'It's only now that I can see how good Mark was to me'

Going to Mark’s as a young boy was a great thing for me. I'm from Hawick and I'd been pony racing but I went to Mark when I was 16 and it was very disciplined. I was fortunate because I was in the right place to ride winners – Mark just churns them out and he gave me a great chance at a young age.

Once I packed in riding I didn't know what I was going to do but I've come to realise how lucky I was to go to Mark's in the first place. Looking back, it's only now at the age of 33 that I can see how good he was to me. He was pushing me, giving me all the opportunities on horses at such a young age. I would never have been able to start as a jockey at the age of 21. We even got the Group 1 in Germany on Yavana's Pace at the age of ten: it takes some doing to be able to train a horse as long as that and win a Group 1.

I learned a lot there, without a doubt. Even if you don't realise you're learning, you don't walk around with your eyes closed. It’s well organised – Mark had a fixed routine, and as he has said himself plenty times, he just wants to feed the horses well and have them fitter than anyone else. It’s a simple approach but it’s effective – the horses do the same thing most of the time and we try to do that with our horses now. I think routine is important for them.