Tell me about your background in the racing industry.

My mum was from Laytown, and her side of the family were involved with horses. When I was six or seven, I’d hear them all talking about various horses, and I started to get a grá for it. I went to my first race meeting when I was eight or 10. That was 70 years ago, so I’m still hooked!

I’ve had a varied career, I’m an accountant by profession, and I was in textiles in Australia for a couple of years. The racing over there was something else. I brought my wife and four kids over there for a few years in the 70s. I went to a lot of race meetings in Moonee Valley, Flemington, Caulfield, all of the tracks. I’ve been to race meetings all over the world with my wife. We even went racing in Barbados! I came back from Australia in December ‘75 and joined the BBA. It was Tom Cooper that interviewed me. I went in as a financial controller and ended up being managing director. I took early retirement in 2000 and started consultancy.

I have a big background in racing in France. I’m probably better known over there than I am here, going back to my early days of dealing with Alec Head and other French trainers. I started looking after Cash Asmussen and jockeys like Olivier Peslier would come to me for advice on contracts. I’ve had a lot of winners in France over the years. Nothing big, no group races, but to me it was like winning the Derby.

My claim to fame was breeding Appreciate It with a pal of mine! He’s out of a French mare, Sainte Baronne. She’s something else. It’s a fantastic business.

Being an accountant I used to be baffled with the sales prices. No matter what was going on in the world, there’s horse racing. Through the BBA, at times, if there were horses that weren’t doing very well in Ireland, we used to try and find markets for them in Czech, or anywhere that they raced horses. It was extraordinary.

Have you got any young stock at the moment?

I’m slowing up now with the breeding side of things. I’m actually buying legs and shares in horses, and concentrating more on racing. Only on a small scale, nothing big. I mix between flat and National Hunt, but my preference is probably for the flat. Although I love the National Hunt, the problem I have at my age, is that the foals will probably live longer than I will!

Did you pick out Velvet Skies at the sales?

I have to give full credit to Michael Mulvany (trainer) for finding her. The trainers I have are good honest guys and they don’t mess me around. I asked Michael to go to the sales as I wasn’t around. He ended up buying Velvet Skies for me for €9,000. He’s well paid for himself by now. He is what he is, probably a 60-64 handicapper. Like with everything else, I’ve surrounded myself with good people. I know nothing about training or riding, so I leave it to the trainers and jockeys. Ben Coen is a real gem with his information. He actually told Michael and I what his opinion was and what we should do, and then he rode the horse to win at Navan. In 2019, Ben did his Leaving Certificate English paper and came up to ride a horse for me in Fairyhouse that evening and won! He’ll be a champion some day if he gets enough rides. I have been very lucky as an owner. Velvet Skies won’t be a blacktype horse by any means, so I know what I have.

Were you confident going into the race at Navan?

I was a bit worried because he doesn’t like to be bullied. We’ve known that for a while now, since Billy Lee rode him to win at Dundalk in March. He’s a quirky horse. I’m not a big punter so I have no idea who backed him to finish up favourite in a field of 20! He got a super ride from Ben, I can’t give him enough credit. He had predicted that the horse could win in his own class. I was reasonably confident he’d run a good race.

Is there a different kind of satisfaction when you win with a homebred, compared to a sales purchase?

It’s probably better with the homebreds. Back in the day I bought a mare called Sexy Lady, what a name for a filly! I bought her from Alec Head. She was my foundation mare and she bred Kate Emily who won nine races. Kate Emily bred Jake Peter and Leah Claire. Leah Claire won nine, and Jake Peter has won eight. I can’t get him to win the ninth! He’s 11 now, and he ran in Wexford on Monday. We might squeeze another race into him, but he’ll tell us when he’s finished. Between the three of them out of Sexy Lady, they’ve won 26 races, so that’s satisfaction from a breeding point of view.

I named all of those horses after my grandchildren. I have a two-year-old Cracksman filly that I’ve named after my great grandchild, Quinn’s Charm is the name. She didn’t grow an awful lot and will probably be a better three-year-old next year, so she’s out in the field at the moment. Michael again bought her for me. I don’t go to the sales. I’d be reasonably okay as a judge, but I leave it to the experts to buy the horses for me. The BBA bought a few for me over the years.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for owners?

I wish they’d put a bit more money into the lower-graded races. The crowd at Wexford on Monday was unbelievable, and I was at Listowel in September with 20,000 people there on a Wednesday. They’re only handicaps but people turn up for them. If you win two races in the year, you’d only just cover your costs and anything else is a bonus. I’ve been lucky over the years that my horses have paid for themselves. I just love the game.

We would like to wish a very happy 21st birthday to Sean, who occasionally attends race meetings with Frank.