Andrew Balding: Kingsclere trainer walking happily alongside ghosts of the past

On a clear and sunny morning on Watership Down, with a string of galloping thoroughbreds to raise the spirits, it's not hard for the mind to summon up the watchful ghosts of John Porter and Fred Archer. Porter trained three 19th-century Triple Crown winners up here to crown a remarkable career, with the folkloric Archer partnering the best of them all, the 1886 hero Ormonde, in preparation for his glorious passage into history. No doubt they are watching fifth lot today with a weather eye and a keen sense of anticipation.

Some of the finest horseflesh in memory has graced Porter's famous Derby gallop, not least the great Mill Reef, who lit up Epsom in 1971 while in the care of Ian Balding, the former trainer who is still part of the fixtures and fittings at Park House Stables in Kingsclere, a brisk walk away in the valley below.

Lately, though, there has been an alarming decline in the quality of athlete working on this ancient and enduring Hampshire turf. Porter may well be turning in his grave as we speak, to see some of the sights that have greeted puzzled hikers on the neighbouring Wayfarer's Walk, who have no doubt become accustomed to rather better down the years.