Royal Ascot the next stop for Arthurian Fame and 62-member Blackrock syndicate

Are you ready Royal Ascot? The Blackrock Racing Syndicate are on their way and, judging by the raucous celebrations at Naas last month and again at Leopardstown on Friday night, when Arthurian Fame won the inaugural running of the Microsoft Cup for lady riders, there could be scenes never witnessed before at the royal meeting.

The Duke of Edinburgh Handicap is now on the agenda for the rapidly-improving Arthurian Fame, who is unbeaten since being bought by the Blackrock Racing Syndicate – an ownership that consists of 62 past-pupils of Blackrock College in south Dublin.

A video taken in the grandstands at Leopardstown during the closing stages of Friday night's win under Hayley Turner, which shows the syndicate descending into hysteria, has already received tens of thousands of views on social media and they later had the winning rider on their shoulders in the winner's enclosure, just as they had done with Joseph O'Brien after the Naas win.

O'Brien has revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh is the now the plan for Arthurian Fame and Pierce Dargan, head of the syndicate, says that victory there would be beyond their wildest dreams.

"The idea to form a syndicate actually came about at Ascot last year. I bumped into a few old friends from school one of the days and it seemed blatantly obvious – if they are willing to spend money to come over and just watch racing surely we should buy a horse together and come and watch him race. So that's how the idea came about," Dargan said.

"We are all past pupils of Blackrock but the ages range from those who left the school in the 1970s to those who left last year. That's the beauty of the syndicate. We use a ten-share structure and we have appointed ten heads of shares. That means there is something everyone can afford.

"One of the guys who left in the 1970s has a share on his own, while the ones who left more recently could be one of 20 who have a ten per cent share.

"I would say the average age of the syndicate is probably early 20s. We have a WhatsApp group for the whole syndicate and then a separate WhatsApp group for the heads of the shares. That's the way it works."

Dargan thinks the Blackrock Racing Syndicate has started a trend, too.

Arthurian Fame: wins under Hayley Turner at LeopardstownCredit: Patrick McCann

"There are at least five other schools who have seen what we have done and want to copy our model. Why wouldn't they? It's a fantastic way of seeing people you might not have seen in six/seven years or maybe more. Every time the horse runs it is like a mini-reunion. It's amazing. My main job now is managing expectations!"

The reason expectations are so high is because the Blackrock Racing Syndicate have never had to swallow defeat. Arthurian Fame is two from two. What will the reaction be if he makes it three from three in the Duke of Edinburgh?

"That would be fairytale stuff," Dargan added. "This whole thing seems like a fairytale but that would be beyond our wildest dreams.

"To have a runner at Royal Ascot is seriously special so to have a winner there would be just incredible. There are no words to describe what that would be like."

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