How did the syndicate get started?

The syndicate started with It’s All About The Girls in Australia in 2015. I’m the European representative for Magic Millions, and Katie Page and Jerry Harvey who own Magic Millions wanted to get more women into racing. She asked if we could put a syndicate together, and we got really lucky.

We bought a filly called Global Glamour for about US$50,000, and she ended up being a multiple Group 1 winner. She earned 1.5 million, and we sold her for 1.55 million, and she was trained by Gai Waterhouse.

That was the start of it, and it couldn’t have gone better.

I asked Jessica Harrington about starting a similar syndicate in Ireland, and she was up for it, so that’s how we started over here. After Global Glamour’s success in Australia, and having a lot of Irish investors in that syndicate, they all came on board when we were setting up over here, and a lot of them are still involved to this day.

Have you noticed an up-take of women getting involved in ownership?

Yes, I have. When I started this syndicate with Jessie, and we’re going into our 10th year now, Tamso Doyle and Amber O’Grady came on board. A few years later, Tamso called me and asked about her doing the same.

I gave Tamso and Amber the template for our syndicate, they copied it exactly and they’ve got a younger bunch involved in the Glamour & Glory Syndicate. What we’ve noticed in the syndicate is, when the women get involved, the men just think we’re wasting money, but as soon as the horse starts winning they’re happy for us!

It can be a little daunting going to the races on your own for a lot of people. It’s great for someone that isn’t familiar with the sport to know they have a group of people to meet and be involved with. Syndicates are a great way to share the moment, meet new people and socialise. It’s a great outlet.

You meet new people at the races, and those bonds grow stronger over the years. If you have any luck, which we all know is hard to get in this game, and you really celebrate it, it’s fantastic to share the moment.

Some people came into the syndicate so shy, not knowing anything about racing, and now they stroll into Jessie’s and know everybody there.

Sharing success with a syndicate is great, but it must be helpful to have people around you when things aren’t going to well?

Yes, and also, what I try to do with It’s All About The Girls is, when there’s a lean time or horses aren’t running, we plan to do other things. This year, we went to the Cashel Palace for a night and had a private tour of Ballydoyle the next day which was fantastic.

We went to France earlier in the season for a weekend in Chantilly. I want to offer people something that they wouldn’t get anywhere else, or an opportunity to go places they wouldn’t get to go otherwise. We have a lot of great people on board and they’ve remained incredibly loyal throughout the years.

Tell me about Diamonds And Dames, and your most recent success with her.

We wouldn’t have any of this success without Patrick Cooper, it all starts with him. He goes and trawls the sales and buys our horses. He has an amazing eye. Jessie and Kate (Harrington) are the next stage and we’ve had a winner every year with them which is amazing.

Diamonds And Dames came to light when she won last Sunday, and she had also won three weeks prior to that. She just met her ground and it was the right time for her.

As much as we all loved the heat this summer, it was hard to get decent ground at the track so we were slow bringing out the two-year-olds, but once the ground had a bit of yield she flew.

It’s all down to Shane Foley at the track, and it’s a fantastic combination between Patrick, the Harringtons and Shane, we couldn’t do it without them. Jessie and Katie are so open to everybody, and when I bring a load of people up to the yard the door is always wide open to us.

They have coffee and cake, and sometimes champagne! We have a great time when we go to Commonstown, it’s like a big family. It’s a lovely place to go to see all of the horses and the dogs.

We knew the two-year-olds weren’t going to be precocious this year with the ground, we have another filly in the syndicate, Velvet Dusk, who ran fifth earlier in the week on her first time out at Leopardstown, so we have lots to look forward to next year.

We were going to run Diamonds And Dames in a listed race at Newbury today, but the weather has scuppered our plans; we decided not to take the risk. She’ll be locked up for the winter now and hopefully we’ll have a lot of fun with her next year.

It must be a great asset to have a stable jockey like Shane riding for you.

It’s fantastic. He knows all of the horses; he’s up there every day so he knows when they’re ready to go. It’s an added bonus really. The women all love him and look forward to seeing him at the races, I think sometimes he’s afraid to get off the horse in the winner’s enclosure! From the minute the horses are broken and sent to Jessie’s, Shane is around them for the whole season and knows them It’s so important.

What have you learned since

starting the syndicate in Ireland?

There are a lot of people enthusiastic to get involved in ownership but probably don’t know how. Racing is becoming more user friendly than it was. It’s expensive to buy a horse and to keep one in training, so when you can share the expense, the loss will never be as painful, and you’ll have more fun when you spread the risk. The comraderie and the fun you have when you surround yourself with such positive people, it’s addictive. Jessie has such positive energy all of the time, and a lot of people like to be around that. Syndicates are getting more and more popular and becoming more available.

We’re so lucky to be involved in such a great sport. It’s a great leveller, but when you have a good one there’s no better high in the world.

Is there anything that you think Irish racing could learn from Australia?

The media coverage in Australia in very pro-racing. Racing is always on the front cover of every paper when there’s a big meeting on. It’s always headline news and I’d love to see the Irish media give more kudos to the success that Irish trainers and breeders are having around the world.

You hear more about other sports over here. There are so many people involved in a horse’s life from so many different angles, so it would be great for the sport to be more recognised in the media.

A lot of people love the sport so I would love to see the media grab hold of it a bit more, the success of Irish horses around the world is phenomenal, and it never gets the exposure it deserves at home. In Australia, coming up to the Carnival or the Melbourne Cup, it’s front-page news in every publication.