How did you get into racing?

I always had an interest. I’m only a mile from Navan Racecourse. I grew up next to it. My mother grew up not too far from Sligo Racecourse so the family had an interest in it as well. I always knocked about the racecourse as a young lad.

What made you decide to buy a horse?

I suppose I never thought that I would have the price of a horse. I started working and then it came a time when I had enough money to go for it. A friend of mine, Richie Walsh, who owns The Judge and Jury in Trim, had a couple of horses already. I approached him about getting one together. That was that. We approached Noel Meade who sorted us out with a horse and we took it from there.

How did that first horse turn out?

Very good actually. It was Miss Cognac. She won a bumper and then a hurdle race on St Stephen’s Day in 2019. We were kind of hooked then. Unfortunately her career was cut short and she would only race once more after that. I was up in Sligo during Covid so I wasn’t really in a position to go again at that stage. It wasn’t until Richie came back to me with a proposal from Brian Duffy to take a share in a horse that I got back into it. That horse turned out to be Magic Chegaga

She was quite a special horse for the group.

Absolutely, She won four or five races within 18 months which included the Galway Mile. She picked up blacktype then and at that stage we decided to sell her. That Galway Mile was special. We were very lucky. We only paid €12,000 for our horse and we were taking on some big trainers and big owners that day. She only barely got into the race. We only decided that we would run the week before. Five needed to come out for her to get a run. Thankfully they did and the rest is history.

So how did Charlie Luciano come about? Tell us about the success you have had with him over the last few months.

After we sold Magic Chegaga we decided to go again pretty quickly. I met Noel in the new year. I asked him if would he have anything for us, and we were interested in returning to the yard. He found ‘Charlie’ and we agreed to buy him. We never thought we would be notching up the novice hurdles like he has been doing over the last couple of weeks. But Noel always maintained that he needed good ground. He won very easily in Kilbeggan. He lacked a gear in his two races on the flat. He ran a stormer up in Downpatrick to win easy there three weeks ago. Then the win in Bellewstown last week was great as well. He got headed jumping the second last but he battled well. He is very genuine and will always stick his neck out for you. He finished a good second at Downpatrick on Thursday.

Any significance behind the colours?

They are the Meath colours. I picked them out about five or six years ago. I wanted to get something that looked like the Meath jersey. I happened to be looking at the ‘88 jersey in the wardrobe and I wanted our colours to resemble that. So that’s what we were going for.

Meath are in the final of the Tailteann Cup this week, do you give them any chance?

I give them a squeak. Down are probably worthy favourites. It would be nice to see them going well. Colm ORourke is a neighbour of mine so, for his sake, it would be good to see them getting the job done. I would love to see them pick up a bit of silverware but I do think Down will be hard to beat.

So back to the racing side of things, Noel Meade is training ‘Charlie’ for you. He has been a successful trainer for many years. As one of his owners what do you think makes Noel successful and hence appealing to yourself?

Noel is a gentleman. He will always maintain plenty of contact and will try and do his best for the horse and do his best for you. When I was growing up Noel was having great success. He was synonymous with Nina Carberry in bumpers. When I decided I was going to buy the horse I didn’t see the need to go with anyone else. He is a local man, only up the road. He has never steered us wrong yet. You are always welcome at the yard. It is a local set-up so there was never really anyone else we were ever going to go to. He is banging in winners at the moment as well, which helps.

Have you any plans on the agenda for Charlie Luciano? Could Galway be on the cards?

We don’t like making plans for the future. As I said before we only decided to run Magic Chegaga about a week before Galway. Look, it would be nice to go back to Ballybrit with a horse that has a live chance. There is the Guinness Novice Hurdle, that could be an option. There is another novice hurdle there later in the week. But, look, we will play it by ear and see how we get on.

How have you found the owner’s experience? Is there anything racing could do to improve it?

We are happy enough. We have been treated very well, both as winners and losers. In general, this year we have seen some big improvements. Downpatrick put on a great show for us the night he won his race there and Bellewstown last week as well. We ran two buses over to Bellewstown from Foxes, so there was a great buzz and we enjoyed the evening. It’s nice to be treated well though because a lot of money does go into it. In general, we don’t have any complaints.

Do you think you will reinvest in another horse?

We looked at a couple in a recent store horse sale. One of them we picked out didn’t scan too well so we had to leave her behind. We are on the lookout though. We are in the right part of the country as well. I wouldn’t even like to guess how many winners Meath trainers have trained in the last couple of months, which is great to see and long may it last. I think two horses in the same year is enough for us to be managing. But we will have a look at the sales again later in the year.

What advice would you give to someone interested in getting involved with horse race ownership?

I would tell them to go and get a couple of mates involved. It is an expensive game and the syndicates are good craic too. You don’t need to spend big money. We have been very lucky but you have to be able to cherish the good days and enjoy them. There are a lot of disappointing days too. You are going to be driving home from the races disappointed more times than not. So make sure to enjoy the good days.