THE story begins when I see a competition announcement in The Irish Field and email my entry (as a digital subscriber) and I get shortlisted with five others for the final on St Leger Day September 14th at the Curragh. On that day I drew an outsider, Brown Panther, from a hat and to our great surprise he took it up in the home straight and with 100 metres to go my daughter Sarah and I looked at each in sheer disbelief knowing that I was on my way. It is a win that is all the sweeter because her sister Riona lives in Melbourne and would be my guest on Cup Day.

There is a great link between our St Leger and the Cup since the success of the great Vintage Crop for Dermot Weld in 1993 and this competition celebrates that link and is organised by the Victoria Racing Club in conjunction with the Curragh and The Irish Field.