'I learned a massive amount from him. He'd see things I couldn't see'

I come from a jumping background – my father was head lad to David Nicholson through the 1980s at Condicote and I had more than 600 rides as a jump jockey, but I wasn't going to make a living from that, I wasn't good enough.

I'd been with Sean Woods, who gave me a reference, but without the opportunity Sir Michael gave me there's no way I'd be where I am today training for Sheikh Hamdan. I started there in March 2002 – then I was just riding out two lots. After a couple of years I became assistant and I was there for 13 seasons altogether. As time progressed I got more responsibility and got to know the owners and racing managers and through that I got this opportunity to do what I'm doing now.

I learned a massive amount from him. Sir Michael isn't someone to tell you why he's doing what he's doing – you had to stand back and look at what he was doing. Well, he would always tell you if you asked but really you got to know how he got things done.