DENIS Egan has been chief executive of the IHRB for 20 years. An enthusiasm for the sport had prompted the chartered accountant to apply for a job as financial controller of what was then the Turf Club in 1995, but it isn’t just racing that gets his blood flowing.

GAA, music and golf stimulate a torrent of conversation once an hour and a half of discussing doping, welfare, Covid-19, racing weights, the whip, governance, his wages and more has been passed.