Jack Cantillon

Syndicates Racing is a new venture but we have already experienced a wide gamut of emotions in a short space of time, the build-up to the weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival being a case in point.

We had hoped to have three runners on Sunday but as of now, it is just Listen Dear who takes her chance in the €150,000 Gaelic Plant Hire Leopardstown Handicap Chase, with Brian Hayes taking the ride.

It is not a forlorn hope that this number might swell. Guard Of Honour, a son of Galileo and the first horse I bought, is first reserve in the €100,000 William Fry Handicap Hurdle, with Cabaret Queen third reserve.

It is Cabaret Queen who provided us with our best day on the track in terms of results at least, when easily winning the Grade A Munster National — and that’s a Grade 1 in a sales catalogue. We got so much fun from that, 69 members and so many of them involved in racehorse ownership for the first time and while she ran below par, getting to be part of Ladbrokes Trophy day at Newbury was fantastic. She was running very well when she fell four out in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. So we’ve seen it all.

We were hoping to capitalise on her hurdle rating of 116 as against her chase mark, which is 142, and we might still get the chance. She only got into the Munster National as a reserve so there’s always hope. Either way, there will be other opportunities over the smaller obstacles. In the meantime, the Punchestown National Trial is a likely destination for rerouting her if she doesn’t run on Sunday.

There is more excitement for the owners in that Cabaret Queen has been entered in the Aintree Grand National. That’s the stuff of dreams and a testament to the talent of the team at Closutton — Willie Mullins, Jackie, Patrick and all the staff, work riders and jockeys that help the Queen. I am just a small cog in the wheel that gets to enjoy her progress and I am very thankful for that.

For me, the idea was to expand racing in terms of ownership but more than that, to attract people who hadn’t traditionally been involved, and that their family and friends might engage with it. So it’s about expanding racing, preaching the gospel about what a great sport it is. It hopefully provides an access point that’s affordable for people but also that people are exposed to racing and think, that’s something for me.

We have had so many different experiences. You look at the two reserves. Guard Of Honour was the first horse I bought who didn’t run for 12 months. Cabaret Queen was our first winner from her second start and that was the Munster National. Guard could still prove himself a great little horse but it teaches the patience that’s involved in the sport and you need to communicate that.

We have another horse Munaajaat, who has never won a race. We have some people that are in all the syndicates and they would say they have enjoyed this one the most because the trials and tribulations we’ve gone through with her have been incredible, but it’s been great craic. People still book the table, still go and have a fun day out.

Then you have the experiences of going to see Johnny Murtagh, who has a two-year-old filly for us that we’ll be targeting at the Foran Equine Irish EBF Series, or Willie Mullins, who trains Cabaret Queen, Listen Dear and Garden Of Honour, or Joseph O’Brien, who trains Munaajaat and Tonkinese. You cannot put a price on that. There is so much to see and learn about in Irish horse racing.

The whole declaration process is an eye opener for a lot of people. If you look at my browser history, the most used site is HRI Rás. I was constantly refreshing today to try to ascertain how close we might be to getting in. It can be challenging to explain to people why this is important. We might be 12th in the queue but only the first 10 are allowed into the nightclub. So as advocates for the sport, we need to find ways to explain that.

Listen Dear is a little bit like a Premiership footballer that is all flash but doesn’t put it in the back of the net. She is the best jumper in training, and with that exuberance comes great fun. It would be great if she wanted to run into a place at the weekend because she’s a lovely mare who has won nine times up to Grade 3 class over hurdles, and can still mix it between chasing and hurdling.

We are going to bring her to Elusive Pimpernel to be covered, which is very exciting as he is a stallion who has been doing great things for the National Stud. The covering will be great for her and we’ll continue racing her right up to the end of the year so there’s a lot of fun to be had with her.

There are multiple ways to crack a nut and introducing that cover is just another element of opening up the industry to people, to demystify it. I’m constantly looking at different ways of doing it. I will never do just leases, or just equity. Tattersalls is on today and I’m hoping to pick up a particular filly who I would race to a certain point and then cover her, as I think that would be optimum thing for the syndicate.

That’s not a traditional approach but when you explain it to people, they like it more, that someone is thinking about their asset and looking to make the best of it for them. I’m constantly getting texts from the Listen Dear members now when Elusive Pimpernel has had another winner.

I have the domain name Bloodstock.Racing as well so in the future there’s a lot of fun to be had in that sphere as well.

We’ll add plenty more horses through the year hopefully and the big news is that I’m hiring someone to be managing director of Syndicates Racing. That will help us grow more, someone that can be dedicated to it full time. It’s a passion for me but to put a professional on top of it will help it flourish.