| OWNER/BREEDER |
Colreevy and Paul Townend (near) lands over the last from Elimay (Mark Walsh) to win for owner Mrs Niall Flynn and trainer Willie Mullins
| MAGAZINE 2022 |
SPECIAL MARE COLREEVY RETIRED UNBEATEN OVER FENCES COLREEVY SUCCESSFULLY ENDED HER RACING CAREER AT PUNCHESTOWN WITH A FIFTH WIN FROM FIVE OVER FENCES. OWNER AND BREEDER NIALL FLYNN DISCUSSES HIS OWN INTRODUCTION TO RACING WITH BREANDÁN Ó hUALLACHÁIN AND LOOKS BACK OVER THE CAREER OF THE STAR MARE HE UNFORTUNATELY NEVER GOT TO SEE IN THE FLESH WINNING OVER FENCES.
O
wner-breeder Niall Flynn enjoyed a purple patch with his mare Colreevy last season, with the mare successfully ending her career in the Grade 1 Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival. Dungarvan, Co Waterford-based Niall traces his racing links back to 1973 when his parents purchased a mare from trainer John Kiely’s father, Matt. “My parents were into racing. They bought a mare from Matt Kiely and it went on from there. They had a winner in Cheltenham in 1977 when Meladon won the Triumph Hurdle (with Tommy Carberry in the saddle) and it went from there.” While his four brothers followed their parents into the hospitality industry, Niall went farming when he left school in 1979 and the following year bought some broodmares. “It started off when my parents bought that mare. She had three or four fillies and we started breeding from them – that was the Shúil family. Since then there were always broodmares here. Liss A Paoraigh would be the best of them,” he confidently says.
| 28 | THE ASSOCIATION OF IRISH RACEHORSE OWNERS
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