EMMA MacDermott, whose landmark bronze of Arkle and Pat Taaffe in Ashbourne, we featured last week, has sent in a couple of shots of her latest work in progress, the finished piece will be called Revenge of the Irish elk. “He is going to be chasing humans, quite possibly ones who might visit him in a museum. This is what happens in lockdown,” explained Emma.

BLOODSTOCK agent John Walsh is wondering how he can get himself on ‘the list’ so he can get into his local track at Naas next Monday.

“I’m itching to get back,” he says. “I do a lot of business at the racecourse. It’s as much a marketplace for me as the sales ring.”

Acknowledging that it will be at least a month or two before he can go racing, Walsh is particularly looking forward to the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Sale at Fairyhouse in July. “I brought over a group from Bahrain last year and they are interested in coming again. Hopefully the quarantine restrictions will have eased by then and hotels will be open for business.”

John is the incoming president of Leinster Rugby, another professional sport which has been hit hard financially in recent months. “We had sold out the Aviva for the games against Saracens and Munster, but there will be no revenue and no trophies. Clubs like Naas have had to cancel fundraisers and summer camps, so it’s been very difficult.

“But I appreciate that other people have suffered a lot more, and I am an optimist by nature. You wouldn’t last long in racing otherwise. There’s nothing like an unraced two-year-old to keep you keep you dreaming.”