Andrew Thornton: 'My best day was my last one, so I got things about right'

What was your finest hour as a jockey?
It has to be the 1998 Gold Cup on Cool Dawn. Not just winning the race but being presented with the cup by the Queen Mother – she was fantastic. I chatted to her for three or four minutes and she asked me what I was thinking at the top of the hill. I told her I was thinking of my grandma, who had passed away six months earlier. She put her hand on my arm and said: "She'd have been very proud of you."

Andrew Thornton kisses Cool Dawn following their victory in the 1998 Cheltenham Gold CupCredit: Caroline Norris

What has been your biggest challenge of the last 12 months?
I had Covid a week after Cheltenham and lost 10lb in ten days, but the worst of it was not getting paid for three of the 12 months. I've been self-employed and hard-working all my life but along with three million others I wasn't entitled to be furloughed, so I felt a touch aggrieved. But money aside, I'd have to say I actually enjoyed the time off, the first break from racing I'd had in 30 years and some precious time with my wife Yvonne and son Harry, who's six and a half. You don't get that time back with a young family.

What are you most looking forward to at the moment?
Harry reminded me this morning that it'll be Christmas soon, assuming we get one. I've always loved it, even when I was riding and had to go on a five-mile run so I could eat Christmas lunch, and with a young son it's all the more special.

What do you remember about winning the Hennessy Gold Cup on Gingembre in 2002?
I didn't actually win it – I was handed it after finishing second, beaten half a length by Be My Royal, who had the race taken off him because of a positive sample from some contaminated feed. Willie Mullins went to the High Court, so it took me about 18 months to get the race, by which time David Casey [Be My Royal’s rider] had drunk all the cognac – Andy Clifton at Newbury ended up giving me a bottle about ten years later. Mind you, the bank balance was very grateful when the money finally came through in the middle of the summer.