How did you get interested in racing and how did the Furze Bush Syndicate come about?

We were always interested. My uncle had a few horses over the years. The other day my father reminded me that, when I was younger, I was interested in getting a pony. He never got me one but, in hindsight, I wouldn’t have made a good jockey as I grew up to be 6ft 3in.

All the lads in the syndicate had been going to Cheltenham for around 12 years. We had been threatening to buy one. I got talking to Gavin [Cromwell] and we discussed our budget and our aims. He eventually got back to me and told me to have a look at a couple of horses in Sean Doyle’s. The first horse we were shown was Stumptown. He was the one we liked. He ended up costing us a bit more than we initially budgeted for but it was well worth it in the end.

Tell us more about Stumptown. He was second in the 2023 Kim Muir behind Angels Dawn. It must have been disappointing to come so close to having a Cheltenham Festival winner and get beaten by a neck.

He ran a great race and was a bit unfortunate really. Angels Dawn bumped him three out and knocked a bit of the stuffing out of him. We were a bit gutted after that, to be honest. It took a few days to come to terms with it. The messages of support were great. I think when you are there in the cauldron of Cheltenham and you come that close, it is disappointing.

After a few days, you realise that you were part of a really great race and that we were giving away a lot of weight to a really good horse. We were sent videos of the pubs from back home in Tralee and they were lovely to get because of the emotion of the whole town getting behind one horse. So initially it’s difficult but you can reflect on it and realise that it was a fantastic experience in itself.

You somewhat made amends a few days ago when returning to Cheltenham for a New Year’s Day winner. Tell us about the victory last weekend, did you have high expectations heading over?

He has been quite difficult to get a read on this year. We were a bit disappointed after the Kerry National but if you watch back that race, he was running quite well until he hit a fence five out. We went to Cheltenham with more hope than expectation.

It was a decent race; we were giving a bit of weight to most of our rivals. We have always said, though, if he jumps well, he is going to be there or thereabouts. He jumped well and when Keith gave him a squeeze he took off. Look, we were delighted. To have a winner in Cheltenham is fantastic. The reception he got coming in was incredible as well.

Just looking back on last year, he seemed to come alive in the spring. Have you any thoughts about another tilt at the Cheltenham Festival this year?

Yeah, I get that, based on last year, it would look like he comes alive in the spring. I mean we were really pointing him at Listowel so there is no real rhyme or reason behind that. In terms of the plan, I mean, in that period between January and March last year, we went up 30lb. That was a big rise.

So from here our plan for this year will probably be dictated by what the handicapper gives us. The Ultima might be a possibility. We haven’t really sat down and discussed it yet. We will see. Clearly blinkers and the smaller field worked for him but it’s hard to say no to festival racing.

And ground-wise, the official description at Cheltenham was heavy but his form would suggest that he isn’t that ground dependent. Is that fair to say?

He probably doesn’t like jumping on too heavy ground. I think the ground last weekend was more of an Irish soft really. I think the better the ground the better he jumps but, yeah, he wouldn’t be overly ground-dependent.

He ran in the Irish National at Fairyhouse last year. Could he be an Aintree Grand National horse in time?

He could, I think. He has a great engine. I suppose the trip would be a bit of an unknown but he looks like a horse who would stay going. His jumping has been sketchy at times. A lot of his jumping was excellent last week but it can be dodgy at times.

With Fairyhouse last year, we couldn’t not take our chance. I think it just came too soon for him after a very hard race at Cheltenham. The ground was quite heavy that day as well which didn’t help. But if his jumping continues to improve, a tilt at Aintree in the future could be on the cards.

The syndicate is named the “Furze Bush Syndicate” Is there any significance behind that name or the colours?

The colours are the Kerry colours because we are from three different football clubs, so we had to just agree on the Kerry colours. When we were discussing the name over the phone, one of the lads at the time was driving past some yellow furze and made a comparison between ourselves and the bush that is a little bit too rude for printing in a newspaper!.

On Gavin then, you knowing him as a trainer now, what do you think it is that brings him that success?

I’m in the yard quite a lot. I’m probably there once every couple of weeks. You can really feel that something special is happening in the yard, particularly this season. There is a buzz and a vibe about the place. Everyone is bouncing.

Gavin himself is very straight and doesn’t miss a beat. He’ll always return a call. He is constantly improving facilities and constantly innovating. I think they had 35 people riding out there on Christmas morning. I know very little about farming and even less about horses but I can see that it’s going well inside in the yard. And even with the success that he has had, he still doesn’t have the same pick of horses that others have which makes it all the more impressive.