“THE buzz was brilliant, it was great craic.” That’s how Peter O’Reilly summed up his achievement of riding a circuit around all 26 Irish racecourses in one day last Sunday.

Raising money for the Irish Injured Jockeys, the former amateur rider criss-crossed the country by helicopter and car in his mission to visit all the tracks between dawn and dusk. The challenge started at Downpatrick at 4.45am and ended in Dundalk around 8.45pm.

Operating on a tight schedule, O’Reilly relied on racecourse managers to have their gates open for him while local trainers were asked to supply a tacked-up horse ready for him to ride. Not once was he let down.

“It went like clockwork,” he reported. “The racecourse managers, trainers and staff were spot on and I finished on time.”

The tone for the day was set in Downpatrick. “When my wife Tish dropped me off shortly after 4.30am on Sunday I didn’t expect many people to be around but I was greeted by the manager Richard Lyttle, trainer Colin McBratney and some of the racecourse committee and supporters’ club. They even had tea and coffee for us!”

Racehorse owner Barry Connell donated the use of the helicopter and one of the highlights of the day came when O’Reilly landed at Gowran Park an hour before racing began. “I was really hungry at this stage, so I must thank Audrey O’Dwyer [wife of trainer Conor] for bringing me a bag of snacks. Willie Mullins supplied me with a good horse, The Bosses Cousin, and then Kevin Ryan interviewed me for At The Races.”

At Tramore his mount was the Henry de Bromhead-trained Loosen My Load and in Roscommon he rode former Galway Hurdle winner Moon Dice thanks to trainer Paul Flynn. Hotel Minella owner John Nallen greeted him in Clonmel and trainer Tim Doyle’s daughter Emma rode her cob alongside O’Reilly around Thurles Racecourse. “I’d like to give a special word of thanks to Ted and Katie Walsh who supplied horses for me at Punchestown and Naas.”

Plenty of well-wishers presented O’Reilly with cash and cheques along the way, something he was not expecting, and the fundraising total stood at over €14,000 on Thursday.

Racing legend Strandfield Lady, winner of 13 races from 106 starts, brought the adventure to a close at Dundalk Stadium, where O’Reilly shared a celebratory glass of champagne with racecourse manager Jim Martin and trainer Harry Rogers.

“I want to really thank everyone who helped me along the way,” O’Reilly said. “As an added bonus I got to see most of Ireland on a beautiful summer’s day - something I had never thought about before.”

Web: mycharity.ie (search for Peter O’Reilly)