Revisited | Catching Up With...Whyso Mayo

Back in 2018, as part of our 'Catching up with' series, we found out where some of the most prolific open point-to-pointers where after their racing careers had come to an end.

First up is Whyso Mayo, who ran 46 times between the flags, clocking up a total of 18 wins, 6 runner-up efforts and five thirds from 2002-2012.

We caught up with Whyso Mayo’s former handler owner Raymond Hurley to find out a bit more about the star
pointer.

“I saw him win at Bandon in 2002. About 18 months after his win that day Mr. O’Driscoll called to see me and I got him soon after to train.

“He always felt like he had an engine and gave you a great feeling at home.

“He had his first run for me at Aghabullogue in January 2004 in a winners of one and thankfully won! During that season he won another two races and was second at Bandon and Clonakility.

“The following season he won again at Aghabullogue and later that spring he won the Tetratema hunters chase at Gowran Park and went on to finish third in the Champion hunters chase at Punchestown to General Montcalm

“One of the great things about Whyso was how much he loved his racing. He definitely wore his heart on his sleeve each time he ran.

“He returned to Aghabullogue in 2006 to win there for the third year in a row. We decided to run him at Thurles 11 days later and I think he was still a tired horse going there.

“He unfortunately made a bad mistake and he showed us that day that he is made of steel to keep going like he did that day to finish fourth.

“We started thinking then that we might enter him for the Cheltenham Foxhunters that March.

“He ran at Leopardstown and unseated Damien but we had our mind made up that we were going to travel over to the festival the next month.

“It’s hard to sum up Cheltenham. It was unbelievable over there. To have a horse good enough to go over with never mind win was just a brilliant experience and it was definitely one of the best days we had with him.

“He was unbeaten on his next three starts for us and we decided to travel over the following year to have another go at the Foxhunters.

“He ran another blinder in 2007 and finished half a length second to Drombeag. He made a few mistakes during the race but battled back and showed us how tough he was to finish as strong as he did.

“We decided to run him in the Irish Grand National that Easter but as he had a hard race at Cheltenham it probably came a bit soon for him.

“He then had just over two years off before he ran again and won at Bartlemy in May 2009. It was two years before he won again at Thurles in the hunter chase at the age of 14.

“He won his final race for us the following year at Bandon at the age of 15, 10 years after he first won there. He gave everyone such great days out and so many special memories.

“Susan Crowley who is married to Paul Cashman is looking after him since he retired at Rathbarry Stud.
Susan told us “I worked in the yard where Whyso was broken and then followed him closely during his career. I got him a couple of months after he retired.

“He is enjoying life out in the field and acts as a companion horse to some of the younger ones. Sometimes he thinks he is their age again!”

First published June 1st, 2018