Michael Dickinson: 'Getting all of them to the Gold Cup took its toll - I lost a stone with worry'

Michael Dickinson was never one to be ruled by convention during his days as a trainer and, 40 years on from his piece de resistance, I am pleased to report he still likes to do things a little differently from the norm.

The request for an interview to mark four decades since he stunned the racing world by saddling the first five home in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup was positively received in Maryland but, rather than chewing the cud on a transatlantic phone call as planned, the sparky Yorkshireman preferred to communicate his views via email.

So began an entertaining chain of communication, in which Dickinson told the remarkable tale of how he came to rewrite the record books over jumps at the start of the 1980s before explaining why he left his family's yard in West Yorkshire after just four record-breaking years at the helm and then overcame adversity to conquer in the United States.