THIS week’s nail-biting finish to the Kerry National (see page 14) brought back some memories of tight finishes and tight spots for Andrew McKeever, who has almost 30 years’ experience as a judge for the Turf Club and IHRB.

“There was one incident at a point-to-point where I was on the trailer with the judge, who was a local hunt member, and his assistant. There was a close finish, so the judge and I turned to one another and we agreed the order was 3-4-5-6. But the assistant piped up and said, ‘no, it was 4-3-5-6.’ We were certain number three had got up by a head, so we overruled him but he insisted we were wrong. The argument continued until the assistant stamped his foot and shouted: ‘MY BROTHER-IN-LAW’S HORSE WON!’”