BRYAN Murphy and his family are best known as the owners of the renowned Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, Co Limerick. This favourite hotel and watering hole of countless hunting and racing enthusiasts is one of the main reasons why people are attracted to the pretty village in which it is situated.

Bryan is also a noted horseman and judge of horseflesh and one of his sale picks, Acey Milan, was victorious in a listed bumper at Cheltenham on the first day of the New Year. Bought for €11,500 as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland in November 2014, the gelding won a three-year-old bumper previously and was successful at Cheltenham on the day he officially turned four – though he was actually born in early April. He is a precocious sort and is the only horse in the first three generations of his family to win a blacktype race.