Were you all there for the win?

Most of us were there. There’s 10 of us all together, including two brothers who didn’t make it, so that was great entertainment for the rest of the syndicate. The fact that they stayed away brought the good luck!

The daughter of one of the lads in the syndicate led him in after the win, which was brilliant stuff. You know, money can’t buy it.

How did the syndicate come about?

The syndicate was kind of formed at the local pub; Dinnie Ryan owns the bar, The Coopers in Birdhill. All the lads have a few pints there and there was a bloodstock agent called John Dunne that sourced the horse.

I, myself, and my wife keep a few horses, so we brought him home for six months and just did a bit of rehab and a bit of TLC with him. I live quite close to Eric McNamara, so we selected Eric to train him. I’ve known Eric for a long time, we go back years.

I’m guessing you’re all hurling fans given the syndicate name…

Definitely. Birdhill is kind of at the corner Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, so the silks are the counties’ colours. Limerick and Clare are flying it in the hurling, but Tipp are struggling a bit.

Is this your first horse as a syndicate? Or have any of you been involved with horses before?

Most of the lads are involved in horses, as I am myself as well, and we’ve all had various interests over the years. The original syndicate in the pub had great success with Gemini Lucy, who was trained by Jessica Harrington. Maybe four or five of the current syndicate were involved in that and then there were another couple of legs we had in syndicates and half legs with various trainers.

So, you all understand the highs and lows and the patience needed then?

Most people do, and you needed patience for his fella! He’s a complete rogue, you know, he has great ability, but doesn’t always want to do it. But Eric, to be fair, has got a good old tune out of him. As you know, he’s been fourth, third and second this year and then we got him over the line on Monday, which was great, under a brilliant ride from Conor.

To be fair, (the syndicate) are an avid bunch. We had a kind of an AGM last Christmas, when we went racing at Limerick, which we do every year. We were trying to decide whether we were going to persevere and we said we’d give it another season. The costs are manageable once it’s shared between a group of us.

How was your experience on the day?

Cork racecourse looked after us very well, and they had a glass of champagne for all of us. Then there was a very kind gesture yesterday morning when a photograph arrived in the post compliments of the race track as well. It was a nice touch.

Did you fancy his chance then beforehand, because he’d been in form?

Well, we kind of did. It was hard to have a good bet on him, given his attitude, but he’s been fairly consistent this year. And look, the horse could be trying to figure things out as well, he could be trying to understand what the game is all about. You know, they get fairly drilled as two-year-olds, so maybe they just need a bit of time after that to sweeten them up.

How did you

celebrate?

We had kind of gone in different directions. Some of us are on holidays, but the lads went back to Coopers’ Bar - that’s kind of the hub and there was great excitement there. We’re going to plan a bit of a catch up now and have a night out. I think they’re talking about maybe getting a couple of photographs to stick up at the bar. And that should be there for posterity.

Do the syndicate visit the yard to see the horse?

We do. Plenty of the lads have been out, and Eric is very accommodating with that. Eric is great with his advice, his knowledge and picking the races. He helps with keeping the syndicate updated and asks what would they like to do, and where would they like to go, and that sort of thing. So, I think he was delighted that they got to win as well.

What advice would you give to someone interested in becoming an owner?

Definitely get involved - that’s the first thing. I suppose you know you need to find someone you can trust and someone that you can work with, so maybe even joining an existing syndicate to try and learn before you strike out yourself.

What changes do you think could be made to improve the ownership experience?

I know they’ve made some changes now with the 60-race programme (for trainers with less than 40 winners) and a bunch of races that are available now to the smaller trainer. So, I think probably more of that would be good, anything to level the playing field.

Ross O’Sullivan mentioned it at Galway: there’s loads of trainers so capable, but I suppose they just don’t get the ammunition. More races that are applicable to the lower end of the brackets would make the point of entry for buying horses and being competitive more accessible.

We gave three grand for our fellow - he’s rated 93 over hurdles, but you’re getting balloted out regularly. The cost of that then tallies up overall.