At 7.25am the alarm went off, before 7.30 he was out in the kennel, checking on Glanmore Susan; she was fine, even better than fine – “Hopping off the ground!”

For those more used to the muck, mud, rain and cold of deep winter that normally accompanies their favourite sport, it was positively balmy in Clonmel yesterday for the first day of the 83rd running of the annual National Coursing Meeting.