I WAS born and reared on a dairy farm in Boleybawn in Co Wicklow although horses were never far away in this family. My grandfather Derek gave me my first broodmare Fairwood Princess. His son Derry and family are well-known in the show ring and Willie Hatton, my grandfather on my mother’s side, owned the Croker Cup champion Royal Graney.

So there was no getting away from horses for me and my brother Philip, who trains racehorses.