Sir Michael Stoute: what makes racing's most enigmatic trainer tick?

Those who don't know Sir Michael Stoute are unanimous about one thing: the longer he carries on, the more difficult he becomes to read.

Stoute’s interaction with the racing public is almost exclusively limited to post-race appearances on television. His pleasure on saddling a winner is manifest until a microphone is thrust towards him, whereupon his demeanour can change in the blink of an eye. Sometimes reticent, at other times diffident and wary, he resembles a man on his way to visit the dentist.

It’s a criticism frequently levelled at him. Here is one of the game’s arch exponents, ten times the champion trainer, yet he can appear reluctant to transmit his joy to the masses. There are times when he seems intent on giving away as little as possible, as though he were under interrogation for something he did not do.