I have been involved with horses practically all my life. My father hunted the Laois Foxhounds for eight seasons and after my family moved to Gowran, Co Kilkenny in the 1960s, we visited Gowran Park many times during my childhood.

Paddy Mullins was a hugely successful trainer at the time and I was actually in the same class in National School as his son, Willie. It was really from following the stable stars as a youngster, that my love for the sport grew.