Among the rich and famous at Saturday’s Magic Millions day will be three Brisbane rugby mates living their dream.

James Connolly, Brendan Foster and Joe Lloyd were friends during their days at Brisbane’s Marist Ashgrove College and played rugby together at the GPS club.

The trio often spoke about getting a racehorse and formed CFL Racing, which bought a share in Charlie Boy, now among the favourites for the Magic Millions Guineas (1400m).

Charlie Boy is syndicated by the Triple Crown group which has a mighty strike rate in big races.

“We often talked about having a runner in a big race and this was a good way to do it,” Connolly said.

Charlie Boy has already fulfilled his part of the bargain, winning $319,000 and two races, including the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington last spring.

He’s done no better than midfield in his four previous Group One starts.

“Just to have a runner in those races and now the Millions race is terrific,” Connolly said.

Rosehill trainer Gerald Ryan has given Charlie Boy two trials in preparation for a first-up tilt at the Guineas.

Ryan is a big fan of racing syndications giving people a chance to race top horses.

His three runners at the Gold Coast on Saturday are all syndicate horses – Charlie Boy (Dynamic), Snitsky (Darby), and the striking No Ifs Or Buts (Dynamic), which has a white face and four white stockings.