Where did your involvement in the racing industry begin?

Growing up I was always interested in horse racing, and I would have gone to the bigger meetings like Punchestown and Leopardstown at Christmas. I then met my wife Aoife and her family was very big into the horses. Her sister Ciara is Danny’s (Howard, trainer) wife and she’s an amateur jockey.

Aoife’s family had a big involvement in racing and would have owned a few horses themselves and some point-to-pointers, so my interest grew from there. Aoife and I are married three years next week and we’ve been together for 10 years.

When Danny then joined the family, he got me involved in ownership. I would have had very little interest in the flat, but since Sylkie’s come along, my interest and enthusiasm around the flat has perked up!

How did the syndicate come about?

This is the second horse that I’ve had with Danny. The first lad didn’t go too well, we placed second and third but didn’t win unfortunately.

I had a few friends and family asking me about it, they always expressed an interest that they would love to get involved and I wanted to bring a few people on board for the second horse.

We were actually looking at point-to-point horses at Tattersalls. We wanted a pointer to bring onto the track and we had a look through it but we weren’t getting great value for money.

Danny actually spotted a claiming race at Fairyhouse that was on the day of the three-year-old sale that we were planning on going to, and that’s how we came across Sylkie.

Initially, we bought her for juvenile hurdling, so this is absolute bonus territory. Before we put the claim in on her, we looked at a few of her races and saw that she handled a stiff finish in Sligo and Naas on heavy ground and we thought she’d go well as a three-year-old hurdler.

For her to win three times on the flat is unbelievable. She’ll go on a short break now for a few weeks but in the new year we’d like to run her in a juvenile hurdle.

How was your day at Galway?

It was brilliant. I think 10 of the 11 syndicate members were there, and we were really confident going into the race. Danny was particularly confident she would go well, despite it being an 18-runner handicap.

Family and friends came along on the journey and it’s lovely to share the experience with them.

It all goes back to Danny, he was a top jockey himself, all credit goes to him. Before we got her, her tactics were to make the running and force her hand but Danny spotted that she likes to go past horses.

So now she’s a bit of a hold up horse, we sit out the back and let them go off in front and try to mow them down on the line.

Rory [Cleary] gave her such a good ride as well, that’s his second win on her. She settled lovely and she just loved that Galway hill. We saw her coming up and we knew there would only be one result.

Our other horse, Edge Of Darkness ran in Galway on the same day.

We got him in a claiming race from Denis Hogan. Unfortunately, not the same dream as Sylkie so far, but he definitely has ability. He’ll go for a little break now and will probably be back next year in April or May.

Have you come across any challenges in the industry?

I didn’t grow up in the horsey industry at all so I still see myself as an outsider. I think it’s actually very embracing and welcoming to new owners and I think a lot of the Irish racetracks have a good race day experience.

Some of the tracks probably need a bit of upgrading from an owner’s perspective, but most of them are immaculate, Galway was absolutely amazing. In my little involvement, I’ve always had positive experiences.

Would you say that syndicates are the way to go?

Yes, absolutely. I think we need more syndicates. The journey that we’ve been on so far, to be able to share that with friends and family is amazing. We’re dreaming big with Sylkie.

Particularly for smaller trainers like Danny, syndicates I think, are pivotal to his success. I see the hard work that goes into Danny’s operation.

We all love the hands-on approach and getting videos and updates from Danny. It’s so personable and he’s always happy to have us in the yard.

A few of the syndicate members have been involved with bigger trainers and they didn’t feel like they got that personal touch that they do with Danny.

Could you pick out a highlight from your experiences with Sylkie?

The first day we ran Sylkie was in Tipperary, and Colin Keane rode her. Before the race, Danny switched up her old routine and changed the tactics around.

He told Colin just to ride her at the back and let her get past horses. We saw what she did that first day to finish fourth, and myself and Danny, had a chat after to make a plan.

Our plan was to run her at the Galway Festival, pray for the worst ground possible and ride her exactly like Colin had. It happened exactly how we’d planned it. Things like that don’t happen often.

What’s the plan going forward?

It would be nice to pick up some blacktype with her along the way, whether that’s on the flat or over hurdles.

The syndicate has expressed an interest in retaining her after her racing career and putting her in foal. Hopefully we can give Danny a few more winners with her progeny.