How did you get involved in racing?

I bought a horse in about 2005. She ran once and broke down so I kept her and put her in foal. Her first foal unfortunately didn’t win anything but he was placed a few times. She had two fillies after him, and then another colt who was Good Time Jonny. I sold him after he finished second in a four-year-old bumper at Punchestown and he went on to win the Paddy Power Handicap at the DRF and the Pertemps at Cheltenham for Tony Martin.

Tell us about Coole Cafe’s pedigree.

I bought her dam as a foal with the intention of pinhooking her, but when I was loading her to bring her away for sales prep, she did a bit of a flip and hurt her back. She had fractured a vertebra and was wobbling for a while, but she came back around and improved after a while. I left her alone for a couple of years and then put her in foal. Her first foal was by Harzand and he unfortunately broke his leg in the paddock. Coole Cafe was her second foal. I was doing a bit with her as a two-year-old, but she was growing a lot so I backed off her to let her mature a bit more. I sent her to Gavin (Cromwell, trainer) about two months ago.

I thought we’d go for the flat but Gavin suggested the academy hurdle and I was open to anything he suggested. It was a great call by Gavin to go for that race, he’s a very shrewd trainer. I didn’t know a lot about the academy hurdles at the time, but I thought it would be a good way to start her off, as it leaves a lot of options open for us. She could go back to the flat or go for a bumper now. We didn’t have a clue how she’d handle the ground, and I think she’d go a lot better on better ground. I have a two-year-old and a yearling by Coulsty out of the same mare also.

What did you make of her race on Saturday?

Gavin had said to Conor (Stone-Walsh, jockey) just to take her along steady, and if he was there or thereabouts at the final hurdle she has a bit about her and could pick up enough to get him over the line. When she got into fourth position she seemed to be travelling the best of them and when we were coming to the last I felt she was going to win and that we had it in the bag. I was trying not to jump ahead of myself at the same time. She quickened up really well so I was delighted. Conor gave her a great ride as well.

How special is it to win with a homebred?

It’s great to get them because there’s a lot of down days with horses. It’s very special to see them all the way through from planning what sire you’re going to bring the mare to, to seeing her jumping the last at Navan. It’s a really special experience. I’ve got a few horses and they’re all home-bred. Reiki Revolution is with Gavin as well and he won in Punchestown a couple of months ago. He ran on Troytown day in Navan last time out but he didn’t handle the ground. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs with him as well. He got a kick when he was a two-year-old and it wasn’t looking too good for his survival. I do reiki energy healing and I have a lot of friends in that scene, and that’s really what got him over the line. I was given a couple of different options by vets but none of them were very good to be honest. For him to come back and win felt like he was saying a big thank you.

Do you do reiki with your own horses?

I do reiki with other people’s horses, sometimes I can get a better read on what’s going on. It doesn’t work so well for my own because I have too much of an emotional investment. It’s hard to detach from what you want yourself, to what’s going on for the horse. If you can detach from your own vested interests, you get a better reading of what the horse wants or needs. It’s an amazing thing when you’re doing it with a horse and you see them drop their head and their bottom lip drops and they start to fall asleep. Energy is their language, and they’re really sensitive.

How do you cope with all of the ups and downs in racing?

Sometimes people wonder why we do it, because we’d have a much easier life if we didn’t! A little win can take you a long way. It helps when the good days turn into a little financial reward to keep the show on the road. My son is a big part of everything I do here with the horses. He absolutely loves being around the horses. Good Time Jonny’s name actually came about from predictive text when he was sending a message on Whatsapp. Unfortunately, he wasn’t with me at Navan on Saturday, as he was going to a 21st birthday in Galway. Coole Cafe actually bit him on the lip a while back so he has a very close relationship with her! She’s certainly paid him back now.

How did you come up with Coole Cafe’s name?

I live in Rathcoole and there’s a cafe here called Coole Cafe. I go there for my breakfast every day. The owners and customers are all big supporters of my runners. They all had a few quid on her so they got a nice return at 33/1!

What are the main challenges for owner/breeders?

You’ve got to have a blacktype mare to breed commercially. Coole Cafe’s mother has a nice page and a couple of blacktype half-brothers, but she never ran. I took Coole Cafe to the sales as a foal but I was only getting 10 grand for her, and with Kodi Bear’s covering fee being 16 grand at the time, I thought she was worth more. If it wasn’t for the faith you have in what you’ve produced you wouldn’t be able to do it. A day like Saturday is the answer, you dream of days like that and hope that it will happen. Being an owner/breeder and winning is very special, and there could maybe be some more races dedicated to owner/breeders. There’s a lot of people just breeding to sell and not making any money of it. They might just decide to put one into training if there was more incentive. It’s a long road and there’s lots of ups and downs, but racing started with the small owner/breeder so it would be a nice return.