Saturday’s epic Clarence House Chase was a triumph on so many levels. First and foremost it demonstrated how horse racing at its very best is a match for any top quality sport in terms of both drama and spectacle. Four minutes and sixteen seconds of pure joy. The proven best taken on by the potential best with no quarter given and both parties coming out of the contest with their reputations enhanced is all you can hope for in any sporting encounter.

I grew up in Co Galway and my father rode and later trained point-to-pointers, so horses were all around me from an early age. Working with horses in some capacity was never not an option. I remember finishing my Leaving Cert on a Wednesday and by the following Monday I had started a job riding out in a yard.