SPEAKING to Denis Field of the Road To Nowhere Syndicate would inspire anyone to become an owner, his enjoyment of their first winner evident and his enthusiasm infectious.

The syndicate’s first success came courtesy of the Colin Motherway-trained Slip Jig, a six-year-old mare leased from her breeder and Colin’s father Frank.

She looked to have it all to do turning for home in the mares’ maiden hurdle at Tipperary, but seemed to find another gear jumping the last and flew home to win by a length and a quarter under Darragh O’Keeffe.

That winning feeling

“The way she won on the day was incredible,” Denis Field recalls. “She was seventh coming to the last hurdle and just showed a tremendous burst of speed. The buzz was incredible. And then Frank came over to remind us we also won the bonus. So that was fantastic.”

Slip Jig wasn’t the only one demonstrating their turn of foot, Field reveals. “I’m 56 but I was like a 16-year-old young fella running up the side, because I just knew two out that she was back on the bit. I took off. I started running up alongside her as fast as I could. Colin asked my wife, ‘What’s wrong with Dennis?’”

“Even the commentator said, ‘My God, we’ve a healthy bunch of syndicate owners here today.’ It was great to hear that. Then people started congratulating us, and came over to shake our hands. The great community of racegoers know that it’s such a thrill to get a winner on the day.”

Bonus a no-brainer

As previously mentioned by Field, the win saw the syndicate receive the Weatherbys ITBA NH Fillies Bonus worth €7,500, on top of Slip Jig’s prize money of €6,195. It’s Frank Motherway who deserves the credit for more than doubling their earnings on the day, Field tells me.

“Frank really promoted this to us because we wouldn’t have known anything about it otherwise. He said make sure you do this - it’s one of the best schemes that’s been introduced in the country in a long, long time. He said it was a no-brainer. Frank put all his three-year-old mares into the bonus scheme at that time.

“Slip Jig has made the bonus so important to us as a group. The first one we got was €7,500, and she has a chance of winning another worth €5,000, please God. If we can get one more win out of that, it would be fantastic.”

Off the track

Syndicate member James McCarthy is to thank for their connection to Frank Motherway, as McCarthy was tasked with sourcing a horse for the group of keen racegoers. Speaking to Field, it’s clear that their relationship with the Motherway family has been key to their enjoyment of the ownership experience.

“We pop down to Colin on a regular basis to see the mare, we could be there every second week. Then we go on the Frank to see his foals and the horses he’s taking to the sales. The lads slag me saying they’ll put a bed next to Slip Jig because I’m down there so much!”

On future plans for Slip Jig, Field comments, “Maybe Listowel. We were hoping for Galway, but she’s gone on a bit of a break now. She needs soft ground so we might not see her again until we have real National Hunt ground.”

Despite discussing the win and the syndicate’s earnings, Field’s priorities are clear. “Look, we’re not in this to make money. We’re just in it for the fun of it and we’ll keep going as long as we can.”