'Neither of us had any silver spoons - we've had to work our way through racing'

Paul Mulrennan is one of those people who always seems to be smiling. As he sits in the garden of his North Yorkshire home next to wife Adele in the sunshine, he looks a picture of contentment – and for good reason.

On the back of his best season numerically when he rode 108 winners and massively exceeded expectations to finish fourth in the jockeys' championship, Mulrennan is in the prime of his career, and he is relishing every moment of it.

"Last year was unbelievable," he says. "I'm a northern jockey who doesn't have a big retainer so it was great. Every jockey wants to ride 100 winners but I'm a big believer in trying to stay in one piece. I was just getting going and three times I had bad injuries, and it sets you back.