'I bought Shishkin as a foal - but I'd have probably made a mess of him!'

Racing yards come in different shapes and sizes but few have a more historical setting than Wardington Gate Farm, the home of Ben Case.

It forms part of the Edgcote Estate near Banbury, where during the last year archaeologists working for the HS2 project have unearthed the remnants of a Roman market town, formerly an Iron Age village. As if that was not enough, the Battle of Edgcote also took place in the area during the War of the Roses in 1469 and, far more recently, the imposing Edgcote House served as a backdrop to the 1995 TV series Pride and Prejudice, which elevated Colin Firth to stardom.

If all that history puts any extra pressure on Case, who has trained on the estate for 22 years, it certainly does not show as he calmly discusses running plans with a visiting owner while attempting to encourage two lively cocker spaniels into his truck before second lot.