How did you get involved in the racing industry?

There’s a long tradition of racing in my family. My great grandfather rode in an Aintree Grand National with four of his brothers, I think it’s still a record. My grandfather bred Antarctic Bay, who won at the Cheltenham Festival in 1985, my aunt bred Shattered Love and my uncle bred the stallion Fast Company. My father was an amateur jockey and my cousin, Hugh Morgan, is a professional jockey. My brother was an amateur jockey as well, so racing goes back a long way in my family.

I lost the love for racing and took a step back for a few years. I’d gotten enough falls from horses to turn anybody off, so I went to college. I had told my wife, Aoife, that I wanted to get a syndicate going and then I met Declan (O’Connell) at a wedding about two years ago, and he suggested that we buy a horse between us.

How did you end up buying Bambino Fever?

We went to the Arkle sale looking for a filly with a nice pedigree. Down the line, breeding is the aim, because we have the facilities at home. Nick Stokes from Fethard played a huge part in all of this, he was there at the sales and it was always the intention to go to him for pre-training. We had a budget of €30,000 and were under-bidders on a few horses and, at the end of day two, we still hadn’t bought anything. There was a filly that we liked towards the end of the book and I asked Nick to have a look at her for me. He told me she was a €40,000 filly and that I should go on home. I was annoyed with myself, but we said we’d tackle the Derby sale in two weeks’ time. I pulled in on the way home and checked the sales results, only to see that she’d gone through the ring and sold back to the vendor, Geoffrey Thompson, for €30,000. I rang Nick, but he said I’d only be insulting Geoffrey offering him €30,000. In the end, it was William Slattery who managed to strike a deal with Geoffrey a few days later and we bought her. None of it would have been possible without Declan. Our wives have been friends for years and introduced us, but with financial restrictions, I wouldn’t have been able to set off on this journey alone, so I was delighted when he said he’d come on board.

Where did the name Bambino Fever come from?

Myself and Aoife have two small kids, Conor who is three and Cillian who is eight months old, and Declan and his wife Corrina have a 10-month-old called Josie. Aoife and Corrina were both pregnant when we were naming Bambino, so that’s where the name came from.

What did you make of her point-to-point debut?

While I was delighted on the day, I came home disappointed. She won a four-runner point-to-point, where one had fallen at the second fence, and the mare that was going to challenge her, Red Acres Georgie, fell at the second last. She won by 40 lengths in the end, but it wasn’t very exciting. The thing that did excite me was Red Acres Georgie, who came out two weeks later and absolutely demolished a field of 15 mares by 15 lengths and then made €100,000 at the sales. I didn’t know where we stood after our run, the other mare could have beaten us if she’d stayed standing, but Finny Maguire, who was on board, said he had her covered regardless. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind.

Was Willie Mullins always the trainer you wanted to go to?

That runs back through the years as well. My brother would have rode out in Willie’s for several years during the summer, when he was at school and in college. He’s a teacher now and still rides out every morning before school for Nick Stokes. My father had mares in syndicates with Willie and also rode in amateur races against him. It goes back as far as horses called Mary’s Manna and Roundstone Lady, who were bred by my father and leased out or sold to Willie’s syndicates. In my eyes, there’s no man better to train a mare than Willie Mullins, but he could train any horse really. Nick Stokes always knew that our plan was to go to Willie, and he always loved the mare, so I can’t heap enough praise onto him for preparing her to get to where she is now.

You’ve seen the success of your family, but what does it mean for you to have a horse of your own that’s been so successful?

It’s the first horse that I’ve been really involved in as far as ownership, and no amount of money could give you the feeling that we had at the Dublin Racing Festival. There was even a post on X from a random person saying: “Finally the happiest owners of the day, as Bambino Fever cruises to victory in the bumper. Looks a really happy young syndicate, who love the true special spirit of National Hunt racing.” My phone has been hopping since she won, with people trying to buy her and other people telling me not to sell, that I’d spend the rest of my life using that money to try and find another one like her. We’ve been through this whole journey with her, so that really brought it home for us. While I’ve got a full-time office job that doesn’t relate to horses, it’s a great industry to be involved in and to make friends in. We’ll probably go back to the sales in June and try to start this process all over again.

What do you think is the key to keeping racing exciting for the younger generations?

I have absolutely zero interest in flat racing. I wouldn’t watch it if it was outside the window. What really gave me a thrill was the formation of the Dublin Racing Festival. I have a group of friends here in Fethard, who I play a lot of football and hurling with and we always go to the Friday and Saturday of Dublin Racing Festival and it made me think, I’d love to have a horse running there.

The affordability of it is crippling. As much as Bambino Fever has done, we’re probably still in the red. Trying to make it as affordable as possible will keep young people enthused in it. Dublin Racing Festival can nearly be uncomfortable with the size of the crowds they get, but seeing the reception that Galopin Des Champs got this year was unbelievable. The place lifted! There’s something special about National Hunt racing. The very small man has always been able to compete. It’s a lot more affordable than flat racing as well. I was in Newmarket last year and the money being spent was incredible.

There were so many small things that helped to make all of this more affordable for us, having facilities at home, my brother Joe helping to break her in; without my family, it wouldn’t be possible. At the end of the season, she’ll be able to come home to my father’s yard and that would have been an extra cost, if we didn’t have the facilities.