Did you hear the one about the Irish nun who is the toast of the race track?

Sister Rita Dawson, of the Sisters of Charity, hit the headlines after backing the winners of three successive Grand Nationals and four more winners at this year's Cheltenham Festival.

The Irish-born nun regards her annual flutter as "a bit of fun", not least because it helps the terminally ill and elderly in her care.

Growing up as the only girl among eight racing-mad brothers in Co Tipperary, it was perhaps inevitable that Sister Rita would be drawn to the Turf.

"Whenever there was a big race father would put all the horses' names in a hat from which we were allowed to choose one each," she said. "It didn't matter how good or bad your old horse was, you had to stick with it. I remember my mother pulling out a scrap of paper one time and she was raging because, in her opinion 'it doesn't have a chance'.

"She was raging twice over because that night she was given the name of the winner in a dream. Father refused to let her switch horses and when the horse in the dream romped home, she didn't speak to him for a week."

On the eve of this year’s 260th Grand National Sister Rita said: "Everyone needs to relax and this is simply my way of doing precisely that.

"Of course, you can find wrong in everything if you try hard enough but I honestly believe that if you were brought up with good values then gambling is just a bit of harmless fun. Anyway, you know what the Irish are like when it comes to horses.

Sister Rita took on the role of tipster because she is the hospice's chief executive. "It's an awful responsibility," she said.

In the past The Tipping Nun's winnings have been boosted by donations from other punters and benefactors.