ONE positive consequence for me about the postponed sale next week in Doncaster is that I will be at home on Tuesday. This is the 10th anniversary of the death of our daughter Katie from leukaemia and it would certainly have been a hard day to be away from the family.

You never really get over something like this but you can get through it, and we have been hugely supported by so many people, including plenty in the horse world, for which I will always be most grateful.

Her death led to the setting up of the Katie Nugent Fund up for the emotional and psychological support of children, families and staff on St John’s Ward in Crumlin, where every Irish child with cancer and leukaemia is treated.

This weekend was to be a fundraising event at Ballinlough which was sold out to 500 people. Among the auction items on offer was the opportunity to specify a day on which I had to wear a particularly unappealing toupée.

One friend had indicated that he was prepared to bid generously, and would nominate the day of the Goffs London Sale. With both the fundraiser and the sale now having gone the way of so many other events, I would gladly welcome back all the anxiety that the mere thought of this had caused me.

World war

Plenty of families have experienced tragedies, hardships and depravations in recent months but it is wrong to liken the experience, as some have, to living through a world war. There was between eight and 10 million military deaths alone in World War One, including 49,000 Irish men.

Today’s virus is a plague alright, but Katie’s anniversary reminds me to be thankful that it is not cutting a swathe through the younger generation in a way that wars have often done. Hopefully it never will.