Meet the parish priest and his Champion Hurdle-winning brother praying for more glory at Punchestown

The very thought of a nine-child family would be enough to cause modern parents to choke on their crushed avocado on sourdough, but in the old Ireland of the 1950s and 1960s it would scarcely have warranted a second glance.

In that respect the Byrne family, ‘bred and buttered’ in Tullow, County Carlow, wasn't too remarkable, but the shared common bond that racehorse ownership has brought through the years certainly is.

Although a sister, Catherine, sadly died in 2018, the eight remaining siblings, Joe, Pat, John, Alicia, Ger, Bernard, Michael and Lar, or the Slaneyville Syndicate as they are collectively known, will be out in force for the Punchestown festival this week. Their fine novice chaser Lecky Watson, an impressive winner of the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham last month, chases a Grade 1 double in the Dooley Insurance Group Champion Novice Chase on Tuesday.