YOU can become a Champion on a day, or perhaps in a season. You can win the title Champion. But you have to earn Greatness. Hurricane Fly has been a Champion for quite a while but it is only in the last few years that he has grafted his way to Greatness.

In Ireland he became a champion who earned his Greatness and who was eventually bought by the Irish people to race for them and while the English never really got him, they play cricket and we play hurling, which tells you all you need to know about them. In the past few days all the tributes have used kind words and impressive figures to pay homage to him but for me what defines him is how he made you feel.