How it took Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Swan to deny Stewart Pike in the Whitbread

Aidan O’Brien has floored the aspirations of so many Englishmen it is doubtful he remembers defeating a Devon farmer and his point-to-pointer in the 1996 Whitbread Gold Cup.

In those days Sandown’s famous chase – now sponsored by bet365 – was regularly on the agenda for Gold Cup winners, and Jodami was in the 17-strong field, but the finish was fought out by the O’Brien-trained Life Of A Lord and Stewart Pike’s Proud Sun.

Pike, who died on Tuesday at the age of 73, was unfailingly helpful in my early years grappling with a sport which held a good few mysteries. Proud Sun was the best among a throng of good horses he bred with his wife Monique.