'Owners are propping up the industry and it's left me feeling quite bitter'

We are all seeking a little bit of drama in our lives at the moment. Some excitement, a break from the tedium of lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions that still run the show in early 2021.

Fortunately, within moments of Laurence Bellman answering his phone to discuss racehorse ownership in the time of coronavirus, he is revelling in the telling of unusual events that have been unfolding metres from his London home mere hours before our FaceTime call.

“We’ve just found out that the house right opposite our back garden has been a cannabis factory for the last four months,” he says.