Like a bet out of hell for Carlow man Tony O’Reilly

My gambling career, while undeniably short-lived, was pretty momentous.

It basically lasted for the duration of one day at Leopardstown many moons ago, on which occasion I placed my first and last bet.

Wholly indifferent to the charms of horse-racing, I had ended up there as a guest of some friends and spent the first few races having to pretend that I found the whole thing as fascinating and thrilling as everybody else present clearly found it to be.