'I was depressed for a long time and it was not a good way to be'

Although matters came to a head only this summer, Graham Lee now believes he actually had been suffering from depression for many years.

Citing the pressures of making the weight and coping with a sport in which even the most successful jockeys ride many more losers than winners, he reflected: "Instead of enjoying things, it was just a case of getting through the day.

"Our sport can be lonely, you can prepare well and be fitter than you have ever been and if the horse doesn't fancy it you can come in and say you did everything right and it was the horse – but eventually your brain starts going, 'Maybe it is me'.