Sir, - On Saturday, March 30th, I stood in an enclosure at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, cheering home Thunder Snow.

The sole Irish-foaled runner in the race, he made history by being the first horse to win two Dubai World Cups and also was a back-to-back winner.

He is owned by Sheikh Mohammed, trained by Saeed bin Suroor and was ridden by Christophe Soumillon, who compared his own riding style to that of a jump jockey at Cheltenham.

In the same breath I roared for Oisin Murphy, from the Kingdom of Kerry, who gave Gronkowski, trained by Salem bin Ghadayer, a superb ride to finish a gallant second.

Fast forward a week later to the Grand National at Aintree – the ultimate test of a horse’s stamina, talent, ability and courage.

Again, I screamed myself hoarse as history was made once more by the terrific Tiger Roll, now a dual winner of this great race for Davy Russell and Gordon Elliott. This little horse with a huge heart is a perfect ambassador for the sport.

These two great races staged within a week of each other proved that anything is possible in racing. - Yours etc.,

BERNIE LEADON BOLGER

Carrigeen Moss Stables,

Carrigeen,

Co Wicklow

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