Boyzone star Ronan Keating got off the mark as an owner at Roscommon this evening and subsequently remarked “it was better than having a number one record!”, after witnessing his Great Huzzar win the Irish Stallion Farms EBF (C & G) Maiden.

Great Huzzar, backed from 7/2 in the morning into 9/4, got the better of Tashqeel inside the final furlong, readily scoring by three lengths under Wayne Lordan.

Afterwards a chuffed Keating said “I was shaking in the stands watching the race! It was better than having a number one record!”

Keating is a member of the Bucket List Syndicate which includes a number of the singer’s friends.

Winning trainer Tommy Stack’s son James ‘Fozzy’ Stack also added “we always liked Great Huzzar but he had a few little problems and pulled a muscle last spring.”

“He needed the run badly at Cork the last day and we’ll take our time with him now. While he handled the cut in the ground, it wasn’t imperative for him to have it.”

Thomas Weekes