Where did your journey in the racing world start?

My earliest introduction to racing was in school. I went to primary school with Patrick Mullins and, being from Old Leighlin near Closutton, horses were always around us. My uncle was also an influence, he brought me racing when I was younger, so that’s how I caught the bug.

Were you confident going into the race at Naas?

No, it really caught us by surprise. We weren’t expecting her to win on her first time out over hurdles, with no previous jumping experience in point-to-points. We knew that J.P McManus’ horse (Karoline Banbou, second) had very good form in France and was placed in a Grade 1 bumper, and Gordon Elliott’s horse had the benefit of a run, so we were hoping for top three. After jumping the last, everything had gone to plan and then she took off again and started to fly home. It was beyond our wildest dreams, we got a great buzz out of it. It was probably the best buzz since our very first winner on the track.

Have you got a plan for Baby Kate’s next run?

At the moment, we’re aiming for the Solerina Hurdle on January 25th. It’s one of the only places we can go after winning. It’s very nice to have a mare that’s capable of running in a race of that stature. When we got into this, we could only have dreamed of being in this position. It’ll be something special for us.

Is that a stepping stone for the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham that she’s entered in?

If she runs well in the Solerina, we’ll have no choice but to go to Cheltenham, so we’ll take it one step at a time. We’re only just over the celebrations from Naas, so we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves! There’s no point in sending a horse over just to make up the numbers. Fairyhouse has a lovely race around Easter time next year that we think would suit her, it’s a Grade 1 and up in trip. Her mother, Augusta Kate, won that race before, so we really think that one might play to her strengths. If she doesn’t run well in the Solerina, we won’t mind missing Cheltenham to go back to Fairyhouse.

With the syndicate being from Old Leighlin, and the colours representing the local GAA club, has Baby Kate built up a local following?

Yeah, she actually has, it’s amazing the amount of text messages we get before she runs, lads asking how she’s going or when she’ll run next. A lot of people in the locality have latched onto her, so she brings a bit of excitement around the area. When you know someone that’s involved in horses, you’d nearly feel a part of it yourself. Between the 18 of us in the syndicate, everybody has family that want to know how she’s getting on. None of us in the syndicate backed her in Naas, but she really shortened in price, so it looks like she has a bigger following than we think!

Have you discussed retirement plans for Baby Kate, or would you leave that decision to Willie (Mullins)?

Patrick and Willie decide all of the racing plans, but Kevin Doyle has been excellent in leasing Baby Kate to us. Every year, Kevin makes the decision when she goes back for the summer, if he’s happy to lease her to us for another season or if he wants her back to start breeding. Between Kevin and Willie, we stay away from that side of things. Patrick is very good at taking care of and organising everything. Kevin has been a joy to be involved with. He was the first man to text us after she won the last day, it was very nice of him.

Have there been any challenges for you in the past year in racing, and what have you learned that will help you going into 2025?

We’ve had a couple of challenges this year. The biggest thing that you need in racing is patience. Baby Kate was due to run at the Dublin Racing Festival this year, but she picked up a little injury. Then we went to Aintree and she didn’t perform.

As a young mare, she was probably feeling the affects of being on the go all year. We have a second horse in training that was due to run in August at Ballinrobe, in a race that we’d won with Baby Kate and our first horse Nikini, so we were hoping for a hat-trick, but she picked up an injury. We had eight months without a runner, so we had to be patient and stay in the moment. When you do get the days out, you really need to enjoy them and make the most of them. Patience has been the biggest lesson I’ve learned this year.

What do you think is the key to keeping racing exciting and relevant for younger generations, and to attract more owners?

I think the organisations are doing a very good job. The open yard visits throughout the year are great for people to see the horses up close. The races brought in for horses that cost less than €30,000 make it accessible to everybody. At the tracks, they have that well-done. People enjoy getting dressed up and going for a day out. Ireland is very good price-wise for a day racing. If you look at the price comparison in England, you could be talking £80 to £100 to go racing, while in Ireland you can get in for €30 in most places. They are doing a great job that way and a lot of the venues have music after racing.

I think Ireland are doing a very good job at promoting racing. We go to Cheltenham every March and the price of everything is absolutely through the wall. It’s madness what they charge over there. From my experience at the English tracks, I don’t think Ireland need to be looking to them to improve, I think it’s the other way around.

Would you say that being in a syndicate has added to the excitement of your racing experience?

Definitely. It makes it a lot more affordable and accessible. Only seven of us could make it to the races the other day, but we still got brilliant craic out of it. A few that weren’t able to travel met us after. There’s a great buzz when you can share it among a group like that. When we got into this, we knew how hard it can be to have success, we weren’t kidding ourselves, so when we had the first winner with Nikini, who has now gone back to her breeders, that fulfilled us. We just wanted to spend time together and have a few fun days out.

What led to your decision to retire Nikini?

She picked up an injury. It wasn’t life or career-threatening and she could have gotten an operation allowing her to race again, but she had given us so much, and we were so happy with her breeder John O’Connor for letting us have her, that we were happy to give her back while she was in full health, rather than putting her through an operation and then building her back up to go racing again. We got our second mare from John as well, when we gave back Nikini. She’s a nice grey filly by Jukebox Jury that we hope to have out in the spring. We haven’t registered her yet, but Liadawn is the name we choose. The name comes from the Irish for Grey Aoife. The name Aoife is dear to one of our member’s partner, who is going through an illness at the moment. We’re really looking forward to running her and she’s strengthened up very well.