Public left fuming as health service loses out to Farmleigh

AS we head into a new year, we should ponder on the lesson learned in Leopardstown during the week. Rising to the occasion is all very well, once there is an occasion to rise to.

The presumption that we have achieved something can prove unfounded, as the unfortunate jockey Roger Loughran discovered to his cost on Central House, the second favourite at the world-famous racecourse on Tuesday.

As a non-betting man - apart from sticking a pin in the list of Grand National runners - the futility of gambling was reaffirmed for me by Loughran’s plight at the end of the €70,000 Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase.