'Why do I stay in British racing when the returns are so poor? I have no idea'

Tony Lyons, who made money in the fish business, has horses in training with Richard Hannon, although the best with whom he has been involved was Stuart Williams' Ascot winner Equitation. Here he tells Peter Thomas his story.

I grew up in Hutton, a village near Brentwood in Essex. I had a cracking pony – 14.2 hands – and was a showjumper, but we came off a council estate and my parents aren't the wealthiest in the world, so they struggled to keep it. However, the love of horses never left me.

My father was into greyhounds and we used to go to the tracks – Wembley, Walthamstow, Romford, Southend – where I started clerking and tic-tacking for the bookmakers I met, so I got to see all the good dogs like Ballyregan Bob, and in the meantime I was working in betting shops in Whitechapel.