'I spend too much time on the M25, but apart from that training is fantastic'

How have you and the town coped with the roasting this summer has brought us?
There's nothing anybody can do about it, so we've just had to get on with it. It's been hot, sure, but we've just carried on with shorter, lighter exercise. You have to be patient and we don't want to jar horses up, but modern training methods and what horses get in their feed, the electrolytes given to them, mean it's not really a problem.

What has been your finest hour as a trainer?
Often you get the most professional pleasure from horses you didn't think you'd win with. They can be more satisfying than the big ones who won because of their natural ability. Taking two horses to Canada and winning two Grade 1s on the same day – Trade Storm and Sheikhzayedroad at Woodbine in 2014 – was an achievement, but a lot of trainers will tell you that getting the difficult ones to win is what gives you most pleasure, even though most people won't remember them.

What has been your biggest challenge of the last 12 months?
I get paid to do this and I'm in a very fortunate situation, so I can't say I've had too many challenges. You make the odd phone call you don't want to make and you spend a bit too much time on the M25, but apart from that it's pretty fantastic.