Mark Weld,Singing at tomorrow's Budwieser Irish Derby
This weekend's Budweiser Irish Derby Festival provides Mark Weld with a unique opportunity to combine his two great passions: racing and singing. Just before the horses line up for the derby tomorrow, the 31-year-old trainer will sing The Curragh of Kildarein front of the grandstand and an estimated 40,000 punters.
Born into a renowned racing dynasty - his father, Dermot, is the master of Rosewell House - Weld toyed with the idea of a career as a tenor before opting to remain in the family business. "I trained with Veronica Dunne for six or seven years, and it came to a point where I had to decide whether I wanted to be a professional singer. To do that I would have had to cut ties with the day job completely, and I just couldn't do it. I am passionate about the sport. I love being around racing, and as a singer I would never have been able to enjoy the lifestyle I have now."
Singing remains a hobby, hence the pre-derby gig. "I sing for fun now, which is far less pressurised. I'm in a choir here in the Curragh and do occasional parties and events like this one."
The idea behind The Curragh of Kildareperformance is to re-create the pre-race singalongs at the Melbourne Cup and Kentucky Derby. "At those events you have 150,000 people belting out the words, and it's like a national anthem. We are printing the words of the song on the racecard, and they will be up on the big screen. It's a big song with a big finish, so hopefully everyone will be focused on singing for those few minutes."
Performance complete, it will be back to the day job. "We have about 30 runners over the three days, so it's one of those weekends where we will all breathe a big sigh of relief come Monday, because there is so much juggling going on. Between myself, my brother, my dad and the whole team here, we are responsible for ensuring it all goes smoothly. It's pretty intense, because you are trying to balance time up in the stands with the owners and then being down at the track. The whole weekend pivots on how the horses run. It's a very long weekend if you don't have winners."
How many winners constitute a good weekend? "There is so much competition in Ireland now, and every owner wants a winner on Derby weekend, so we will be happy with a winner each day. Everything else is a bonus."
Is he nervous about singing in front of such a large crowd and live on TV. "Of course there are nerves, but you get up there and do your thing. It's a great opportunity to showcase my talent, and with so many people watching you never know what might happen." .
Racing starts today at 2.15pm and tomorrow at 1.30pm. For festival information see www.curragh.ie