MY mother used to work for a Dublin bookmaker called Kilmartin’s, before eventually moving on to Ladbrokes as a shop manager. There was always chatter about horse racing in my house growing up. Some mornings my mother would take me into the betting shop with her (you’d never get away with that now!). I would help put bets through the camera and watch in awe as the human board markers (which don’t exist now) wrote the latest odds on the board. I think that’s where my love for the industry began.

Another early memory I have is looking forward to being allowed to pick out a few horses to place a bet on the Grand National. As a child, I also had a huge interest in horse riding. I was more into the show jumping side of things.