JOSEPH Doyle left Monasterevin for England with an ambition to carve out a better life for himself and he went on to do just that. He was always fiercely proud of his Irish roots and in particular, had fond memories of working on the Curragh racecourse putting up stakes for the running rails before emigrating as an 18-year-old.

When his Cambridge-born grandson James travelled to the headquarters of Irish flat racing to ride in a race there for the first time, Joseph told him it would be a lucky track for him. “I’ve won some nice races there so he wasn’t wrong,” relates Doyle.