Growing up, kids love to blame parents for various habits, likes, dislikes and of course, neuroses (thanks Freud!). One of the things I have to thank my parents for is my odd taste in music as I grew up on a bizarre diet of The Beach Boys, John Denver and Tammy Wynette (although I was a bit more of an I Don’t Wanna Play House, than a Stand By Your Man girl). I discovered that country music was not cool sometime in my teens and immediately converted to punk rock to recover some credibility, but the damage was done and I still have a penchant for the sort of innocent, folksy stuff that comes from the heart.
The weekend’s Breeders’ Cup was a bit of a mixed bag for racing fans. Favourites were dethroned and there were upsets a-plenty. However, the biggest hit of the festival for me was a young raider from Ireland called Mark Boylan.
Fourteen year old Mark hails from the small town of Banaghar, County Offaly in Ireland. The Irish are pretty much born with horses in their blood, but Mark’s passion for racing has been nurtured from an early age. His mother, Helene, grew up next door to four-time Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer Aidan O’Brien, and Mark and his family have been regular visitors to O’Brien’s Coolmore Ballydoyle training center. Mark’s other passion in life is music. He has been writing and performing music since he was 10 years old and charmingly describes himself as a ‘singer-songwriter in my spare time’.
In 2010 a host of British racing celebrities got together to record a single about the Cheltenham Festival put to the tune of Petula Clark’s 60s hit “Downtown”. Star contributors included Tony McCoy, Paul Nicholls, Mick Fitzgerald, Nicky Henderson, John McCririck and Bob Champion and proceeds went to a host of good racing causes.
Twelve year old Mark was inspired to record his own version and posted a copy on Youtube. It was recorded in his bedroom and is utterly adorable as his guitar is nearly as big as he is! It seems his heart is as big as his guitar as he urged fans to donate to his favourite charity, the Permanently Injured Jockeys’ Fund.
I am not the only one who loved it. A UK record producer spotted the video and invited Mark to the Cheltenham Festival last year. Inspired by his visit, Mark penned his own tribute to the greatest show on turf and named it ‘The Festival’ which he describes as ‘A passionate Cheltenham Anthem’. It also made its way onto his Youtube channel and was an immediate success. The video got over 3,000 hits in the first week and attracted huge attention from the horse racing fraternity. Tony McCoy even commented on Twitter ‘I ain’t no Simon Cowell but how good is 13 year old Mark Boylan’s song about the Cheltenham Festival‘. High praise indeed from a 15 time Champion Jockey and BBC Sports personality of the Year!
What started out in the racing newspapers quickly caught on in the wider community and his story has featured in several mainstream news publications including the Irish Independent and has spread as far as the NY Times and ESPN. The Racing Post took things a step further by flying Mark to the Racing Post headquarters in London to record his song and a promotional video. He has appeared on several TV channels and performed his song in the Cheltenham parade ring in front of 60,000 people during the Festival centenary in March this year.
However, Mark is not a man to rest on his laurels. In September, he penned a tribute to another famous racing festival, the Breeders’ Cup, and called it ‘Stateside’.
His lyrics are simple, yet beautiful and stir up all the passion and emotion of a big race day –the anticipation of the build-up, the gladiators preparing to do battle, the horses prancing and pawing the ground, the nerves down at the start, that breathless moment when the stalls burst open and you know history is being made with every hoof beat. He’s captured the fans hungry for a new star, hanging on the rail fervently shouting on their favourites; the horses and riders thundering furiously down the track to the roar of the crowd; and all locked in a single-minded determination to cross the wire first. It is simple and beautiful and passionate and an astonishing accomplishment for a 13 year old!
He recorded a copy and posted it on Youtube and like his previous efforts, it was an immediate hit. One YouTube fan posted, “This kid is absolutely great! He should definitely perform this in Kentucky on BC weekend, the crowds will love it!” The folks at the Breeders’ Cup agreed. Vice president of media and entertainment, Peter Rotondo, said “When we first heard the song ‘Stateside,’ we were blown away”. So much so that they rang him up and offered to fly Mark and his family to Louisville to perform live to the Breeders’ Cup fans.
Mark told NTRA’s Penelope Miller “On my birthday they called me up and, oh my gosh, I think my mom thought I was going to pass out! I couldn’t believe it – I think the neighbors heard me all up and down up the road. My whole small town could hear me.”
And it seems Kentucky was as enthusiastic about Mark as he was about them and he received an overwhelmingly warm reception. He gave a free concert at Fourth Street Live! in Louisville on Wednesday afternoon where he performed a number of songs including original works and Top 40 hits. He had a smile on his face throughout and engaged the crowd with his Irish charm, chatting with onlookers and bursting with enthusiasm.
Mark performed “Stateside” in front of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup crowd at Churchill Downs and even got to meet and sing for Chantal Sutherland, Game On Dude’s jockey in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (who finished second by the narrowest margin to Drosselmeyer and Chantal’s ex-fiancé Mike Smith).
Since returning home, Mark’s Facebook page has been inundated with well wishes and posts from fans and it seems his popularity is soaring. “Stateside” will soon be offered online for download, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Mark’s favourite charity, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Asked whether he thought music would become his profession someday Mark answered “I’d absolutely love it. It’s something that I have a deep passion for, and it runs in my veins. It is something that I’d love to do in the future, but I understand that it’s something where a lot of people don’t make it. It’s tough to get into the music business, but if it doesn’t work out I’m going to make sure to get an education. If I don’t find myself a job in either racing or music, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he concluded with a laugh.
I sincerely hope that Mark does manage to find himself a job in racing or music (or both – as I could do with a few new songs for my iPod!). It is simply amazing what he has achieved with his incredible passion and enthusiasm. His music and enthusiasm are infectious and it is incredible how much positivity he has created for our wonderful game.
Just goes to show that we may not all be able to afford a race horse, but we can all buy into racing.
