How did you first get involved in the racing industry?

I got involved through my father, P.J, who always had mares and stallions and was always involved in racing. He had a training licence in the 80’s and also rode in what used to be called ‘the flappers’. I served my time with Kevin Prendergast when I was younger and had a jockeys’ licence for a while. I went away to America for years, and bought a mare called Final Contest in Ireland while I was over there, so when I moved home I bred her. Her first foal was Great Ability who won in Naas in 2013. I also bought a foal that my brother had bred who ended up getting injured before we could run her, so I bred her as well. That’s Macsteps, Out On Friday’s dam.

Is there a story behind his name?

When he was born, he was very sick. A vet by the name of Paddy Maguire saved him. The following year, my father-in-law passed away. He always used to go for a drink on a Friday, and he ended up being buried on a Friday and someone said ‘sure, he always liked to go out on a Friday,’ and that stuck with me.

How did you get involved with the trainer, Philip Byrne?

A man called Mark Briscoe worked for Philip, and used to give me a hand with breakers and handling young stock. He introduced me to Philip and it blossomed from there. Philip and Liam Briscoe, who works in the yard, have done great work with Out On Friday. They’re with him every day of the week and I can’t thank them enough, I just have to turn up to the races and enjoy the day.

Were you confident going into the race on Monday?

Yeah, I was. When he ran in Gowran last month we were happy enough with him because he’d improved from his previous run. He tends to improve a lot when the sun comes out, so when we had the dry spell, I knew he’d improve again from there. It was a good race so I wasn’t confident in winning, but I knew he’d run well. All I wanted was for him to come home in one piece. Roscommon is great, you always get a good crowd and have plenty of banter.

What do you think is the key to keeping a horse happy and healthy as a nine-year-old?

If we knew what it was, we’d all be doing it! My father always said that you should never put mares in foal, or foals, onto fertilised grass, and I’ve always stood by that. We never rushed him either. When he was a two-year-old, he ran a few times but we never put the gun to him, we let him come into himself and develop.

Vanessa Maye was a huge help with him as well. We used to tell her to drop him out at the back of the field, and she got sick of him pulling on her one day in Tipperary and dropped her hands letting him get to the front, he was only beaten half-a-length! That was when we found out he liked to be out in front rather than in behind horses, and she was the one that worked it out. The next day she made the running and they were only beaten two lengths.

There have also been a few opportunities where I could have gone jumping with him, but he’s always been a bit back in the knee. He’s straightened up a lot now, but I think keeping him on the flat has been a big help. I think a lot of little things contribute to it.

What has been a highlight for you?

I’ve had so many great days with him no matter where he finished, but the best day that I had was when he won at Galway. He’d run there before and it was so busy that I couldn’t find a place to watch him run in the stands. It was during Covid when he won, and I was the only person in the stands shouting him on. The television commentary box was right above me, so they had to listen to it all.

It was only when I came home and watched the recording on television that I saw I was there shouting and roaring by myself! I was making a fool of myself but you have to on those days. A win is a rare thing, especially when you have a small number of mares for breeding.

What do you think is the main challenge facing owners and breeders these days?

I think stallions are overpriced, and we have too many of them, but you can’t help that because we have so many Group 1 races, so I can see why it’s happening. When I was with Kevin, Royal Ascot, the Derby, Guineas and St Leger were your big meetings where you’d see the new stallion prospects, but here’s a new one on the market every week now.

We need more lower grade races rather than more Group 1s. There’s always loads of entries and a divide in lower grade handicaps and they can sometimes be difficult to get into, so the appetite for them is there.