The Hones, on my mother’s side, were well known in hunting and artistic circles. I think the gene must have skipped a few generations before coming back to me.

My earliest memory of racing is going to Gowran Park at the age of nine or 10 and betting in 50 pences. I had joined the Kilkenny Hunt Pony Club a year previously, so I knew the track and it’s surroundings very well.