track dynamics

He adds: “I’m lucky I get to go to every big meeting in the country, and plenty of the major fixtures across the channel. You just want every racecourse to have success on their big days. I think the weather is key. Back in the day, people had to go to the races to see the big horses like Arkle. They don’t anymore. Now they can watch those horses on television, have a bet on their phone and do all of it from the comfort of their homes or down the local pub. I think that has changed things for meetings.”

On the topic of changing attitudes, has the expansion of cameras on smartphones impacted the trade of people purchasing photographs?

“I suppose it has changed. When the boss started, there was a recession in the early 1980s and I remember they were worrying times in the house. Back then, the boss had to go racing and sell pictures to survive. If you didn’t, there was no money coming in and that can impact the mood in the house.

“Thankfully over the last 10 or 15 years, we’ve worked hard on getting contracts and now we’re in the position where we’re paid to be at the races through some of our media contracts and you’re not as dependent on the commercial side as much.

“I think iPhones have become a big thing. People taking pictures on their phone can be happy with that, whereas before they’d buy the picture, but I think as a library and agency you’d have to be proud of what we can do.

“Even this morning we had a client contact us looking to buy a present for a friend of his, an ex-jockey. This person rode their first winner in a point-to-point in the early 1980s, rode his last track winner in the 1990s and trained winners in the 2000s.

“We had pictures available for all those years, and I think that’s the beauty of our library. We have covered generations of racing careers photographically, and that’s something you take an enormous sense of pride in. It is hard work driving the miles, but all those shots add up over the years to assemble such a catalogue.

“I first started supplying pictures for The Irish Field in the mid-1980s and ever since – right up to today – I still take the pictures out of the newspapers and keep them in shoeboxes at home. I love looking back. It brings back memories to me and puts your mind into another moment, another era you remember. I just love it and seeing the print paper with your various pictures.

“People don’t have to give you their business, they choose to. I remain extremely grateful to everyone who has been good to us and helped us since 1975. There are too many names to mention, but from old Turf Club and now IHRB, to the lads in the car park, the tracks, managers and committees, the horsemen and horsewomen, trainers, jockeys, grooms, owners, all our clients - we take nothing for granted in terms of their support.”

Ascot (“I get a real kick out of covering Royal Ascot every year”), Santa Anita (“the Breeders’ Cups are always special there under the San Gabriel Mountains”) and Happy Valley (“imagine Tramore with skyscrapers around it!”) receive favourable mentions among Healy’s favourite international tracks to photograph, but don’t expect anytime soon to see him depart the daily routes to tracks like Tramore and Taylorstown. He is here for the long haul.

“This game keeps me young,” he says. “I really enjoy it. After 45 years, I’d be more than happy if there’s another 45 I could get out of it.”

In Healy Racing, one of Irish racing’s great constants lives on.

The flame that started almost 50 years ago still burns brightly. Ciarraí Abú.