Generation next: ambition burns bright for up-and-comers

Three men in the same boat. There they are, three guys in a photograph, smart casual shirts, carefully monitored hair and plenty of it, joshing amiably with each other, three shining morning faces that look out on a world that in turn regards them with particular scrutiny.

At first glance they are very similar; they share the same job, the same town, the same lifestyle, the same intentions, hopes, dreams, disappointments. They got to where they are now by essentially similar routes, and it is only now that their career paths will begin to slowly and surely diverge until it becomes unlikely that the three would again share the same photograph. That makes their similarities compelling, fascinating, the knowledge that despite what they have in common they will soon lead different lives.

Of course, James Tate, George Scott and Richard Spencer are also very different people. Experience tells us that; yet even their differences are marbled with their underlying similarities. Take Tate, at 37 the eldest of the trio, whose six-season tenure outweighs the other two put together, whose racing instincts come from nature, not nurture. Tate's uncle is Michael Dickinson, the great trainer of Famous Five fame; his father is Tom Tate, whose training palmares include a Tingle Creek Chase and a Royal Hunt Cup. Tate jnr's careers adviser never had a chance.