How did you first get involved in racing?

I grew up in Meath, and my father brought me racing with him. I remember going to the 1977 Irish Grand National, I went whenever I had the chance. Myself and a few friends, who were at secondary school in Navan, would go missing from school and hitch out to Navan Racecourse! It’s just something we always liked. Bellewstown is the nearest track to me at home so that was great to get a winner there. It was like Cheltenham with the roar when she was coming in!

Tell us about the syndicate.

It’s called the Dubs & Royals Syndicate, I’m more the ‘Royal’ that got the Dubs involved. I’ve been working at The Liberty Belle in Dublin for the last 16 years, so there’s a good crowd of us from the pub involved. My boss is involved, a good friend of mine, Sean Ganahan, and Amanda who works with me, and another guy, Sean Murphy. When they heard about the possibility of getting involved they jumped at the chance. There’s five members based closer to Meath as well.

This is my third horse with Pat (Downey, trainer), and all three of them have won. The last one, Brega Queen, is Letters To Juliet’s dam so there’s a bit of a tradition there. The family has been great over the years. Pat contacted me to see if I wanted to get involved with Juliet. Boardsmill Stud own Juliet’s sire, Califet, and they actually sponsored the race as well so that was even better.

The colours that we use were Brega Queen’s colours. Going back a few years, I can’t remember who picked them.

What happened that she was so unlucky?

Pat always said from day one that she had ability, she was just so unlucky. She overjumped at Gowran Park last November and poor Alix (Balfe, jockey) came off, and then she came down at the second last at Fairyhouse under Danny Mullins when she was travelling really well, so it was great to see her finish a race as well as get her head in front. I felt a bit responsible, as I had gotten a few people involved in her.

We knew we had a nice horse, she was just unlucky to fall twice last year when she had every chance of winning. Our motto as a syndicate was ‘keep the faith’ and thank God we did, because it’s paid off now. Alix and Paddy (O’Brien, jockey) work really hard for Pat, and he’s put in some great new facilities like a new sand gallop, so he deserves all of the success he can get. Pat has another horse there that he likes so we might try and get another syndicate going for that one!

Do you think it helped to have a nice group of people around you when things weren’t going to plan?

Saturday was just amazing. It was amazing for the horse first of all because she’s been so unlucky. For Pat and the family and his staff who put so much work into these horses it was amazing. I was delighted for the rest of the syndicate as well, for sticking with her and keeping the faith. For the five people that I got involved in the syndicate, we have a groupchat where I keep them informed so that was a help. We’re always welcome to go to Pat’s and see her, it’s never a problem. It’s great for people to go down and see her when she’s not running, I think it’s important for people to be involved that way.

Has she got a bit of personality about her?

She can be a bit frisky sometimes! She’s buzzy, so the lads all do a great job with her to get her settled in her races. I think it’s part of the family tradition as well, horses by that sire can be a bit buzzy. Pat has her in a hood to help her relax as well, but he’s done a great job with her. All being well, she should be capable of winning some more.

Have you come up with a plan for her next run?

That’s totally up to Pat. He’ll look at the entries and decide what race suits her. I’m sure he’ll give me a buzz and let me know what he’s thinking, but it’s up to him. His daughter Heather and wife Karen help him out as well, they do a lot of work.

What was going through your head when you were watching her run?

My brother’s horse actually won in Bellewstown years ago, so I went to the same stand I was in that day. My sister and I went to watch and when she was coming down to the last hurdle I grabbed her hand and said “please don’t let anything bad happen again!” It was just relief really. There were so many people that I knew at the races as well which was great, people that I don’t get to see much of as I’m based in Dublin. It was a real buzz and we’re still buzzing. Meath won a few All-Irelands back in the day, and waking up the next morning after the race felt like one of those days. It was fantastic to be at the local track as well. It was very emotional, I think there was a tear shed!

Would you recommend being in a syndicate then?

We have 10 involved altogether and it hasn’t been too expensive, thankfully. I’d definitely recommend it. Having the right people involved is important as well so we’re lucky to have 10 great members that have all been very patient.

Will she go down the same route as her mother eventually and retire to the breeding sheds once her racing career is over?

I’d say that’s the plan, yeah, down the line anyway. She has the breeding there and she’s got the win now. It would be great to carry on the tradition with her family.