Alan and his family’s syndicate had great success at the Galway Festival this week when their horse Purple Lily won on her first outing to the racetrack.

How did you get involved in horse racing and how did the syndicate come about?

I’ve been involved with horses maybe over 20 years now. I would have gone to a lot of sales with a good friend of mine, Denis Sheehy. My interest has mainly been breeding, particularly breeding for yearling sales. We have had a few nice racehorses as well over the years. Marvada won a Group 3 at Naas. My first love, though, is really the breeding aspect of it. We have had many great days at the sales. The syndicate is a family syndicate. There are six of us in it. We are all very interested in racing and we enjoy going to the races together. My bloodstock manager David Corcoran has been with me a long time. He does an awful lot of work behind the scenes with me.

I also have to give huge credit to my father, Dan. He won’t like that I’m mentioning him but he had a huge part to play in getting me interested in horses and racing from a young age. We would always go racing together.

Tell us about how you came across Purple Lily?

She was bought in Tattersalls. I asked Paddy (Twomey) to pick out one for me. He went to a few breeze-ups for me and just didn’t think that the right one was there. He was patient with it, which was good. He then showed me two at Fairyhouse and asked if I had any interest. I just loved the Calyx filly. I have to mention [vendor] Brian O’Connell. He spoke very highly of the filly as well when we were buying her.

It was a marvellous win this week, How did you feel the race unfolded for her?

Things didn’t go according to plan when she came out of the stalls. When she got traveling, Billy handled her well and she moved lovely. I thought that the line was going to come too early for her but she got there. I know she was one of the favourites but I don’t tend to look into that. She was working well. You are always hopeful. I really just wanted her to get a good education and for her to travel well throughout the race. I didn’t have expectations of winning really. I thought the Coolmore horse or the Bolger horse might just have too much experience for her. She had to do an awful lot of work turning in to get there too, she was green. We didn’t know how she would go on the ground. But, fair play to her, she travelled well and picked up speed at the right time. She is very genuine. She has a good temperament and a good mind for it. She was impressive and she took everything in her stride.

You must be very excited about the potential of this filly?

I am, indeed. I always say Ireland is very competitive. You get up in the morning and you hope to have a horse that is good enough to compete with the best in the game. It is a great feeling when you have a filly that can do that. Yes, she did miss the break but she was so impressive. You can see that she has a great attitude for racing. It was great to see it.

Paddy Twomey, who trains Purple Lily, is rattling in the winners this season, Tell us about him and the success that he is having right now?

Paddy is very meticulous. His attention to detail is brilliant, he doesn’t leave anything to chance. When Paddy takes his horses to the races you can be sure that they are ready. From where he started, he has come an awful long way. He is a guy who does an awful lot of hard work himself. You can give him a call at any time. His operation is brilliant and he has a great team around him. He deserves all the success that he is getting.

So what is next on the agenda for Purple Lily?

I had a very brief phone call with Paddy and we just decided to leave her alone for a few days and see how she comes out of the race. Right now we are still thinking about what to do next. You would be hoping for stakes level but Paddy is still mulling it over.

You have a lot of experience buying and selling and breeding, Can you tell us about the factors that you look out for when buying a horse?

Depends on what you are looking for, I suppose. On the breeze-ups, I know a lot of people put emphasis on the clock but it is probably not the be-all and end-all. You want to see how the horse moves, his action, his temperament, all of that is vital as well. Pedigree is important. I do think if it is there in the pedigree, it will come out in the individual. The broodmare, I think, is just as important as the stallion. I think conformation is very important. It is really a non-negotiable for me, especially if you are in the pinhooking business or producing from the horse. More than likely those genes will be passed on. Generally, I look at the long-term prospects. If it is a filly and I’m planning on going down the road of breeding from her, I ask myself the question ‘would I buy a foal out of this filly?’ That is the way I look at it. So conformation is probably the number one thing.

How have you found the overall owner’s experience? Is there anything racing in general can do to improve it?

I was very impressed with Galway. Everything is in close proximity. There is a relaxed and really good atmosphere in the place. I think one thing that racing could do to improve, outside of the owner’s experience, is to get more young people racing. I think it is so important that they get an interest. They are the next generation so how would the industry survive without them? I actually love seeing young people at the racecourse because they bring a great buzz to the place. I know racing is trying on this front and they are getting there. Leopardstown, for example, has live bands playing. The Curragh has done a marvellous job as well. And if you get a few young people interested you could retain them for the next 30 years.

What advice would you have for someone looking to get involved in racing?

Have some good people around you. You have to have an understanding of horses and racing before you get involved. If you are getting involved and you are going in blind it’s going to be a disaster. You need to understand that there are ups and downs. A lot of people don’t understand the intricacies of racing and they have a bad experience and they are gone then for good.