AS with all of us who have dodged recent hurricane bullets - my Irma, your Ophelia - I am just so happy to be here.

Like you, I have had a few ups and lots of downs owning racehorses.

Where to begin? I was born in New York City and grew up in typical American suburbia. Racing for me? Secretariat. End of.

But then I met Edmund, the son of a Welsh sheep farmer. His father’s passion was to breed and race point-to-pointers on the north-west circuit and he did so very successfully. I loved those races.

In 1986 we went to a local London bookmaker to bet on the Grand National. Walking through those plastic streamers into the smoke-filled room, awash with toothless men who stared at this alien woman amongst them, THAT was quite the eye-opener for me as well.

Edmund plonked down £10 - a MASSIVE bet for us - on West Tip and we returned to his Pimlico flat to watch the big occasion on the rented black and white TV.

West Tip won, of course, and I thought, “Well. this is easy!” Thus began my love affair with racing and my particular affinity for Aintree.

Not long after we were married, we bought into the very first Pipe Scudamore Racing Club. A huge deal at £250 for two years. We were lucky. So we joined other partnerships, but in the end, we had just fun names to show for it - like King Of Swing and Eager To Please.

By 2000, I became a sole owner. I answered an ad in the classified section of The Financial Times, as one does!

Noel Chance had won two Gold Cups and now advertised two stores. I wanted one in particular. Instead, mindful of costs, I sprang for a much less expensive filly. La Luna won bumper and hurdle races but her true value to me arrived when Noel called and said, “Sally, your mare’s not getting any faster.”

Donning my new breeding cap, I met a second season sire named Kayf Tara.

Meanwhile, shortly after I bought La Luna, I spied a fax showing two legs sold in that gelding I had liked. I first bought one leg and then all of him. Bred in Kilmacow by Mary Morgan, River City won his bumper at Ascot, a listed race at Aintree and then finished third in the Arkle.

He went on to win the Celebration Chase at Sandown in 2006, then a Grade 2. But he actually excelled at being third in Grade 1s, like the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Ascot Chase, and so I was often in the winner’s enclosure.

He won 10 times and had a 44% strike rate of winning and placing. When River retired, I retrained him and he became successful in showing circles. Sadly, he passed away this year, aged 20.

Since owning River City, I have had enough lemons to make lemonade, and sadly lost horses both on and off the track. Such is our lot.

During this time, I served eight years on the UK Racehorse Owners Association Council and on its executive committee.

Amongst other things, I created the Gold Standard, with this objective: improve the raceday experience for the owner and all connections.

I have been to over half of the Irish tracks and can see that, thanks to AIRO, there has been some marked improvement for owners.

As background, here are my unimpressive stats in Irish races: Over five years, 61 runs and one and a half wins. Yes, you heard that right. The half is a horse I share with John Lenihan.

So I am quite the expert on the “runner on the day but not winning" experience. Tracks like Fairyhouse, with a great offering, deserve our support. On the other hand, there are courses that give you sweet nothing.

REALLY? We spend the money, trek hours and hours to see our horse run. But no win, no hospitality. I am sure we need the food and drink just as much as that winner!

And what about badges for partnerships and syndicates? Why only four? I don’t get it. There is a win-win here. Get more owners on the track, make more money in your bars and restaurants. Wake up!

A third issue: the fixture list. I know we all love high quality racing. But how can it be that there are often 50-75 entries for ordinary flat handicaps? And 45 entries for a maiden hurdle on a Wednesday?

So, yes, talking from my own pocket (which is, by the way, why I am here) but surely with all those entries, it is clear that there is a big disconnect between the fixture list and your horse population.

And here is the data: a 24% increase in foals from 2012-2016 versus a 13% decline in ownership over the same period.

So please, Horse Racing Ireland, encourage ownership here in Ireland! Add races to give our horses more chances to run, let alone to win!

In summary, 1, hospitality; 2, badges; 3, fixture list. Three challenges for you. And now back to this happy little tale.

My fascination with Kayf Tara transformed my ownership career. For a few years, I ran marathons. I used to run from our friends’ farm on Cleeve Hill straight into the centre of the Cheltenham Racecourse.

For two Festivals, I just about literally ran into Henry de Bromhead who, I imagine, thought that I was a very bold and unusual American.

