How did you get involved in racing?

My father [Ciaran] and grandfather [Malachy] were both bookmakers, so as a child I used to spend my weekends going racing. I was very much bitten by the bug from a young age.

I did a business degree in the University of Limerick, and hadn’t envisaged that working in the industry would be a possibility for me then.

As I was coming to the end of my degree, I realised that I wasn’t fully enjoying what I was setting myself up to do, and I wanted to do something that I was excited to get up for every morning.

As I finished my degree I worked for trainer Richard O’Brien in Limerick, and that was my first job in racing. We’ve done some work together since and maintained a very good friendship. I then went on to work for Peter Molony at Rathmore Stud before going over to the UK to Hillwood Stud to do yearling prep, which gave me my first bit of exposure to flat bloodstock sales.

I was lucky enough to get onto the Irish National Stud course - that was a brilliant six months - and I made some life-long friends in all corners of the globe.

From there I went to Australia and worked for Yarraman Park Stud for six months. I loved that. I then got a place on the Godolphin Flying Start course, which was an amazing two years. I was totally immersed in every facet of the racing industry, and that was really what I was looking for at that stage; trying to figure out what I wanted to do in the industry.

I went back to Rathmore Stud for two very valuable years, and at the time was doing some bloodstock agency work as part of that role. I decided to go out on my own and work for myself as an agent. Luckily, that has been going well.

The export market from Europe is extremely strong, and has been for many years. We have the product here so my role is to find the horses, find the correct contacts for owners and put them together. It became apparent to me early doors that a lot of those contacts are found overseas, so I spend a good bit of time between Australia, New Zealand, Asia and America. I’ve found it to be very beneficial and have met some brilliant people.

How did you source Royal Bay Cen?

During the mares’ sales last year, I tried to buy something for myself that I thought had some improvement, or that I could get to a higher rating and potentially some blacktype to sell on, but I didn’t have any luck.

I was still very keen so I went through the Arqana Deauville February Sale catalogues, and, luckily, Royal Bay Cen was at the top of the list. I was overseas during the sale but a good friend of mine, Bérangère Madamet, is a vet so I asked her to look at her for me. She liked her and the filly vetted clean.

Bérangère’s brother, Augustin, had ridden her in a few of her starts and wins, so I also rang him to get some more insight. What he told me matched up with what I was thinking in my head, so I was keen enough to buy her at that stage.

I never thought for a second I’d be able to get her for as cheap as I did at €20,000. I think she just slipped through the cracks.

Was that the performance you were expecting from her in Cork?

Not at all, to be honest. Johnny [Murtagh] had always expressed that he liked her, but when you buy them at those February sales, they are a bit behind the majority of horses who are in training in Ireland. We had Sunday’s Polonia Stakes in mind when I bought her, but Johnny thought it would take everything to get her there.

She spent a bit of time at Conor Hoban’s and got great benefit out of being there. Similarly with Johnny’s system, she’s just thrived since the day she arrived. I bought her initially to try and target the Palace of Hollyroodhouse Stakes at Royal Ascot. She had the rating to qualify so I was hoping to start with the Polonia, dream of finishing third for blacktype and have something to build on. Those were our expectations, so the whole thing came as a complete shock really.

I think the main factor is just how good of a trainer Johnny is. His stock is rising all the time and I’m very lucky to be in the stable with him. I think we’re only going to see more of Johnny racing horses at a higher level. He’s on the crest of a wave and he’s a fantastic trainer to deal with.

This filly is my only horse in training, and she was my first winner, which is pretty surreal. I was pretty devastated not to be at Cork, so hopefully next time I can be there. My family are very interested in racing and my mum [Maria] gets The Irish Field every week to stay caught up.

It’s great for them to have a bit of excitement with it and hopefully we can get a few great days out of her. She’ll always be a Polonia Stakes winner – nobody can take that away from her. Luckily, it’s added a bit of breeding value to her for the future. She’s by New Bay, out of a Cornwallis winner by Lope De Vega called Royal Razalma, so it’s a nice commercial pedigree.

Is breeding something you’d like to get involved in with your own horses?

100%. I do some trading myself, I have some yearlings to sell this year, a few breezers to sell in Australia and New Zealand, and bought my first broodmare with some friends this year, so it’s definitely something I’ll look to do in the future. Whether it’s going to be a filly of her calibre starting off, I’m not sure, but I love every facet of the game.

Will you sell Royal Bay Cen, or are you hoping to hang onto her?

There’s a slight dilemma between the heart and the head at the moment. I do wonder if I’ll get an opportunity like this again and, with the fact that she’s secured some of her value as a breeding prospect, part of me would love to go chasing the dream of winning a Group 3 or possibly beyond that.

What got me into the thoroughbred industry was horse racing, and I’ve always dreamed of racing horses myself, so to have one that could potentially take me to the big stages in my own colours is special. It’s a great position to be in.