Cathal and the Gorm Agus Ban Syndicate had great success last week when their mare Baby Kate won at the Cheltenham November meeting. The syndicate are leasing the mare from former Irish international soccer player Kevin Doyle.

How did you get interested in racing?

I got into it from a young enough age. I’d say I was around 12 or 13. My uncle used to bring me racing a lot when I was younger and it all kind of started from there.

How did the syndicate come about?

I went to primary school with Patrick Mullins so we would know each other a long time. There were a few of us who wanted to form a syndicate so we contacted him about setting something up and we kind of went from there. There are 18 members now and things are going well.

Tell us about Baby Kate and how you came across her.

So we are very lucky in that Kevin Doyle, the former Irish soccer player, leased her to us. The arrangement is that we give her back to Kevin when she is finished racing and he will then go breeding with her. The whole agreement came about through Patrick. It just worked out that we were able to lease Baby Kate. The whole leasing set-up has made it very accessible for lads like ourselves to get involved. There is very little financial buy-in initially and it gets you in the game. It’s brilliant.

How did the name and the colours come about?

Most of us in the syndicate are from a small little village called Old Leighlin in Carlow. It is actually only down the road from Closutton. The club colours are blue and white and a few of the lads including myself played with the club over the years. We won county championships in 2010, 2011 and 2013. So that is where the name and the colours come from.

There are not too many who get to experience having a winner in Cheltenham, It must have been a fantastic feeling.

Absolutely. I mean we were lucky enough to win a couple of county championships with our local club and the win last Saturday was right up there with it. The thrill and buzz that we got from it was unreal. Our previous horse Nikini ran there in March, that was our first experience of Cheltenham and to go back there and actually win a race was fantastic. It will be very hard to replicate that feeling again.

Talk us through how you think the race panned out.

She did it well in the end. Patrick and Brian [Hayes] got the tactics spot on. They had identified that the inner section seemed to have much better ground. They made a decision to try and get down to the start early and hog the rail if we could. It really panned out well for us in the end. A lot of winners at the November meeting tend to go up the rail side so we were gambling a bit but it paid off thankfully. Once she saw daylight, she really got going. Even if the race was another furlong or two more, she would have only won by more. I think stepping up in the trip will be the key to her.

So, what is next on the agenda for her and what’s the plan for the season?

Yeah, she will stay at the bumpers for this season. She is going to get a well-deserved two-week break now. Then we will bring her back for the Grade 2 mares’ bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival in early February. We will see how we get on there. Personally, I think the two miles and one furlong race at Aintree will suit her. I think the further she goes, the better she will be. Her mother actually finished second in that bumper in Aintree so there might be a bit of unfinished business there.

Can you give us some insight into Willie Mullins and what you think sets him so far ahead of the chasing pack?

We are absolutely blessed to have a horse with Willie, it really is something else. He is the top man in the game. They are constantly improving facilities down there, they never rest on their laurels. They’re constantly trying to make things better and you can see it obviously pays off with the results that they get. They probably have around 200 horses down there and it’s very hard to keep everyone happy, but yet he seems to be able to do it. From our own experience, they are so accommodating. Any time you want to see the horse, there is never any issue, it’s just fantastic.

So Baby Kate is your only horse in training at the

moment, is that right?

Yeah, she is. We had Nikini but she picked up a bit of an injury so we decided not too push on with her. She had a bit of a nerve problem in the knee and she was after giving us everything. She was leased to us by John O’Connor of Ballylinch Stud. When someone is good enough to lease you the mare you want to make sure you look after her as best you can. There is another mare owned by John that we are having discussions about at the moment. She is a Jukebox Jury and a half-sister to Williamstowndancer.

How have you found the raceday experience from an owner’s perspective?

The experience of anywhere that we have been has been exceptional. We have been looked after very well and there have never been any issues. Sometimes you might want a few extra tickets, or whatever, and we have always been very well accommodated. Both in England and Ireland, the racecourses have been always very good to us.

Would you have any advice for someone who is looking to get involved in racehorse ownership?

I suppose the best advice is to get in touch with someone who knows the game. We went to Patrick and he found the right horse for us and put us in the right direction which was fantastic. If you can get someone involved who knows what they are at, that is probably the best advice I can give.