I WAS born in New York City and grew up in typical American suburbia. My husband Edmund is the son of a Welsh sheep farmer whose passion was to breed and race point-to-pointers.

I loved those races and this, coupled with a lucky £10 bet on 1986 Grand National winner West Tip, got me hooked on racing.

After some success with racing clubs, I became a sole owner in 2000. Noel Chance was my trainer and we won 10 races together with River City, including the Celebration Chase at Sandown.

Since owning River City, I have had enough lemons to make lemonade - and sadly lost horses both on and off the track. Such is our lot.

During this time, I served eight years on the Racehorse Owners Association Council in the UK and on its executive committee.

I came to Ireland five years ago owning no horses. I bought Special Tiara in 2012 and I now have 16.5 horses for both codes. I have been to over half of the Irish tracks and can see that, thanks to AIRO, there has been some marked improvement for owners.

As background, here is the unimpressive record of my horses in Irish races: A total of 61 runs over five years producing one and a half wins. So I am quite the expert on the ‘runner on the day but not winning’ experience.

Tracks such Fairyhouse, with a great offering, deserve our support. On the other hand, there are courses that give you sweet nothing.

REALLY? We spend the money, trek hours and hours to see our horse run, but if we don’t win we get no hospitality. I am sure we need the food and drink just as much as that winner!

And what about badges for partnerships and syndicates? Why only four? I don’t get it. This is a win-win situation. Get more owners on the track, make more money in your bars and restaurants. Wake up!

A third issue - the fixture list. I know we all love high-quality racing. But how can it be that there are often up to 75 entries for ordinary flat handicaps? And 45 entries for maiden hurdle on a Wednesday?

Yes, I am talking from my own pocket (which is, by the way, why I am here) but surely with all those entries, it is clear that there is a big disconnect between the fixture list and your horse population.

There was a 24% increase in foals born annually between 2012 and 2016 but a 13% decline in ownership over the same period.

So, please Horse Racing Ireland, encourage ownership in Ireland! Add races to give our horses more chances to run, let alone to win!