Red Rum sparked passion to last a lifetime and passed through the generations

When I was knee-high to a grasshopper I remember cheering on the magnificent horse Red Rum with a pair of drum sticks in my hands (real, not chicken!) as he claimed another Grand National victory. What a horse.

Fast forward a few more years and my dad was kind enough to put a bet on for me with my paper round money in the 1984 Grand National – I picked Hallo Dandy. I still remember the late, great commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan describing the neck and neck race in which Hallo Dandy beat Greasepaint into second place.

I love horseracing – the atmosphere, the training, the courses. I hope before I meet my maker to have visited every race track in the UK. It's the sport of kings, a truly magnificent spectacle in which jockeys and horses are tough species, men are men and the female jockeys are tougher than most. It’s unpredictable – rank outsiders can win, top jockeys can lose.