What led to your interest in racing?

My father would have kept a couple of horses. It started out with a mare, but then he took out his own permit in the 90s. He trained a few winners over the years. I was always involved from the age of six or seven, helping him and going racing. It’s always been a big part of my life and I love all of it. My son came over to Wolverhampton in April, and a lot of the syndicate members brought their families. It’s nice to get the younger generations involved.

How did the syndicate come about?

I set the syndicate up about two years ago, and we’ve had three winners since. Most recently Fine Print, who won twice on the bounce at Wolverhampton. He had been running away in Dundalk, and then we discovered that he had a few niggly problems. John (McConnell, trainer) ironed them out and then decided that he needed a step up in trip. There aren’t many two-mile flat races in Ireland, so John found two races in Wolverhampton. It’s brilliant that John is happy to take horses to the UK, I love it.

All 11 of us in the syndicate like the days away as well. One of the lads in the syndicate, Sean, owns a good GAA and horse racing pub in Louth village called Sarks Bar. Most of us are regulars, and all from Louth and Monaghan, so that’s how the syndicate formed. We meet up on weekends and watch a bit of GAA and racing. There’s always a bit of banter and slagging on the lead up to a race, and we always head back there afterwards for either a post mortem or a celebration!

You mentioned that Fine Print had a few issues, how did you deal with that as a syndicate?

We had to be patient. He ran during the 2024 season, and myself and John thought we’d have had a few wins on the board. I have to give credit to the others in the syndicate. I’ve been around horses for long enough to know the ups and downs of the game, but they were very patient and let myself and John plan everything. It was great to reward everyone with two wins in the space of three weeks.

We left Dundalk disappointed a few times, but John was very good to find the races in Wolverhampton. He’s a good man to target a race and really go for it. He’s not afraid to travel.

How do your source and buy your horses?

I take advice from John. We bought Fine Print from Ger Lyons’ yard at the Goffs Autumn horses-in-training sale in 2023. We gelded him and put him away for the winter then. He ran okay when we got him going, but it took him a couple of months to mature. He’s a four-year-old now and the step up in trip has really helped him to mature. Hollie Doyle rode him over there twice and she was very good to the whole syndicate. From the first day we met her, she was brilliant.

How was your experience at Wolverhampton?

We were very well looked after over there. After the horse won, they brought us into the owner’s room and showed us replays of the race with some food and champagne. We had some framed pictures and the trophy was lovely. Little things like that really help. There are people involved in racing for a long time that never make it into the winner’s enclosure, so you have to make sure those wins are special. This is our third winner in two years, and we’ve had a few places, and lots to look forward to for the summer, so we’re very lucky.

Have you got any more horses to look forward to for the summer?

John recently claimed a horse called Darkened, and myself and another man in the syndicate took a half share in him. He’ll run away for the summer and John hopes that we’ll get a bit of fun out of him. He’ll probably mix it up between the jumps and flat. The plan with Fine Print is to try and win another flat race towards the end of May and then we plan to run him over hurdles. We think he’ll make a nice two-and-a-half-mile hurdler in time. It’s nice to mix it up over jumps and flat during the summer.

What’s been a highlight for you so far?

It was great the first time that Fine Print ran at Wolverhampton, but to back it up three weeks later with family members there was brilliant. We got a great kick out of that. Roisin O’Scannaill travelled the horse over both times, and had him looking immaculate. She looks after Fine Print so well and always has him turned out to perfection. He’s like her pet.

What would you say is the best part of being involved in a syndicate?

It’s great to spread the cost around, because it’s an expensive industry, but meeting up and having that buzz heading to the races is great fun. It’s good to have a bit of company. As well as having 11 in the syndicate, we nearly have 50 honourary members with lads from the pub joining in on the fun. There’s a good following locally, and everyone was in the pub cheering Hollie home the last day.