TL: What was your earliest racing memory and was being involved with horses something you always wanted to do?

SL: I don’t have any horsey background in the family, but from a very young age I started to ride a pony around the roads, so that was the start. I am from Blackrock in Co Dublin with no equestrian or horse background in the family, so it was all self-generated.

TL: Being from an eventing background how much do you think it has helped you as a trainer?

SL: Coming from a sport horse background you are not so rigid about certain things. I would be more aware of how the horses ride, the different bits with bridles, and just small things that could help. Everybody trains differently and I don’t think one person is better than the other person. It just depends on the training facilities you have and the horses. I think the sport horse has helped because you do things slightly differently.

TL: Lady Ultra ridden by Rory Cleary was your first winner at the Curragh in September 2013. How special was it to have your first winner as a trainer?

SL: It was fantastic having it at the Curragh. I got a lot of goodwill from it. She was a homebred so, yes, it was brilliant and a nice venue to have your first winner. The amount of goodwill from people that I did not know or other trainers in the racing industry and the public was amazing. They were delighted to see a new trainer and that was nice.

TL: You train a lot of sprinters or horses with speed. Is that something you look for at the sales?

SL: Not particularly. It is cyclical. Last year I had a lot of staying horses and this year I don’t. I just have two staying horses. When I go to the sales, I look for an athlete and that is my criteria. Everybody is different and people’s taste varies, there are the obvious ones that people go for and I can’t afford those. It is great that the tastes are different because a lot of horses get sold for various values to different people.

TL: Do you prefer to buy foals, yearlings, or breeze-up horses?

SL: I have no preference. I have had good and bad luck in all the mediums. It just depends on what kind of budget you have and sometimes at the foal sales I don’t have a budget to buy a foal and other times I do. There is no hard and fast rule to it. I have been to two of the three breeze-ups this year but did not have the pockets to buy what I wanted so I got one and that was it.

The sales are not a level playing field and people who have money are going to potentially buy the top end of the market and that is just the way of the world.

They will get better pedigrees and nicer models. You have no choice, you have just got to try and buy value outside that market and criteria. It is important to decide what your budget is and buy from within it.

TL: Have you ever struggled to find or keep staff?

SL: I have excellent core staff who have been with me for a fair number of years. However, there are times when you need more, and we try and do our best not to burn out and we all get burned out in stages. We could do with getting more people to go racing but staffing is an issue and there is no way around it. These days it feels that some people don’t know how to get the opportunity to work in a stable yard and quite often you get people applying for jobs and they just don’t have the knowledge.

The problem is at the beginning or mid-season we do not have the time to teach people. I think it is easier for less experienced people to start out in a National Hunt yard in the sense that the horses are easier to handle because the horses are older and wiser.

TL: What was the most successful horse you have trained so far in your career?

SL: Lady Kaya stands out and she sadly never got to fulfil her potential. New Energy was superb and gave us some great days and has run creditably in Group 1s before being sold. Belle Image was fourth in an Irish Guineas and Mr Scarlet was fifth in a Group 1. We had some nice horses and Belle Image’s potential was compromised due to having veterinary issues and getting a sore back. Mr Scarlett also unfortunately chipped his knee. Other than that, those horses would have been right up there.

TL: Lady Kaya’s fatal injury was a massive blow. How did you and your team cope with that awful accident?

SL: It was my worst day in racing, and it still brings back memories. The worst thing about it was that we could not save her. That was the worst, and she did not deserve that. Lady Kaya was the soundest filly I had. We coped by getting up the next day and when you have horses you must feed them.

People were really kind and I got lots of letters and notes and calls after the accident. One of the first people to phone was Pat Smullen and I have never forgotten how kind people were.

TL: If you could change something in racing, what would it be?

SL: I would change the quality of the food that the stable staff get. The whole industry is revolved around health and yet all the stable staff, most of the time, get is chips and beans. They could really do with improving the quality of the food for the stable staff. As the stable staff are riding the horses the food must be suitable for them as they must keep their weight down.

TL: For the rest of the flat season are there any horses in your stable to look out for?

SL: I have got a nice bunch of horses and it could potentially be the nicest bunch we have had as a stable. I have Fort Vega who has won twice and a nice homebred in Torivega. I have a good bunch of two-year-olds, some have been out, and others have not. Lady Kaya’s half-brother Kortez Bay can progress.