IF there was a lesson to be learned at the Lambertstown Derby Show last Sunday it was that it paid to be a secondary schoolteacher.

Orla Cassidy, who teaches maths and agricultural science at Gormanston College, not only won the Open Derby on her own Whitetree Endeavour – which netted her the Horse Sport Ireland-sponsored first place prize-money of €500 – but also collected a similar amount, sponsored by the Irish Sport Horse Studbook, for owning the highest-placed six- or seven-year-old.