'I had no interest in racing - I was just trying to save money for my business'

Wayne Clifford was dragged into racing by his wife, Sarah, in the early 1990s but spotted an opportunity for his business, Bathwick Tyres, through sponsorship and has now bought Byerley Stud in Wiltshire in addition to having horses in training. He gained his biggest win in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in November through Coole Cody.

The closest I'd got to racing was having an uncle who was starter at Bath for about 50 years, but my wife Sarah was always into horses and wanted a proper racehorse at a time when I was just starting my business, Bathwick Tyres, and wasn't really interested. So she went off on her own to Andy Turnell's yard and came back with our first one, which we called Bathwick Bobbie.

Anyway, Bobbie needed a summer break and I was looking for warehouses to store my tyres and expand my business, so I came up with this crazy idea about buying a farm, so I could store tyres and bring my horse home in the summer and save money, and that's how it started to grow.