'I just love seeing how young horses develop, how the yearlings blossom'

Location Hillwood Stud, near Aldbourne, Wiltshire
Dateline Thursday, July 6

If you had an I-Spy book of racehorses clutched in your sweaty hand, a visit to Hillwood Stud would help tick off all the boxes. In paddocks either side of the drive, mares stand sentinel over foals that lie stretched out luxuriously in the heat, life a breeze on a baking, windless day.

The foals have seen nothing yet; in paddocks behind the stud buildings are horses who have seen it all. RSA Chase winner Might Bite picks away at the pasture with his fieldmate and stablemate Cultivator, waiting for his holidays to end, waiting for his season to start. "He's a bit of a prima donna," says Hillwood owner Tracy Vigors; surely not, this slashing, smashing epitome of steeplechasing brilliance? "He doesn't like being out at night, he wants to come in," adds Vigors, indulgently. Might Bite continues eating, the time until bedtime ticking away.