Tell us about how you got interested in racing.

I don’t have a family background in racing but we attended Fairyhouse every Easter from a young age and that spawned my interest. I wanted to go into the bookmaking side of the industry after college. I worked as an odds compiler on Irish racing for Paddy Power for five years before joining Gavin Cromwell as racing manager in 2017 for four years - so I’ve seen the business from a few different angles and experienced some wonderful days in racing.

How did the syndicate come about?

I was good friends with Conor McNamara when we both worked at Gavin’s. When he told me he was going home to Eric in Beechmount full time, I said we’d get a few good men together, target the horses-in-training sales and try to buy the right type of horse that could be competitive. We’ve had six winners in the last year in Ireland in both codes and all the lads get a great kick out of it.

Noble Birth had a fantastic win at Naas on Sunday in quite a competitive race, how do you think the race panned out?

It worked out perfectly. They went an honest gallop, he travelled sweetly and jumped exceptionally well. He was idling in the last 150 yards and had a bit more up his sleeve.

We were 4lbs out of the handicap so we utilised Dan King’s 3lb claim. He got a lovely tune out of him and rode out his claim that day which went a little under the radar!

Were you confident heading into the race?

We thought he ran better than the result in Musselburgh on his last start so we were hoping he could be in the mix-up. The ground was definitely a concern for us but thankfully he got through it. We knew he had a bit of a task on his hands to qualify for Cheltenham but Eric and Conor had him finely tuned.

He has earned himself a shot at the Pertemps Final next week, is that the plan? How excited are you at that prospect?

Yes, that’s the plan. We need three to come out ahead of us to get a run so fingers crossed we get to line up. We’re not definite to get in but at the same time, we’d be fierce unlucky to miss out. The lads are absolutely buzzing for it and they are making the necessary travel plans. I think we go there with a realistic chance.

Any story behind the name or the colours of the syndicate?

Peter Morgan, one of the syndicate members picked the colours, he kept it simple so we’re easy to pick out in the run. There’s strong golf links within the syndicate so that’s where the In Bounds name originated from.

Have you any other horses that either have or have not been seen that you are excited about?

Londonofficecallin won four times for us last summer so hopefully he can be seen to good effect again. The Street is one that will hopefully pay his way during the summer months this year.

You’re involved in sponsorship of Irish racing also. Tell us about what that entails.

Yes, my company Sportstraction helps to find suitable racing sponsorships for our clients. Bet Victor are our biggest client and they have been wonderful supporters of Irish racing. We try to secure sponsorships that get maximum exposure for minimum cost so we think outside the box and focus on sponsoring races that will get large social media engagement. We’d rather sponsor a strong maiden hurdle, where the big guns often introduce a future star, for a fraction of the cost of a big Saturday handicap that gets lost on a busy day on Racing TV and competes with other sports. I think the stakeholders in Irish racing are let down by the commercial and marketing arm of the horse racing industry but that’s a conversation for another day!

From an owner’s perspective, is there anything that can be done to improve the owner’s experience?

Yes, one thing I’d love to see is the whole syndicate ownership experience to be streamlined. You currently have a situation where the agent is the sole point of contact and they are sent four race-day entry cards from the Association of Irish Racecourses [AIR] and one additional ticket is available per registered syndicate member. It would be great to have every syndicate owner in the country obliged to open a RÁS [HRI’s online racing administration system] account and get individual AIR cards. It would help syndicate owners feel more valued and avoid any embarrassing situations at the gate. It should never be the case that an owner has difficulty getting through the gate.

Any advice for someone who wants to get involved in racehorse ownership but doesn’t know much about the sport itself?

Trainers are very approachable and helpful. Be it at the races or over the phone, reach out to your preferred trainer and let them know you want to get involved. Throw yourself in at the deep end, you will find that everybody in the game wants to help you get involved.