Rathmullan native Pierce Boyce, Producer of Jockey Eile.
GALWAY-based television producer Pierce Boyce from Rathmullan who has a series Jockey Eile nominated in the Best Reality Series at the upcoming Irish Film And Television Awards (IFTA) is is putting his money where his mouth is.
Pierce has been quietly placing bets in various bookie shops around the west trying to land a big gamble on his TV series to help fund the next series, a family holiday.
After getting 5/1 with Paddy Power and 4/1 with Boyelsports and all odds down to evens with smaller bookies, the series is now down to 6/5 favourite with most bookie chains who fear Boyce may have landed a major betting coup.
“Look, I believe in our series, I always have from the first moment I devised the format and I am simply putting my money where my big mouth has got me. If you don’t have belief in yourself in this business then you should move on.
“I have nothing to fear from the other contenders. No harm to Dylan McGrath but Masterchef is a jaded format, just like Come Dine With me. We are a brilliant homegrown format done in Irish.
“We are up against these big international formats Masterchef and Come Dine With Me, as well as last year’s winner ICA Bootcamp, but as far as I am concerned they are already beaten. We win. End of story,” says a confident Pierce Boyce.
“I have been backing horses for a long time, and if ever there was a bet I fully believe in, it is this one. Can we lose? Of course. There is no such thing as a sure thing but we are very very confident. If we were a horse we would be called Frankel.
“Our series was outstanding and as a Reality Series it stands out against the crowd. And to add to the pressure I have promised my 3 children that we will go on holidays at school midterm if we win on Feb 9th”, continues Pierce.
“Now I have to win it for them and sunshine here we come. It started out as a bit of a laugh but the more I analyzed it and got the best odds I figured it was a great bet.
“We have over 30 bets on now at various big and small bookies and like any good betting coup we kept bets relatively small and under the radar at the start and built them up as we got near our end goal.
“I will love taking a few thousand of our old enemy, the bookies, with whom I have absolutely no sympathy. When I am lying back by the pool sipping my cocktail I will be toasting them all.”
“When I was younger my heroes were JP McManus and Barney Curley and their gambles were legendary on horses through the years. I have always dreamt of a chance like this and I am not letting it pass without giving it a real go.
“I still admire these men and when I win I’ll dedicate it to them. It’s not so much about winning money as beating the bookies and using their money to do some good.”
The IFTA ceremnony is broadcast live in RTE1 on Feb 9th from the Convention Centre Dublin. Tune in to see if Pierce lands his massive gamble. As he says “If you’re not in, you can’t win!”