LIKE An Open Book bridged a 12-year gap, when providing me with a winner at Clonmel earlier this month. Although I had trained a couple of horses to win races in the intervening period, it was my first success in the saddle since November 2004. The victory was a real family success, as I bred, trained and rode the winner, who is owned by my sister Elaine.

My interest in horses comes from my father Paddy, who always kept a few at home and had an odd one in training with Pat Doyle or Tom Bergin. A horse named Farney Fashion was the best he owned and he won a few races.