'I'm very glad that he saw me ride a treble at Newton Abbot'

Without a doubt my grandfather Cliff Cox is my mentor as without him I'm not sure I would be in the position I am today. He was the reason I became interested in horseracing from such an early age, as when I was two he legged me up on my first horse. From that moment I started to ride horses all the time at home, expanding my skills and increasingly getting better.

Initially my main ambition was to become a jockey before I changed my career path to become a trainer in 1999, but I am very glad that he managed to see me ride a treble at Newton Abbot. He encouraged me every step of the way so it was nice to pay something back.

He used to work very hard in order to own shares in horses after the war and he was a very keen racing enthusiast. You would have never caught him missing a Dante meeting at York, and he travelled the length and breadth of the country to go racing.