Transgender rider Victoria Smith talks to Steve Dennis about her transition

She's not the man she used to be; she's very happy about that. Victoria Smith makes a cup of tea, curls cosily into a big armchair, faces the world with a steady gaze. "Ask me anything," she says. "It's all about education. The more you tell people, the more they understand, the more they accept."

There are some things we don't need to ask her. Victoria Smith used to be Vince Smith, jockey and trainer, but after a lifetime of mental conflict she made the decision last year to come out as transgender and begin life as a woman. It was naturally the most difficult decision of her life, but perhaps a straightforward choice for someone who had reached a tipping point of her reality.

"If I hadn't done this I'd have gone nuts, or turned to drink. Once you've told everybody it is a massive release," she says. "I had bottled it up for nearly 50 years. It was as though I'd been held captive all my life, and then released.