'Battaash is so quick he gets others out of their comfort zone early'

It's one of those films you wish you'd seen when it first came out rather than waiting for the video release. Charlie Hills would certainly recommend it, and he's watched it a lot of times.

The plot is a tried and tested one. A talented young sprinter with a maverick streak is finally having to knuckle down. Up until now it's been a tale of underachievement and frustration, but our hero has seen the error of his youthful ways.

The scene Hills has on his mobile phone is the one where Battaash – played by himself – is in training for his first race of the new season, which could be the make-or-break moment of his career. It's a kind of Rocky moment, except that instead of bounding up the steps of a museum in a tracksuit, the reinvented three-year-old is working up a storm with a Group-winning stablemate on the Faringdon Place gallops.