Tell us about your background and introduction to the racing industry.

I’d be a third generation racehorse owner. My grandad and dad had racehorses when I was growing up. So I was bitten by the bug from day one. My father had a couple of good horses. He had a horse called Barton in the late 70s, early 80s that won plenty of races.

He was part of a syndicate with a filly called Taking Steps that was third in the Guineas and then he had a very good one when I was 14 or 15 with Kevin Prendergast. I suppose, in my formative years, I was lucky that my father had a horse with Kevin every year for four or five years and they all won.

I thought this was easy, you got a horse that wins, and that’s how it works. I went to college in UCD and played rugby. I signed a contract as a professional rugby player then, so I was with Leicester Tigers for five years, and then with Munster for another five.

So that curtailed my ownership ambitions, but I always followed the racing and had plenty of interest. During my time in England, I would have gone to Cheltenham a few times.

How did syndicates come into the picture for you?

When I retired, I set up some syndicates. The first one was mainly just for a bit of fun, and it was with a couple of lads that I played with in Munster.

Despite the filly winning three times, they still use it as a vehicle to slag me, 10 years later they’re still slagging me about it. I stepped up then and got into more commercial syndicates with Joseph O’Brien, trading syndicates, and then expanded that.

I set up the Newbridge College Past Pupils Syndicate with Michael Grassick (trainer), whom I sat beside in a number of classes when we were in school.

It’s a racing club in the sense that we lease a filly and keep it for the year. There are about 30 or 40 past pupils from Newbridge College of all generations involved.

We’ve seen all of the ups and downs of racing together as a syndicate.

Tell us about your horse Amanirenas.

We were waiting for some good ground earlier in the season, but we didn’t get that. When we got her ground, she won a couple of races and since then, we’ve been kind of unlucky. We were all scheduled to go to Galway, where we thought she was going to have a big performance, but she had a small bit of a setback. Since early August, there’s been a couple of disappointments, between being in season and picking up a little nick in one of her runs.

What’s been a highlight with the syndicate?

It’s been great to set up the syndicate and have a horse with opportunities, when she gets her conditions. There’s been a couple of slow runs, literally because of slower ground. That old phrase of ‘do horses make liars of us’ starts to creep up.

Seeing everyone enjoy that first winner we had in Fairyhouse was amazing. She was a decent price, so I think people had a small few quid on her each way, which is all part of the experience.

Particularly with Amanirenas being a hold-up horse, she’s either the best kind or the worst kind to shout home, you’re never sure when she’s coming with the rattle or whether she’s actually going to get there or not. That in itself adds to the excitement of it all as well.

What plans have you got in the near-future for the syndicate and for Amanirenas?

We’re probably going to stick to the leasing route for the time being. Michael’s done an incredible job at keeping everyone updated, delivering the good and the bad news.

It’s great to be able to support Michael, who is a younger trainer. He has a small string of horses, but given the right ammunition, he’s someone that can really kick on. To have an opportunity to support him and be on his journey as a friend and someone that I’ve known since I was 13 has been really enjoyable.

We still have a bit to go yet with Amanirenas. She’ll probably have one more run, and then I’d say that’ll be it. We need the ground to hold it for a bit longer, but then we’ll sit down with everyone and have a bit of craic, go through the goods and the bads and see then who’s interested in coming on board ahead of next year. Hopefully, we’ll be able to have a couple of lease fillies and kick on and deliver another good experience, with a couple of winners and a couple of trips into the winner’s enclosure.

Could you explain how leasing works for anyone that isn’t sure?

Yeah, so you take over the horse, you look after the keep, you pay all the bills, and then you get to keep the prize money. At the end of the contract, the horse goes back to the owners and then it’s up to them whether the horse goes to a sales ring, is kept in training or whether it’s brought home.

I think for racing clubs like ours that just want a bit of fun and couple of days out, leasing is a great way to go. You’re experiencing absolutely everything that the industry has to offer at a fraction of the cost.

What challenges have you faced as an owner?

I think there’s a number of challenges, especially if you’re in that lower bracket of 45 to 65 or 40 to 75 rating with ballot sequences and different things, but that’s part of the game.

You have to explain that to the owners and explain why it’s happened or what the regulations are behind it. I suppose it’s managing the disappointments, because there are repetitive disappointments, as well as your good days. It’s important to be open and honest with everyone in your syndicate.

We need to engage a younger audience in racing and we need to tell the stories of all types of horses and all types of people involved behind the scenes.

For me, coming from professional sport, when you bring someone into a yard that doesn’t necessarily understand what goes on from a training perspective daily, or how well the horses are treated, they realise the horses are highly tuned athletes, and they’re treated accordingly, be it through diet, management of weight, how often they would see the farrier, how important a dentist is, and the fact that every horse has a different personality. I think the whole industry can really start to open up and deliver that experience in a better way, and engage that younger generation of people.