I CAME to horse racing quite late in life and since becoming an owner I have enjoyed many successes, both on the flat and over jumps - the latest being Love Rory’s win over the cross country course at Punchestown last weekend.

My father died of a brain haemorrhage when I was just eight years old, leaving behind a wife and five young children. In order to survive financially, my mother squeezed her and three of my siblings into a single room and took in lodgers to help pay the rent. My brother Frank and I were sent to the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage in Glasnevin, where we spent two and a half years. Before that, we had been day pupils at the school but now we lived in and were only allowed home from 11am until 7pm on a Sunday. I learned a great deal about respect and values from the Christian Brothers, ideals that I have carried with me into adult life.