IMAGINE a competition contested by a variety of horses from a multiple Grade 1 winner with a rating of 181 to a 12-time non-winner with a rating of 30, and every variety in between. The start list for the annual Racehorse to Riding Horse class at the RDS is just such a collection.

As racehorses they earned in excess of three million euros for an average of 178,000 euros but the median earnings of the seventeen is actually 14,000! While the list includes Gold Cup and Grand National winners, there is a strong representation from the bigger group of thoroughbreds, those who carry the dreams of their breeders, but not very far.