'I got a ten-grand work bonus and bought a majority share in a slow racehorse'

Des Thurlby, who has horses in training with Chris Wall in Newmarket, entered racing after seeing an advert in the Racing Post offering a yearling for sale . . .

I grew up in Oundle, near Peterborough, and my brother was mad keen on racing and started taking me to Newmarket, where they did a junior membership scheme, so let that be a lesson to other courses: getting young people into the sport early can really pay off. I've been an owner for 22 years now.

I started going there all the time – my first 2,000 Guineas was when Nureyev was disqualified in 1980 – and I loved everything about the sport, to the extent that for my university dissertation I did a study of the politics and economics of horseracing, along with an eight-week summer internship at Weatherbys.