Golden girl: Nina Carberry was a shining talent on the amateur scene

In the original sense of the word – derived from the Latin amare, to love – Nina Carberry was a great amateur. Her love for her sport was always vividly expressed by the beam of happiness that spread across her face in moments of triumph.

It is fitting she has drawn down the curtain on a wonderful career in tandem with Katie Walsh, since the two have been among the best amateur riders in Irish racing history.

If it seems a little high-flown to use Latin words to describe women as down-to-earth as Nina and Katie, the phrase primus inter pares ("first among equals") seems a perfect fit to describe Nina's status relative to her great friend and rival.