How did you get into racehorse ownership?

The buzz of watching owners celebrate when I was very young in places like Galway and Punchestown. It was then I knew I would be a horse owner.

The Land Rover Bumper is my favourite race. My best finish as an owner was third place with Hurricane Lauren under Jane Mangan, trained by Eugene O’Sullivan in 2012.

What was your best day at the races and why?

The day Chris’s Dream won a maiden hurdle for us in Limerick (2017). We knew how good he was but to do it on the day with the Crooked Crew there was surreal.

In your experience, which racecourse in Ireland treats owners the best and why?

Definitely Mallow Racecourse (Cork). Andrew Hogan (manager) could never do enough for you on raceday, especially looking after large syndicates.

Flat or jump racing, which do you prefer and why?

Definitely jumps - the flat is far too competitive.

What qualities do you look for in a trainer?

The quality of the team around him\her. When you trust your trainer and the trainer is open and honest. That’s it, leave them do their job.

What improvements would you like to see racecourses in Ireland do for owners?

It has been highlighted before; sometimes when you have a large syndicate not all syndicate members can use the owners’ facilities on racedays. This needs to be reviewed.

How do you think the current crisis will impact on racing in general and on ownership in particular?

The impact is still unknown, but everybody in the industry needs to adhere to the rules and work together until the vaccine is rolled out.

Hopefully, we will get back to some normality soon.

What significance do your colours hold?

The Crooked Crew Syndicate colours are the colours of our local GAA club Na Piarsaigh.

My son Jack Singleton’s colours are very close those of the great Rock Of Gibraltar and are red and white for Cork. Some of the horses run in these colours.

How did your syndicate get its name?

The Crooked Crew, let’s just say there would be a few warriors in there!

When buying a horse, what do you look for?

I leave that to the trainer, they know best.

What horses do you currently have in training?

We have been fortunate to have had a lot of good horses that we had to sell on.

Chris’s Dream is now with Henry de Bromhead, (owned by Robcour). His half-brother Scorpiancer went on to win the American Champion Hurdle. And Coqolino, who is now in training with Gordon Elliott for J.P. McManus.

We have Jesse Evans with Noel Meade who is running in Grade 1 company and he looks very exciting. (Seventh to Appreciate It in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown).

Have you any horses to look forward to? (i.e young/unbroken horses?

We have a couple of very exciting young point-to-point horses with Eugene O’Sullivan. We are starting to lose a little sleep over a Chris’s Dream half-sister who we called Sophie’s Dream. She’s showing all the right attributes at the moment.

What would help to make Irish racing more competitive for the smaller owner/trainer?

I think the big trainers should be restricted on how many horse they can run in any one race. Sometimes the top three trainers could have 80% of the field which is not good for racing.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a racehorse owner?

If you want to be a millionaire out of racing, start by being a billionaire.

Tomás Singleton was in conversation with Olivia Hamilton