'The anticipation is the key to this job - it’s a bug and it eats into you'

He calculates he has walked enough miles in his day job to circle the globe twice, yet there is no taking the spring out of Terry Doherty’s step. Routine is king in his role as stud manager of Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber’s immaculate Watership Down Stud and while his hands-on approach can mean the days often roll into one, it is a regime that never threatens to become tiresome.

Set in 250 acres of the owners' rural 5,000-acre Sydmonton Court estate, and with the rolling hills of Berkshire’s South Downs providing a stunning backdrop, Doherty’s workplace offers a feast for the senses.

It is also home to equine stars of the calibre of The Fugue and Dar Re Mi, past champions from the track whose job now is to breed the champions of tomorrow.