SINCE getting involved in flat ownership towards the end of last season, I have been lucky enough to win two races. Both victories, courtesy of seven-year-old mare Bainne, have come at the Curragh; the home of Irish flat racing.

I grew up in Tallow, Co Waterford, where my mother Bernadette held a restricted trainers licence. Both herself and my father, Seamus, are steeped in National Hunt racing, having bred and raced horses successfully for many years. Both my brothers held their amateur licences for a bit and my sister has been involved in pony club.