How did you get into racehorse ownership?

Alan/Conor: Growing up our dad was heavily into horse racing and we always had horses around the house.

When we were young, our father purchased a mare named Cache Creek from Lady O’Reilly. She won a listed race for us on the flat at Gowran Park and we have had great success breeding from her.

The first horse Conor owned was a homebred daughter out of Cache Creek, named Cache Queen, who won three races and was only beaten by a short head at the Galway Festival.

We’re very keen to continue our involvement in ownership and to get involved with horses together in the future, it’s just taking our time with it.

Both of us are still quite young but we look forward to having some horses in training within the next couple of years and hopefully receiving a few winners in return.

What was your best day at the races and why?

Alan: The day Cache Queen won her maiden at Killarney was a great day for the family, but winning our dad’s memorial race at Kilbeggan with So Scottish earlier this month was the absolute standout.

Outside of being an owner, one of the best days racing I’ve had was when a very close friend of mine, Paul Byrne, won a big Grade 3 handicap at the Cheltenham Festival with The Shunter. I was just delighted for him to have a winner there.

Conor: Similar to Alan, winning the Sean Hughes Memorial Hurdle at Kilbeggan would be one of my favourite days. Cache Queen was the first winner I owned individually and this was another unforgettable day at the races for me.

Owning a winner for the first time is an incredible feeling and is a feeling that’s definitely hard to put into words.

What is the biggest drawback about being a racehorse owner?

Alan: It’s always a risk having a horse but I suppose that’s just what the game brings and is one of the reasons why so many people love it.

For me there’s not many drawbacks, I really enjoy trying to plot your way to the winner’s enclosure and working with trainers to try find the right race for each horse.

Conor: The training costs. Cache Queen herself was running in 0-65 rated handicaps and average prize money is approximately €6,000 for the winner. You need to be winning three to four races a year to cover the training costs alone.

In your experience, which racecourse in Ireland treats owners the best and why?

Alan: I have had good experiences at most racecourses and love going to all of them.

If I had to pick, I find the more rural tracks, like Kilbeggan, more inclusive for owners and they have a great buzz about them.

Conor: I really enjoyed having a winner at Down Royal. The staff were very helpful and accommodating. The atmosphere at the track was great and the course looked after us very well.

Flat or jump racing?

Alan: Cache Queen was all flat. She was by Kodiac, so I don’t think she would have fared well over fences.

Jump racing has always appealed to me a little more, however, and looking forward I would love to get more involved with the jumping side and potentially keep horses with Emmett Mullins.

Conor: Even though Cache Queen was a flat mare and we are breeding flat progeny from her, my passion is definitely for jumps racing, I just prefer it.

What can trainers or HRI do to encourage owners to keep horses in training at the moment?

Alan: Everybody believes owning a horse is a hugely costly process. However, there are lots of different methods, and affordable ones, that people can use to get into ownership.

I feel HRI could advertise these better to ensure the number of horses in training remains at a similar level. For example, Conor and I actually leased So Scottish from Paul Byrne for my father’s memorial race.

It was a one-day lease and this is an affordable way for someone to have a taste of ownership before committing to high expenses.

I believe that a lot more people would get involved with ownership if HRI and governing bodies within the industry presented more affordable ways for them to do so.

What qualities do you look for in a trainer?

Conor: Pat Hughes trained Cache Creek and Ado McGuinness trained Cache Queen. Honesty from a trainer is definitely the biggest thing for me.

I prefer a trainer who just tells you how it is and provides their honest opinions on the horse.

What significance do your colours hold?

Alan/Conor: Our colours are the exact same as our father’s colours. He passed away in 2004 so it’s very special to have them.

They’ll be our colours forever and any horses we have in the future will run in them. Hopefully we can celebrate many more winners in those silks.

When buying a horse, what do you look for?

Alan/Conor: Our dad purchased a lot of horses himself from the sales over in Kentucky. We use the genius bloodstock knowledge of Eamonn Reilly when we need help. Conor is great with form and we would like to utilise this knowledge for horses-in-training sales in the future.

Form analysis is a great way to understand what level the horses have been running at.

You’re more aware of the horse you’re buying which minimises the risk and it can be a good way of finding potential value at the sales.

There is also a reduced time period from the purchase date to getting the horse on the track, compared to yearling and foal sales.

You’re reaping the ownership experience and any prize money rewards quicker.

Have you any young horses to look forward to?

Alan/Conor: We currently have a homebred filly foal out of Cache Queen by Kuroshio. Conor made the breeding decisions for this and it helped that Kuroshio was a local stallion.

The plan, at the moment, is to keep the filly at home and send her off to be broken with trainer Ciaran Murphy when she’s two.

Kuroshio has had a couple of nice winners lately and were really hopeful she’ll make a nice three-year-old.

What do you do with your racehorses when their racing days are over?

Alan/Conor: In the past we’ve primarily had fillies/mares. When they finish on the track, they come home with us and get turned out to grass and used for breeding purposes.

What would help to make Irish racing more competitive for the smaller owner/trainer?

Conor: There is not enough racing for horses rated 45-65 and it results in horses being balloted out.

It makes it hard for owners to stay positive and enhance their horses’ ratings if they have limited options.

It would be great to see a higher number of lower graded races across both the flat and National Hunt sectors.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a racehorse owner?

Alan/Conor: If you really want to do it and you get the opportunity, go for it and see what comes. Ownership has been a great experience for us and the good days definitely outweigh the bad.

We would also like to make people aware of the possibility of leasing. It provides a great insight into what ownership is like and the associated expenses before people commit.