Tell me about your syndicate.

We’re a small family syndicate. It started off life maybe seven years ago with different horses and different people, and over the years the people and horses have changed. It’s just me, my wife, and the three kids now. My wife and I go to most meetings, but she missed the last day. The one day she can’t come and the horse wins! I haven’t been an owner for very long, and we’ve had five wins with different horses, but it’s difficult for us being a small syndicate.

How did you get involved with racing?

I’ve always been interested in racing, going to Cheltenham and Aintree and backing horses. Some of my extended family were involved with horses over the years but I did a lot of travelling while I was working so I didn’t have time to get involved.

I got involved then when I retired, and it’s great because you meet so many people. We’re from Listowel, and at Killarney there was another Listowel-based owner in the first race and they were delighted for us when we won. Everybody is there for the same reason.

It’s a great day out and a great social scene. We have great fun with Shark (Hanlon, trainer) as well. It’s so important as an owner to have good communication with your trainer on the welfare and progress of your horse, and that your trainer turns up to meet you at the track. Shark is great with both.

Do you make the journey down to the yard much?

We go down to the house a few times a year to see the horses, and Brenda cooks the breakfast. It’s great to see the whole family being involved, Paddy riding, Rachel leading up, and Sean there doing the social media. They all have a real interest in it. They were all so excited about Pure Logic’s win.

A couple of years ago Shark had a syndicate for 100 people and we happened to be at the yard the same day that they were. There were about 60 or 70 people in Shark’s kitchen that morning, and we ended up making sandwiches for everyone! That was the morning that I first saw Pure Logic.

How did you end up buying Pure Logic?

Shark picked her up as a two-year-old at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale in 2022, and we had a couple of horses with him who weren’t really working out. I had gone to the yard to see a different horse, and when I was there he showed me the filly.

Jody McGarvey happened to be riding her out that morning, so I asked him which horse he would go for, and he said he’d definitely go for Pure Logic. It was purely by chance. Shark said she’d be good, and that the only two-year-old he’d bought before her was Hewick! He was six or seven before he really took off, so who knows what might happen.

We’d expect her to win a few more races for us. A win is a win, it doesn’t matter to me what the ratings are. She’s been unlucky a few times, I think she’s finished second four times and she’s been third three times, and this was the first time she’s won.

She’s been unlucky that she was second in three bumpers and should have won two of them. Her first run was in Listowel and she finished second behind La Note Verte, and he’s rated 123 now. She was only beaten four lengths.

Patrick Mullins asked to ride her the next time, but that race didn’t go to plan! She had her first run over hurdles in Ballinrobe last year and picked up a slight injury, so she was out for six months. We were a bit disappointed when she came back because she wasn’t really herself, so we let her off for the winter and brought her back this year.

The difficulty with her is that she needs good ground. Sometime that can be difficult in Ireland. Everyone is thinking about the safety of the horses, and they water the tracks which is normal practice, but sometimes they over-water in Ireland. We took her to the UK for a couple of runs and you get better summer ground over there.

Were you confident going to Killarney?

She had ran very well in Tramore the week before under Danny Mullins. She finished third after being caught up, but she finished out well. She does tend to finish out her races quite well, so we thought then in Killarney we’d go with the same hold-up tactics.

Paddy wanted to go up front with her, and Shark wanted to run her half-way down the field. Paddy was fairly confident because he flew in from the UK especially to ride her. He decided to go up front, gave her a great ride, and she finished out the race very well. We saw Paddy riding in the Donkey Derby in Dingle a few years ago, so he’s doing very well for himself now!

What’s the plan for her now?

We might hold on and see how the ground works out at Listowel in September. Last year didn’t suit her because there was a lot of rain. We might give her one run in the mean time in Downpatrick or Down Royal. She’ll probably be out on grass for the winter then.

Does it lift your spirits as an owner to be involved with a yard that has a star like Hewick?

It does, of course. When you see that, there’s always hope. The likes of Shark, and other small trainers like him, they can’t really compete in the winter months. He just doesn’t have the owners.

If you don’t spend big money, you don’t get the good horses. For us to have Hewick in the yard makes you think there’s hope for the rest of us. I’m delighted with Pure Logic, when she’s had her ground, she’s always been in the money which is great, it’s all you can ask for. If you give Shark a good horse, he can train it.

Is there a racing memory that stands out as a highlight for you?

Pure Logic has done well for us, but we had a horse called Dicebox, who was the first horse we got from Shark. He was a great little horse. He won at Killarney for us during Covid. As a family, we get together for a week in August in Dingle. There are 15 or 20 people there taking up three or four houses.

This particular week a year after that win in Killarney, Shark decided to run her in Downpatrick. There is no way we were driving up there from Dingle, so we all went to the pub to watch it and he won, so the whole pub went crazy! He unfortunately broke his leg in Clonmel, so that was a very sad day for us, but unfortunately these things happen, it was unlucky, he was a lovely little horse.

Does being in a syndicate with good people around you help when you have bad days like that?

You share the disappointment as well as the good days. No matter where you finish, if you have a good run it’ll always give you heart. As an owner, there’s nothing worse than having a dishonest horse who doesn’t finish out their races, but Pure Logic always does, and that gives us a great high. Dicebox always gave honest runs, and so does Pure Logic.