In September 2012, I visited Knockeen. And it was in the loose school that I met Special Tiara, haring around the shed like a lunatic.

Already a winner of his maiden hurdle, this crazy son of Kayf Tara was due to run the next day in his first chase and he could be for sale. He had failed the vet on his wind but I saw him then win at Ballinrobe and thought 'Why not roll the dice? How bad could his wind be with two wins and three second placings in his five races?”

His first run three weeks later brought blacktype. And there we hatched our plot for Aintree. We ignored the flop at Leopardstown and swerved the Arkle at Cheltenham. He won as the 28/1 complete outsider in the 2013 Grade 1 Maghull Chase.

Then patience, 15 months of waiting. Finally came the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Chase when Barry Geraghty dared my horse to jump. I was nearly in tears as I ran to lead him in, so happy!

Special Tiara then came third in the Queen Mother followed by my second win in the Celebration Chase, now a Grade 1. Here he beat Sprinter Sacre by six lengths, cementing the wonderful partnership of the horse I call Mr T with Noel Fehily.

Now, isn’t it frustrating to have a horse in training anywhere, Ireland, England, it doesn’t matter, where you can only hope to get the best jockey on the day?

A total of 10 different jockeys have ridden Mr T. Other jockeys achieved Grade 1 or 2 successes but then got claimed by the big guns - Gigginstown and J.P.

And how annoying can it be as a woman owner in her own right when a man looks at my husband and says, “how’s your horse?” You can guess that Edmund pretty quickly learned to say “Ask my wife, it’s her horse, not mine."

And me? A man of good Irish stock, Robert F. Kennedy, was known to say, “Don’t get mad, get even.” And I agree with that.

So in 2009, I founded and chaired a network to raise the profile of women across the industry. Being a creative soul, I called it Women in Racing. Meta Osborne and Sarah MacNicholas have been members and I would like to think that Women in Racing inspired your recently established Women’s Irish Network for Racing.

And, happy days, both of the new Women’s Networks in Australia and the USA are modeled on the UK-based Women in Racing.

So now back to Mr T. After that Celebration Chase win in 2015 more patience was needed. A valiant third again in the Queen Mother, which was sadly followed by a terrible run at Punchestown. He screamed out for his summer holiday at Ballyogue.

Thankfully, John Lenihan returned Mr T back into training a healthy and happy horse. And so 2016 closes with, hurrah, the Desert Orchid Chase, his win once again lifting our spirits.

Yet Mr T was off most pundits' radar for this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase. All eyes and most wallets were on Douvan. But John, Henry and his team have kept this horse as enthusiastic as ever about his work.

Yet having run in it three times and come third twice, surely his chance was gone. And seemingly NO chance with Douva, the banker, the 2/9, most heavily backed, widely tipped horse of the festival.

History now relates otherwise and my Mr T became only the fourth 10-year-old to win the race. Of course, several headlines were still all about why did Douvan fail? But most others finally recognised how worthy is Special Tiara, what a wonderful win.

I am a lucky girl. Our names are now on the trophy and the walls at Cheltenham for all posterity. Yes, Altior and Douvan will probably fight it out up the hill at Cheltenham in March. But thanks to John, Henry, Heather, Rosemary, Davy, Stephen, Larry and all at the staff at Knockeen, Mr T and I have had our day in the sun and it has been glorious.

And thanks also to Jessie and her wonderful team at Commonstown for providing me with my first ever wins here in Ireland. And to Charles at ITM and Aidan at HRI for looking after me so well in Ireland, the UK and most recently, in Lexington.

So, to recap, I came to Ireland five years ago owning no horses here. I bought Mr T in September 2012. Now I have 16.5 horses for both codes. Five and a half for racing and the rest in broodmares and youngsters at Ballyogue Stud, as I crank up a new bloodstock business.

Because I don’t know if I will ever be lucky enough to once again own a champion. But maybe, just maybe, I can breed one. Abraham Lincoln said: "The best way to predict the future is to create it." Wise as he was, I don’t think Abe knew much about breeding or racing horses. But as someone else once said, “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic."

And so my dream goes on. Thanks to all of you for being so welcoming to this very bold and probably rather unusual American woman. Thank you.