'You need a good horse to come along and keep you in fashion'

I started riding her at a very important time in my career, when I'd only just come out of my claim and started riding for Clive Cox. I'd ridden a couple of Listed winners and only just started rolling and you need a good horse to come along to keep you in fashion. She gave me my first Group success in the Ballyogan Stakes at Leopardstown in 2010 and went on to become my first Group 1 winner in the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp the same year.

She wasn't very big but she was very courageous – she had a bit of attitude about her, which is probably why she exceeded expectations. I got beaten on her in a 0-95 handicap at Wolverhampton at the start of 2010 but she really flourished that year, when she was four.

The Abbaye was a very unusual race – normally there are 20 runners but for some reason they had 21 that year and she was number 21, so she was lucky to get in. She was also lucky because she was drawn in stall one on the fence, which was an ideal spot for her. She liked to be up with the pace so it suited her.