How did you get involved in racing?

My uncle was a trainer, Mike Riordan. He always had horses and still does, and my home house is right beside him, so I started off with him. I did a bit of time with David Marnane and studied Equine Science in UL. I went to America with Coolmore and during college I’d go to Germany for a sales season or England for the summer. I moved to Malta to work in the iGaming industry, as well as working as a trader for bookmakers with a focus on horse racing. That’s where I bumped into the guys.

Gzira is a place in Malta where a lot of us would have hung around when we lived over there. All of the original syndicate members would have been in Malta around the same time. Anthony Hennessey was the brainchild behind it all. He’s been fantastic and put a lot of faith in myself and Pat. We’ve had a few horses since, but no winners unfortunately. I hadn’t ridden a horse for three of four years until Dragon came into the picture, so I had to go and buy new gear and get back riding out.

How did you end up buying Dragon Of Malta?

I went to the sales and bought him as a yearling. He wouldn’t have been our number one choice at the time. We liked him but he was a bit small, so we were questioning whether to buy him or not, but he had a nice page and was a real nice mover. If he was any bigger we wouldn’t have been able to afford him to be honest. It was kind of a weak sale so we just sneaked in and got him.

Tell us more about Dragon’s career.

When we bought him, we sent him to Gavin Cromwell where he had a couple of average runs, and then he had one poor run in Naas. Gavin thought he’d struggle to win in Ireland and we discussed sending him to the UK. We had a good talk about it and I decided to take a chance on him somewhere else.

Pat O’Donnell had done a bit of pre-training with him, so I asked if he’d have a go with him. Everything just worked out from there. He wasn’t long in the yard before he ran at the Curragh and finished fourth, beaten two lengths. After that he finished second twice, so things turned around quite quickly. He’s won seven races now and sitting on a career-high mark as an eight-year-old.

He loves going racing. Any time he sees the horsebox, he starts neighing and jig-jogging. You wouldn’t know he’d already had a run on Tuesday morning, he could have run a third time if there was a race for him! He’s a funny horse. This time of the year he comes alive. He gets a bit fresher and he grows an extra leg once he gets heavy ground.

What’s he like at home?

He’s a lovely horse. I walk him down the roadway beside the gallop and I have to kick him and push him on. He’s a very intelligent horse so he looks at everything. A child could ride him down to the gallop, but on the way home he jig-jogs and whips around and rears up into the air. If he’s not doing that there’s something wrong with him. I think I’ve had five falls off him since we got him, and three of them have come this year!

Three days before he went to Gowran Park, he arrived into the yard without a bridle, and I was at the bottom of the gallop holding it, so he’s still quite sharp. The more runs he gets, the better he seems to be. Going to Listowel on Tuesday, he was absolutely bouncing. I rode him out that morning, just four furlongs, and he was moving better than he had been the morning before so we said we’d take our chance, and he couldn’t have won any easier.

Whose idea was it to run him two days in a row?

It was my idea. We were a little disappointed after Galway, he didn’t quite travel and was running very wide the whole way around. The fire was still burning in him, so heading to Gowran I thought if he ran well, we should have a go at two runs in Listowel. There’s only two days of flat racing, so we knew it would be a tough ask but we said we’d give ourselves the option. It worked out nicely that the more winnable race on paper was on Monday, and the higher grade race was on Tuesday.

He’d been second in the Tuesday race last year off a mark of 68, and won the race two years before that under Oisin Murphy, so I knew he’d have a chance. He’s never won after the Listowel Festival, so it’s our Derby Festival. After his win on Monday, we knew we had to go again. His legs were fine on Tuesday, and he’s probably had two lame steps since we’ve had him. Julian gave him a lovely ride, maybe won a bit far, but so be it! He’s just been a dream horse for a small syndicate spending small money, and to get seven wins out of him has been fantastic.

Did Pat think you were mad for suggesting it?

It wouldn’t generally be Pat’s rule of thought to go that quickly, he likes to give horses breaks in between runs. Obviously he’s the main man, he has so much experience, so when I told him my plan and asked if it was mad, he told us to go for it. The lads have great trust in myself and Pat, so we entered both days. The only disappointing thing was that not all of the syndicate members could be there. The majority are involved in the iGaming industry, and there was a big conference in Lisbon a few days beforehand, so a lot of them had been over there.

One of the guys flew in on Sunday, slept in the airport, got a flight from Dublin to Kerry and got a taxi to the racecourse. His flight home was booked on Tuesday morning, but once I sent him a video of Dragon riding out on Tuesday he cancelled his flight and booked another hotel! We gained a new syndicate member at the start of the year, and it was his first winner on Monday, so to get another on Tuesday was brilliant for him. We were pinching ourselves.

It must be special to play such a big role in his success.

Yes, exactly. He’s part of my family at this stage and I know him inside out. I just enjoy going to ride him out, it’s not a chore, just good fun. He’s a lovely-natured horse. He’s worn blinkers since his first run in a handicap, and he’s pretty much worn them ever since. It’s not because he’s dishonest, he runs the whole way to the line, but he’s so intelligent that he’s watching everything and needs some help to focus.

We had a barren period there where he hadn’t won in two years, but he was a victim of his own circumstances of running so well that he’s taken a long time to come down in the handicap. It was quite emotional on Tuesday. There aren’t many horses that win two days in a row, and in such a decisive fashion. He’s been a superstar for us and long may it continue.

Have you made plans for his next run?

It will be difficult deciding what to do next off his current mark. I was having a look on Thursday morning, and there’s a race for him in Bellewstown in a week’s time, but he would be carrying 10 st 12lb and we’d have to claim off him. I’d like to keep him in that grade, so if we could get Julian (Pietropaolo, jockey) to ride him again we’d be looking at 10st 5lb. It’s a lot of weight for a small horse, so we’ll see. There are a few options later in the season, maybe in the UK which is something we’ve discussed before. It would be nice to get to double figure wins with him, and I think it’ll be possible.