How did you get involved with horses?

We buy and sell showjumpers and do a few thoroughbreds as well. Our parents were involved, and my dad always had horses. I wanted to be a jockey, and went to Newmarket when I was younger, but that was never going to happen! I met my wife Haidee in Newmarket, she was apprenticed to Ben Hanbury at the time. We came home and bought a bit of land and got going. My daughter Abigail and son Tadhg have a pre-training yard and they pre-train a few for Ian Donohue and James Griffin and a few local trainers.

They break in a lot of horses for people in the area as well. We haven’t got a big set up, we have 20 stables, and we put in a gallop at home. We’re all involved with the horses, it’s all we do. I’m a farrier, and Haidee works in the yard with Abi and Tadhg. It makes it a bit easier to get up in the mornings and do your job when things all fall into pace like it did at Cork. Abi got her handler’s licence this year and had her first win with Lawful Ruler in Lisronagh, and it was also Tadhg’s first winner. We decided to go to the track with him, and my brother Paul has his trainer’s licence so we sent him over there.

Lawful Ruler was a cheap buy at just €3,500.

Myself and Haidee bought Lawful Ruler as a three-year-old in Tattersalls. I’m the resident farrier in Tattersalls so we buy a couple there every year. He always wanted good ground, and he’s at least 17hh, so he was never going to be an early horse. I’d never rush horses, we always take our time and they’ll let us know when they’re ready to run.

Haidee bought a lovely Kew Gardens filly last year and she was only €3,000, out of a mare that won. We have a Sumbal four-year-old who cost similar as well. You don’t have to go giving hundreds of thousands to pick up a small race somewhere. It’s hard to compete but you have to keep trying. We’ll keep knocking on the door until it opens.

When he comes back home to us on his breaks Haidee does a lot of flatwork with him and has him well balanced and well-schooled. He jumps poles and he’s very quick off the ground.

Tell us about your day at Cork.

We had a brilliant day. It doesn’t happen often so you have to enjoy it. There are lovely people at Cork Racecourse and they really looked after us and made a big deal out of it, it was lovely. My other daughter Holly led him up and looks after him at home in the yard.

There were a lot of good horses behind him. The horse who was third has won about five point-to-points on the bounce. We were lucky that it all fell into place, ground-wise. When he won in Lisronagh it was good-to-yielding as well, and he’s a big, massive mover, he covers a lot of ground. He’s happy enough to hop off the top of the ground rather than have a dig into it.

My phone was hopping with text messages and calls from all of the locals who backed him. That’s what it’s all about. We live in Garristown and the locals are lovely people. We went up to the village shop the next day and you’d swear we’d won the Grand National! It was our Grand National. It makes things easier when you do win a few quid, but it’s nothing to do with the money. It makes it all worthwhile getting up in the wet mornings and looking after horses.

Working with horses in different disciplines, you must find good ways of rehoming your ex-racehorses?

If they’re good enough we’ll run them, and if they’re not we’ll find a home for them. Sometimes we take them hunting or showjumping and get homes for them that way. With my job I’m always meeting people who are looking for a horse, or sometimes a companion horse. There’s always another career for them.

Do you ever apply your knowledge from show jumping to the young racehorses you buy?

The first thing I do with any of the three-year-olds that we buy is put the tack on them and jump them loose. I find with horses, and thoroughbreds especially, when they’re sharp and quick off the ground, if they make a mistake they have to be able to figure it out for themselves. If your horse makes a mistake jumping a fence and hasn’t done any loose schooling, he’ll be looking back at the rider waiting for them to fix it, but if he knows what to do himself, you have a better chance of staying on your feet.

Haidee does a lot of harness work with them and has the Pessoa on them in the lunge ring and does a lot of driving with long-reins. Abi and Tadhg do a lot of trot poles and gridwork. It gets the horses using themselves properly and stretching. I don’t think there’s any substitute for it. As well as the physical fitness, you have to keep their mind right as well. I keep a few greyhounds, and I’d train them similarly to the horses. They’re athletes too.

Things aren’t looking good for the future of greyhound racing, where do you think that puts the racing industry?

Horse racing, as they call it, is the sport of kings, and you’ll never be able to get rid of that. In my opinion, greyhounds are known as the poor man’s race horse. So, if anything is going to go, it’ll be greyhound racing. I had greyhounds for 15 or 20 years, but I got out of them during Covid. Since then, I’ve definitely noticed a decline in owners and people in the industry in general.

A friend of mine, Liam O’Rourke, is a successful greyhound trainer, and if you went to his yard you’d be happy to sleep in with his dogs. They’ve got central heating, air conditioning for the summer, it’s an amazing place. There’s a bad picture painted of greyhound trainers and owners.