Inside Seven Barrows: what's it like being Nicky Henderson's eyes and ears?

An aide-de-camp is how Nicky Henderson describes Charlie Morlock, whose role at Seven Barrows verges on assistant trainer, head lad, confidant, father figure, fixer and source of banter – despite his teenage son Freddie believing he "doesn't really do much".

"He reckons I just tell everyone else what to do," says Morlock, who is not exactly standing around with his hands in his pockets when I greet him at one of the top barns at 5.41am on a still Berkshire morning.

Fuelled first thing by a chocolate biscuit and coffee, he has cycled the 15 minutes from his home in Kingston Lisle to the edge of Lambourn.