How did you get involved in racing?

Horse racing was my first love. My grandfather and my grandmother loved doing their bets on a Saturday so they always followed the racing. It got passed on to my dad and eventually on to me and my brother. I decided that one day I would hopefully own a racehorse.

I always remember my grandfather saying, “Jimmy, it’s only rich people that own racehorses, you’ll never own a racehorse.” I think I’ve got about 35 now! I love National Hunt racing. I do have a few on the flat for a bit of interest, but I love the National Hunt. My young lad Blair and my daughter Amy like seeing the horses, especially when they’re winning!

Is there a specific reason that you’ve branched out into Irish racing?

I’ve always wanted to have a horse with Gavin Cromwell. I’ve had horses with Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead, and I’ve always liked the way that Gavin puts himself forward. The Other Mozzie came about before Cheltenham, so I decided to give it a go.

I’ve just bought a winning pointer through Derek O’Connor and that will go to Gavin as well with the aim of running at the Galway Festival. The prize money in Ireland is a bit better now so that helps as well. Gale Mahler (Adrian Keatley) might go to Galway again this year. She’s a lovely horse and likes the sun on her back so we’ll hopefully get her ready for that. I didn’t make it to Galway last year, so I’ll make a point of having a few runners this year and go over for a few days.

You’ve got a few mares, tell us about those.

I’m breeding National Hunt horses. We’ve got a really nice middle distance flat mare who we send to distance pedigree horses. We’ve just had a lovely Nathaniel colt and the next one has just been covered by Stradivarius.

I’ve got four siblings now and sold one of them, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully we’ll get a nice one out of them. I might sell a few and keep a few of them for myself.

Have you got a favourite racing festival?

I absolutely love Aintree. I’ve not had a winner at Cheltenham yet, so that’s the aim now. I’ve got two lovely horses with Lucinda Russell, one finished fourth in a Grade 1 (Jet To Vegas), so I’m hoping these, and the horses with Gavin, can do the job at next year’s Festival.

My local track is Perth, and they had their three-day festival last week where I had a winner and a few places, so it was good to get that.

Is there a highlight that sticks out to you?

Winning the Grade 2 bumper with Florida Dreams at Aintree on Grand National day in 2023 was a highlight, but on the same day I lost a horse in the Grand National so it was a bit of a rollercoaster day.

I wanted to celebrate for winning the Grade 2 but I’d just lost a horse and I was totally gutted. You’ve just got to take the good with the bad in this sport. I’ve had some quality horses, and more recently winning at Ayr at the Scottish National meeting, and having a double on the day was brilliant.

How do you choose your trainers?

I just want trainers to be totally up front and truthful with me. I’d rather they came and told me that the horse isn’t running because he’s not 100%. You’ve got to give the trainers a bit of trust and see how it goes.

The main thing for me is that the horse is getting looked after properly, and I just tell the trainers that all I want them to do is to keep the horses in great condition, and to tell me when he’s fully fit and that he’s fine. If there’s an issue that I don’t like I just move on, it’s as simple as that, I just want to trust my trainers. All you want is good communication. If we buy a horse, and then find out that he’s not good enough, we have to look at reinvesting.

Do you consider retirement options when you have a horse that’s not up to the job?

I always try to make sure that they get a good home if they aren’t cut out for racing. I’ve got quite a few in new careers now. They’ve maybe bled in a race, so I’ll let them down and look at rehoming them to give them another life. I still get good feedback from horses’ new owners, telling me that they’re loving life. In Scotland we’ve got Rehoming of Racehorses and they took one of mine that wasn’t quick enough for the track and he’s a riding horse now and absolutely loving it.

How do you deal with challenges along the way?

You’ll always get bumps in the road. You’ve just got to communicate with your trainers and jockeys. I never fall out with anybody, If I’m not happy I’ll say it, and that’s it. Jockeys are only human and they’re entitled to make mistakes as we all are. We rectify it, and move on from there.