CON Marnane was honoured with the Racing Personality Award at the Irish Racehorse Owners Awards last weekend (see page 14-16) and, true to form, the Bansha House Stables boss had some good lines for the crowd.

Talking about how he developed his Co Tipperary property, Con said: “I had worked in Australia where they swim horses a lot. When I came back I said I’d love to have a swimming pool. Then there was a train crash down in Cahir and there was a lot of cement on board, so I got that very cheaply and the pool was built!”