As punters know it’s extremely difficult to predict the future, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that racing in Ireland is likely to come under increasing pressure over the next couple of years. Attendances are falling across the board, inflation is rising at an alarming rate, proposed new gambling regulations threaten to impact already declining sponsorship and all the while the security blanket of Government funding is in danger of slipping with Sinn Féin continuing to top the polls.

I’m 22 and I finished my degree in Agricultural Science in UCD in May.