Phil Cunningham: 'Cockney Rebel changed everything but I had too many horses'

Phil Cunningham, the man at the helm of Rebel Racing and a Classic-winning owner, talks to Tom Ward about his journey from casual greyhound owner to running one of racing's up-and-coming outfits.

My dad is from Tipperary and had a few horses when I was at school, and when I left college in the early 90s I got ten mates together and we bought a yearling. I'd had a few greyhounds to that point as well but I'd always loved horses and had been keen to get into ownership.

We bought a horse called Cool Temper, trained by Jack Banks, who ran six times as a two-year-old for us and finished second on six occasions. We had a few others bits and pieces after that, little shares, little syndicates, things like that but the first horse of note really was Rebel Rebel.