Nigel and a group of his friends who drink in the same pub set up a syndicate and named it after the bar that they all drink in. On St Patrick’s Day, the syndicate’s only horse, St Denis’s Well won for the fourth time in Down Royal.

How did you get interested in racing?

I was involved in show jumping for a long time. I always had a few Connemara ponies over the years. A fella I worked with had registered stallions and I ended up buying a couple of foals of him. That is kind of how I got interested. I would have no interest in flat racing, it’s National Hunt or nothing for me.

So tell us how the Declan’s Bar Syndicate came about.

Yeah, well Declan’s Bar is a pub that the members of the syndicate drink in. There are two lads from Drogheda, two lads from Termonfeckin and two from Clogherhead. So it’s just a group of lads that drink in the same pub. I actually asked HRI if we could call it the Feckin Inn syndicate because I am from Termonfeckin. HRI said it was too close to a curse word. I even told them about St. Fechin but they were having none of it. So we went with Declan’s Bar in the end.

St Denis’s Well got his fourth victory last Sunday, How do you think the race panned out for him?

Yeah, sure it worked out perfectly for him. I was watching all the races before his and a lot of the horses were very tired coming home. Our horse is a three-mile horse all day long. That was a two miles, three race last Sunday but it worked out really well. I think under the conditions our lad just outstayed the opposition.

What is next on the agenda for him?

We are actually thinking of going to Cartmel at the end of May. There is a festival there for three or four days. We might run him twice over there. The whole lot of us will probably head over and it will be a nice trip away for us all. There is definitely more to come from him. He is winning on soft ground but he is a good ground horse. The horse was a bit weak last season so we actually gave him a break for a while and brought him home to let him develop. He has been a completely different animal this year. He just needed that break. We are all anxious to see how he goes on better ground.

Ian Donoghue is a fantastic young trainer who has had a brilliant 12 – 18 months. Tell us about the syndicate’s relationship with Ian.

He is a serious trainer. What he has done with our lad is incredible. I don’t think there is any other trainer in the country who would have done such a good job with him. He broke and pre-trained our lad and all. For a young man, he is very on the ball. There is no messing with him. He tells it as it is.

Ian gave the indication in his interview after the win on Sunday that the syndicate loves to really celebrate wins and there seems to be a great social connection between you all.

Absolutely, sure we have all been drinking together for years. We back horses the whole time and we said we might as well be backing our own horse as backing someone else’s horse. We all meet up on a Sunday at Declan’s Bar and have the craic. We do an awful lot of messing and slagging and Ian loves the craic himself so he is well suited to us. The owner of Declan’s Bar loves the craic we are having with St Denis’s Well. After the win on Sunday, he said that from now on the 17th of March will be called St Denis’s Day!

So how have you found the overall owner experience on race day? Is there anything that can be done to improve that experience?

I think they have to look at doing something with the AIR cards. There are eight of us but only four cards. So four people are getting a meal voucher and the other four are referred to as guests even though they are just as much owners as the other four. I think it is unfair, it doesn’t matter how many are in a syndicate, there should be an AIR card per owner. It’s unfair and it should be looked at. I suppose we make the most of it. We enjoy the owner’s bar and the parade ring and all that.

What advice would you have for someone looking to get involved in racehorse ownership?

I suppose I would tell them to take their time. You have to make sure to get the right trainer. You hear stories of people being strung along. We were very lucky that we landed with Ian straight away.

Ian is very straight with us and an excellent trainer. You don’t want a situation where you are been told to keep pumping money in even if the horse is no good. So getting the right trainer is very important.