I PARKED next to Finny Maguire on Sunday at the Dublin Racing Festival, and should have taken it as a good omen. The young man’s father and my brother rode together and were great friends back in the day, and he gave me the impression that his mount in the bumper, Moonverrin for Martin Hassett, was not without a chance.

Having found a €10 note under the cushions of the sofa a day earlier, the decision was made to spend it on a lotto ticket. How much better it would have been to put it on Moonverrin, a winner, if a tad lucky to do so, at 20/1. Finny mentioned to my niece Jenny, as we queued to go into the races, that he would not be at the meeting on Monday, as he was booked to ride for Harry Derham at Kempton. I noted the fact, and parked it.