'The stuff of miracles' - meet the former electrician and nightclub owner dreaming of Cheltenham glory

Take a canny former electrical contractor who has 20-odd horses in his care at a North Yorkshire yard where he has been based only since 2021; throw in a former teacher who is now his business partner plus an ebullient childhood football teammate who now owns two hotels, including a nightclub, and a pub; add a softly spoken Scottish baker lured into the game by his wife and you have the team dreaming of Cheltenham Festival glory on a chilly morning in Leyburn.

Yet an unlikely background does not mean The Real Whacker is an unlikely winner. Far from it. He has been nearly favourite for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase all year and is so well regarded he could even have a crack at the Boodles Gold Cup. The final decision on which race to go for will rest with Patrick Neville, 52 on Friday, who has swapped plotting electrical systems for planning racecourse wins. 

“When we were growing up it was very hard to get a trade and a job so you took what you got,” the trainer, who goes by the name of Paddy, recalls of his background in the tiny village of Ballysteen in County Limerick.